Ladies and Gentlemen . . . . Countess Nymphaea

I didn't realize I was developing a series until I created Countess Nymphaea.  Princess Rugosa was my inkling, but this beauty sealed the deal.  I had been working with some wonderfully textured and colored agate beads (aka Mexican onyx), creating rosary chain bracelets in fine brass and p-bronze, so those were on the radar.  Then the mail arrived . . .

I opened the package and lost my breath.  My wonderful new friend, Jude, of Jude's Jujus, was kind enough to barter for some lovely Donna Millard beads, and I truly feel that I got the better end of that deal.  (Muahhhh to both of you!)  But I digress . . . .

I had the focal in one of my "stuffz" drawers and would take it out from time to time to ponder its fate, but nothing really came to me.  Until the beads arrived.  Each one is like a tiny Monet, encased in glass.  I visited his gardens in Giverny in the late 90's.  I have no words to describe the impressions that such lovliness etches in the psyche, but these beads transported me to that magical place once again. 

And then I knew.

I pulled out the focal and began laying out beads . . . five hours and three re-makes later, I had my own masterpiece.  Ladies and gentlemen, Countess Nymphaea!

Countess Nymphaea, fourth in the Jardin Destinchance series, features a lovely Art Nouveau maiden rising from a lily pad, framed by lampwork glass and agate beads on handmade rosary chain. 

I think it's probably difficult for people to imagine that something containing just 20 beads and a single focal element could take five hours to create.  If I had simply seen this in a magazine or on someone's website and copied it, it would have taken me about an hour to put together.  But that's not what a jewelry designer does. 

When I post a piece to Facebook or in my Etsy shop, it's the culmination of hours - sometimes days or weeks - of collecting, storing, organizing, pondering, planning, creating, testing, revising, photographing, editing, describing, and posting.  After it posts (and hopefully sells!) I do the packing, wrapping and shipping.  If it doesn't sell right away, I display or store the piece until it finds a new home. 

I design and create the jewelry I sell.  Sure, I use some ready-made things like clasps and I use bits & pieces from broken or vintage jewelry.  But I create my own designs and I make as many of the elements in my finished work as possible by hand.

When you consider all this, $100 doesn't seem like much for Countess Nymphaea, does it?

I could copy other artisan designs and undercut their prices.  I could purchase cheap Chinese-made jewelry and findings on eBay and pass them off as my own at 10 times my cost.  But then my clients would be wearing what everyone else has, and I wouldn't sleep well at night.

So when your oooohs and aaaahhhhs turn to "WTH!!" when you see the pricetag on a piece of artisan jewelry . . . . remember that you're buying a tiny piece of art.  You're buying an original, consisting of hours of imagination, planning and fabrication.  Remember that you're purchasing something that is designed to last for years, not something produced in a sweatshop in China that's designed to last for a single fashion season . . . . or less.  With cheap Chinese mass-produced jewelry, you get what you pay for.  When you buy from an artist, you get far more than what you pay for.