This month we’re writing about some of our creative endeavors. Today, Rober interviews Jessica about her jewelry workshop and some of her other creative exploits.  You can read Jessica’s original post about metalworking here.

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Rober: Have you ever thought of selling your designs, or do you just like to make them for yourself?

Jessica: Yes, this year I’d like to launch a website and produce enough to sell. I signed up for a First Friday showing at Bathing Beauties (the bead store) in October, where I’ll be able to display my jewelry for a night. And I’ll probably try to participate in some of the craft fairs that happen around the holidays. Hopefully, I’ll have a website up and running some time before that, but it’s nice to have the deadline.  

R: How much time you spend weekly in your workshop?

J: I spend a few hours a few days a week right now. I would like to be working more, and I think making the workshop itself more efficient would help a lot with that. I currently spend too much time looking for tools and materials, so I need to get it better organized so I can just sit down and get to work. I think ideally I would be spending 15-20 hours a week.

R: Have you attended any other courses like clay classes or any others?

J: I took a few sessions of metalworking classes in San Francisco just before I moved. The second class I took was from the owner of the studio, it was a self-guided class and I basically just asked him what he thought would be useful things to learn how to do. These classes were one of the things I was saddest to leave when we moved because I could have learned a lot more from him. Since you asked about clay, I took a clay class with my mom when I first moved to Missoula. I like working with clay a lot–similar to jewelry you have a lot of leeway to change a project along the way when things don’t go how you expect.