photo credit Dejan Jovanovic
After Nicole's lecture, all of the presenters and speakers participated in a panel discussion, answering questions compiled by ECU students. ECU grad Marissa Saneholtz acted as moderator.
The first question presented to the panel, and one I was particularly interested in, was: Do you sell everything you make and how do you decide what pieces to keep for your personal collection? Michael Dale Bernard answered the second part of the question immediately with "The ones that don't sell!", while Caroline Gore chooses not to keep any of the work, preferring each piece to go out and live a good life, in a gallery or with friends. Ken Bova felt that you should keep the pieces that speak to you personally. This idea totally speaks to me, since I have pieces that I know I'll never part with, because they are so personal.
photo credit Dejan Jovanovic
Another interesting question posed to the panel was: What would you save if your house/studio were on fire (family and pets not withstanding). Nicole Jacquard answered with an emphatic "Let it all burn!" and several panelists agreed with that sentiment. Mi-Sook Hur choose to save a certain brooch, simply because it would be easy to grab on her way out the door. Many of the panelists though chose to save either partially finished pieces or sketchbooks.
photo credit Dejan Jovanovic
There was a discussion on labels; what do you call yourself? Metalsmith? Jeweler? Goldsmith? Artist? Bob joined in at the point, recollecting how some fought to get "goldsmith" in the title of SNAG. James C. Meyer interjected at that point, stating that with the price of gold being what it is, he no longer puts "goldsmith" on his business card. The panelists talked about their inspirations, emerging artists they're following and making the jump from school to life.
The biggest thing that I think all the panelists tried to impress on us students, or maybe just the biggest thing I took away, was that it doesn't matter what you call yourself, or where you get your inspiration, or who your audience is, as long as you make personal, genuine work, that speaks to you. Notice what you notice, and be true to your own personal vision.
That, and Orca's Curtains.
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