Security Blanket

Yesterday was rough. I was working at home (yay!) but had several expected interuptions so I started super early (barely awake enough to turn the computer on!) to get a leg up on some things. My mind was fairly preoccupied though...I had a meeting with a gallery.

*GASP* Horror of horrors...I had to go meet someone in person!

I am not shy or scared of people in general, but in new situations I get very nervous and ... ah ... well, a little sweaty. And it's embarrassing. For obvious reasons.

So by about 10 a.m. I'm starting to stress out because I haven't prepared in any way, shape, or form. Haven't even put together the items I want to show. I had, however, already showered, which is an improvement over most work at home days.

Fast forward three hours and now I'm really stressing because I have to leave in 30 minutes and I am not dressed, nor have I gotten things ready! So I rush around the house like a mad woman and by 1:30 I am in my car - although starting to hyperventilate. Just a *tiny* bit of anxiety.

And I don't know why, really. I am proud of my work. I think it's pretty darn good, if I do say so myself, and I've put a lot of hard work into learning new skills to get to the point where I even feel halfway comfortable approaching a gallery. Clearly not comfortable enough.

Arriving downtown Olympia and trying to find a parking space is ridiculous but I had factored extra time for that - and I found one that didn't require lacing up the hiking shoes. I was a few minutes early but marched forward into the gallery.

No customers were there, thank goodness, so we got started early. It was very informal, which was nice. I never really know how to "show" people my work. I'm slightly (ha!) disorganized with all of my jewelry in two cases like these. You may not believe that most of my work would fit in two of these, but if you stack things just right...you get a jumbled mess but they all fit!

I was fairly surprised which pieces she liked and which ones she expressed interest in - but that was a good learning experience. And she was SOOOO nice! Very encouraging and supportive - I'm sure it was fairly obvious how nervous I was.

Her Feedback:
Let go of the beads - they are a security blanket. Which scares me! I love my beads. I love all the pretty colors and shapes and swirls that nature creates with gemstones. And pearls! And glass! But I know what she's saying...I need to challenge myself instead of falling back on the easy and comfortable.

Create a uniform "set" of work that has a unified theme. She knows her customer base and knows what they buy. She had several suggestions on pieces that she likes and would want to see more of in the future.

Relax. Ha! Easy for her to say. I'm not a "relaxed" kind of person. But she mostly meant that I have skills that are evident, but I need to push forward and be confident in those skills. Again, the challenging of myself.

She said that my work was good and that I had a lot of potential. I sometimes hate that word because it means I have more work to do!

And hopefully I am able to achieve that potential by mid-October because that is when she wants me to call her for another appointment. I feel the butterflies starting already!