What's a Perfectionist To Do?

Conundrum - Gritgoods critical eye just realized that the perfect clusters are not perfect. I have a few things to say about this.

First - I am more type-A than I'd like to admit, even though I walk around all "I'm relaxed and balanced from my yoga class this morning" my brain is still going 50mph thinking of all the things I have to do. This confession of Type-A-ness (anus), unfortunately means I can not poke fun at my type-A sister as much as I'd like to. :)

Second - Truth be told, most of the time, I am a relaxed balanced person, perfectly able to just let things go. But when it comes to my business - if I am going to market something as the 'perfect cluster' then I must believe that it IS the PERFECT CLUSTER. It's true, like most artists, I am my own worst critic. I see all the things in my work that could be better, and everyone else sees all the things that are great about my art. It's a constant battle of knowing it's good enough, but also knowing it's not exactly how I want it.

(And I have to go on a little tangent here and bring up a high school memory of when my art teacher tried to explain to me and a friend how our artistic styles were different because she was very loose and I was very tight. Lemme just say for the record that is not a good way to explain artistic styles to teenage girls. We could not stop laughing.)

Third - The realization of my type-Anus and Gritgoods' imperfect clusters is really putting a hitch in my giddy-up. I now have to decide what to do with this knowledge. Do I change every medium cluster I've made in the past month? Take new pictures? Make new postings? Put the old clusters on sale ALREADY?

Darn me and my critical eye! I just listed within the past few weeks half a dozen medium clusters on Etsy, including 3 sets, which are already at a discount price for buying them as a set.

So lets get down to the Grit of it. The current clusters have 6 stones each. When laying flat they look great, but pick them up and they're actually a little off balance.

The newest clusters I JUST made (literally, minutes ago) have 7 stones each, which creates a much fuller cluster when they're dangling.

Do you see a coupon code in my future or what? If I do decide to put the old clusters on sale, this would be a great time to start following me on twitter or facebook to make sure you get the coupon code.

Am I a type-B personality trying to make type-A art? I'd rather think of this as simply creating a more balanced cluster, which is a direct reflection of how I chose to live my life.

And Gritgoods' fans can reap the benefits of my (tight) type-A artistic tendencies.

Kress Emporium Upgrade

I've had space at the Kress Emporium for about 8 months now. I walked in one day to inquire about space and whaddya know, they had something available! They offered it to me that day and after some hemmin' and hawin' over it with friends (for all of about an hour) I decided to go for it.

It's been OK! Christmas time was the best time, but other months haven't been so great. So I've decided to upgrade my space with the hopes that a new, more professional look will bring more buyers. I mean, it can't be the Kress' fault I'm not getting sales! The space they have is beautiful and the quality of art has increased over the last 5 years, so I feel proud to be a part of it. Overall I have a pretty sweet space (go left and look in the first 'cubby'). I'm surrounded by a bunch of other jewelry, but my space is not locked up (thus easier to peruse) and it has great visibility as soon as you turn the corner.

cards on dowels in new frames

However! The display they provided for me is preeety preeeety preeety blah. An old frame of a window thing with screen to put the jewelry in. It gets messy, the screen comes loose and it looks completely unprofessional. Not to mention the hideous 5-minute hand-drawn sign that says "Gritgoods" above it. It must go.

So I put together my Buy Local brain and my Just Economics brain and found a local frame shop to make some frames for me, Frame it to a T. These were preeety expensive, but I like that I supported a local, living wage certified business.

side view

Well, with frames in hand I was excited but paralyzed! I was so afraid to drill them myself! Thank goodness for awesome business owners like Bert at the Citizens Hardware store! He drilled every hole for me and cut my dowels for free! We had a moment, thanking each other. I didn't quite understand why he was thanking me, and as it turns out he has 7 grandsons and it was a pleasure for him to help a young lady. Aww. We had a moment. It was beautiful.




Now I'm ready for all the incoming tourists, following Fodor's travel guide suggestion to make Asheville, NC their #1 travel destination this year. And may I so boldly suggest that these same tourists make the Kress Emporium their #1 downtown shopping destination. :)

4 frames, 20 dowels, will hold a total of 120 cards with earrings