SOPA and PIPA

Freedom isn't something to be taken for granted. We have to fight for it and to maintain it. Too often, the easiest "solution" to a situation is to let go of rights, increase control and tighten "security" on everyone.

I take intellectual property and rights very seriously. I depend on it, on one hand, and I want other people who also depend on it to continue creating beautiful, disturbing, intriguing ideas. Even those annoying, low, cheap ideas that all of us complain about (but often direct at different targets) deserve to be protect. However, the way to do this is not to stifle the exchange of ideas and information.

Yes, let's stop online piracy.

No, let's not do it by constraining the flow of thought through out the world.

Piracy is a huge problem and needs to be fought. But it needs to be fought in a different way. Let us all demand a new solution and let us all be clear that freedom is something we value.

Random Posting

The main reason why my blogging is so sporadic is that I want to write beautiful, insightful posts, preferably with some wit and well developed and articulated thought. And with beautiful photography, just like I see in some artist blogs. Which means that it never gets done.

This little post is unpretentious and it exists to remind me that we can't let the dream of perfection get in the way of doing what we want. The next post will not be perfect either but, hopefully, it will be a little better.

This picture was taken in 2010, in Guatemala.

Old Year, New Year

Yes, another New Year post for the blogsphere. No new concept here, just my own reflections on the closing year and the new one.

I love the holidays: selecting gifts, planning activities, decorating, making special meals, etc. I really do. But today I was finally able to sit down with a mug of tea, a bowl of ice cream (vanilla with maple syrup and peanuts, for the foodies), some quiet music and think about this past year and start thinking about the next.

2011 was a turning point for me. A little background: I quit my office job in 2010, after a very painful period. I spent that year travelling, thinking, I started therapy and just plain tried to put myself back together before going back to the workplace. In the beginning of 2011, I started looking for the same type of job I had before and it took me a few months to realize that I was doing a lot of sabotaging myself, because I simply couldn't face that reality again.

That was a very painful moment for me. My career was very important to my sense of identity. I felt I couldn't go back yet that everyone would look down on this decision. It sounds silly now, but I felt I couldn't talk about this decision with anyone, specially my own family. I could see their reaction, their disapproval and disappointment so clearly in my mind. Yet, in the end, I found nothing but support. I was never quite able to make an announcement but it slowly trickled around. Even now, writing about it, I get choked up and teary from how hard it is.

Once this was clear in my mind, I had to figure out how I was going to earn my keep. I knew that I wanted jewelry making to be my focus but, at the moment, it just isn't enough to pay my bills. What else could I do? I can tutor young people, I can teach languages, I can translate. I can do a lot of other things, but these are my focuses at the moment.

In 2011, I saw my Etsy sales grow impressively, as I invested in marketing and new pieces. I started working with gold, including my sister's wedding ring, and I registered my own domain and got my own website working (www.beatrizfortes.com - shameless plug), which was incredibly exciting. I also was accepted for a jewelry project book and pitched an article for a jewelry magazine.

There is so much to do in 2012! It is going to be an exciting, busy year.

First of all, I must continue to nurture my business. I want to make more pieces, beautiful new designs and learn new techniques. But I must continue to advertise, grow a customer base and keep my existing clients as possible as I can. I must also take a lot of decisions and actions that come from being self employed: find a decent health plan, re do my retirement figures, straighten out several tax and registration issues, etc. Not exciting but absolutely necessary.

Since translating is going to be an important part of my income, I want to take a full course on it. However, it is expensive and a big commitment (2 years) so I am still hesitant. I am trying to pick up some projects to help out (so if you know anyone who needs to translate anything to or from Portuguese, let me know! And I swear this is the last shameless plug).

In 2010, I spent 2 weeks in Penland School of Craft. I now see how crucial that time was in helping me grow confident in my skills and how much I learned there (a lot of it wasn't technical skills at all). I can also see how much more I could have taken away, but my broken state of mind didn't allow me. I want to go back in 2012, if at all possible. I am counting my pennies for this.

Finally, I am going to strive to make my peace with letting the world know about this new path I am taking and how proud I am of what I have achieved so far.

And I want to lose 10 pounds.

Commemorating a Little Boy

This delightful little pendant was custom made to commemorate the coming of a little boy.  It is pierced entirely by hand out of 18k yellow gold. All the edges were smoothed and rounded, to give a nice flowing look.

My new website - come and visit!

Things are looking a bit dusty in the blog lately. I can't believe I haven't been around for 2 months! First, my computer died (RIP, dear one), the replacement took 2 weeks to arrive (agh! But welcome, new computer), then sales, my parents are moving from a different state, and and and... Everything piled up, as life sometimes does.

But the biggest time drain is also one of the most excitings: I have a new jewelry site! It is all mine, I can do a lot more with it and it is new and shining. Please drop by and visit me: www.beatrizfortes.com. I am strangely excited by the fact that I now have my own domain, with my own name.

I know I owe a couple of posts on talent (and there are some very interesting comments to answer, from the first post). I promise I will get back to this topic as soon as life has quieted down a bit.

Talent or Hard Work?

I am lucky to belong to several communities of great craftspeople, like The Artisan Group, the Aspiring Metalsmiths and Handmadeology. Through these communities as well as Etsy and a myriad of sites I have bookmarked over the years, I see a lot of beautiful handmade items, from ceramics to woodwork and everything in between. Often, when I see a particularly nice item, I think "What talent!".

Recently, I have become more and more unsatisfied with this simple reaction. It boils all the creative process to one variable: talent. What about hard work, experience, self editing, research and education?

I sincerely believe that most people can, with hard work, dedication and good instructions, create a decent, basic example of almost anything. Almost, because no matter what, this author cannot yield a needle or sewing machine. And, with time and practice, we can all be very good at a variety of activities.

On the other hand, we all know people who have a brilliant talent, who seems to be magically able to create beautiful things. Yet, how sad it is when these talented folks don't work to develop themselves. Like a brilliant student, who does just enough work to scrape by at the end of the year.

But when you join natural talent with hard work - oh boy! Great things happen.

So don't really only on your natural talent - develop. And don't let a lack of talent stop you - you may just find out that you did, indeed, have it in you all along.

Please share your thoughts on this subject! I want to write a couple more blog posts on talent and hard work and I would appreciate hearing what you have to say. And if you would like to share specific examples of these, I will gladly incorporate the pictures (this post seems a bit bare, doesn't it?)

Muse, oh Muse!

It is once again time for the Aspiring Metals Team blogroll and the topic chosen was Inspiration - what inspires us and where do we get our inspiration.

Inspiration is such a fleeting thing. Sometimes, it is just a spark of an idea, which you have to battle out in your mind and on paper, until it takes on a complete and workable form. At others, a piece will come up in my mind, with all details and ready to be made at the bench. There are times when my imagination seems to be racing and ideas will spontaneously pop up at the oddest times. At others, nothing seems to happen.

Since I want to make my living as an artist, the second situation is very worrying. I am actively trying to develop a consistent artistic vision (won't that sound good on my artist's statement?). I find that the more I work, sketch, look for unusual shapes and colours and go through life conscientiously, the more easily inspiration comes. If I slack off, then I can easily fall into a rut.

A support network, where I can bounce ideas and get feedback, is also very important to me (like my wonderful team that inspired this post). Sitting down and making things help me focus and figure out what works and what doesn't. And, since I am an engineer, figuring out good proportions, interesting design rules and when to break them is also a constant challenge.

For example, I was doing forging exercises to develop some hammering skills. The result was an interesting shape. I love long, thin pendants and my exercise piece was crying out to be used. By playing around with the shape, I was inspired by the flow of the metal to add a delicate blue green stone to highlight the liquid shape. The result was a gorgeous, elegant piece (in my humble opinion, of course).

Cheers!

Each month the Aspiring Metals team chooses a topic and each write about that topic on their blog. This month we want to know what inspires you, and where do you look for inspiration?

See what we have to say by visiting the blogs below:

• Jessica @ Abella Blue - http://www.abellablue.com/blog
• Autumn Bradley - http://www.autumnbradley.blogspot.com
• Crow Steals Fire - http://crowstealsfire.blogspot.com/
• Contemporary Jewelry by Beatriz Fortes - http://cjbf.blogspot.com/
• Stacy - http://www.formandfunktionaccessories.blogspot.com/
• Cabbing Rough - http://cabbingrough.blogspot.com
• Brightstar109 - http://brightstar109.blogspot.com/
• Silver Pearl Jewelry and Metalworks - http://silverpearlmetalworks.wordpress.com/
• City Rustic Jewelry - http://cityrustic-art.blogspot.com/
• Becky Campion - http://www.ladysmythmetals.com/blog.html
• Julie - http:/wabibrookstudio.com/blog.php