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I’m doing #The100DayProject Again!

2018 100-Day Project

Last year I did #the100dayproject and completed it! You can find out more about the general concept of the project at www.the100dayproject.org. In 2018 I made 100 pairs of earrings. I wrote a little bit about it here: http://carleyknight.com/art/a-new-direction/

Earrings I made for my 100-day project last year

you can find more of my earrings on my Instagram Account.

2019’s 100-Day Project

This year I decided to make necklaces. If you want to follow along, you can see my progress on my Instagram account: @CKnight_jewelry or Facebook page: @CarleyKnightArt.

Day 15 of 100

I hand make the necklaces using beads I repurpose from older pieces of jewelry, some of which are vintage. I usually get my pieces of jewelry from thrift stores or rummage sales during the summer. I then wire-wrap the beads and use chain and a lobster clasp to complete the necklace. I am really liking the results so far. I’ve been playing with shapes and color combinations.

Day 16 of 100

The reason why I’m doing #The100DayProject is mostly intrinsic motivation. I’ve felt like I’ve been stuck in a rut all winter and I have not been productive creatively. To be honest, looking back I was a little depressed. I wanted to express myself artistically and do something every day.

Day 20 of 100

When I heard that the 100-day project was starting up again, to be honest, I wasn’t sure I wanted to participate. I only decided on April 2nd that I would participate and would be making necklaces. Doing the 100-day project has awakened me creatively, I’ve started to paint and sketch again! More importantly, I’ve been feeling better too.

Day 13 of 100

Today is day 21 of my 100-day project and I’m really liking the results. Even though the reason I’m doing it is personal, I managed to sell 1 necklace so far! I mean, I would still be making my necklaces no matter what other people think, but it is nice to be validated in that way.

Day 11 of 100

Speaking of selling, I just created a shop on my site: carleyknight.com/shop you can find my jewelry listed there for sale. I’m still listing items, but you can check out my necklaces and bracelets.

Day 9 of 100

I’m looking to do more fairs and festivals over the summer, and am still looking for venues to sell, if anyone has any leads, please let me know. You can email at info@carleyknight.com

Day 7 of 100

I would appreciate it if you were to stop by my shop there and support me! Thanks for your time.

Categories
jewelry

Playing Small vs Playing Big

I am striving to do the work. In the last two weeks since I have written my last post, Hard Decisions I have done less than I feel I am capable of doing. When I said that I wanted  to start selling my jewelry I wasn’t specific enough. I have floundered without a set schedule or clearly defined work. I have done stuff, just not the high-level stuff that will move me and my business forward. In short, I let my fears and anxieties win. I haven’t been taking myself seriously, first as an artist and now as an entrepreneur.

I make good jewelry, I don’t want to brag or sound arrogant, but I have worked hard over the years and built up my skill sets. What I’m struggling with now is figuring out exactly what I want and need and figuring out exactly how to do it. My problem is that I’ve played small, not living up to my potential.

I have read a lot lately. I’m halfway into the book: Playing Big* by Tara Mohr, in which she talks about woman’s issues and how they hold themselves back, for many reasons, culturally and otherwise. She talks about the inner critic. According to Tara the inner critic is “…’the voice of not-me’ -the internal chatter that tells a woman she’s not ready to lead, she’s not enough of an expert, she’s not good enough at this or that. It’s the voice of self-doubt, of the inner critic.” I identify strongly with her idea of the inner critic. I think that way a lot.

I have listened to the voice of my inner critic too much these last few weeks, letting my fears and “what if’s” get the best of me and letting it prevent me from doing the work that I need to do. The good news is that instead of waiting for the voice to go away “…you simply need to learn how to live with the inner voice of self-doubt but not be held back by it, to hear the voice and not take direction from it.” Tara writes: “In fact these woman [Cherry Murray and Twyla Tharp] grapple with self-doubt because they are playing big, regularly exposing themselves to criticism and visible failures and expressing their unique ideas and leadership in the world. Their words show they’ve been able to play big because they know to recognize the inner critic as just voice within – not the ultimate authority”

In order to deal with the inner critic what you need to do is label it, recognize that it there and keep going. “It seems too easy, but it’s true: you don’t have to do all that much with your inner critic.” says Mohr. This is very counter-intuitive to me, because what I’ve thought in the past is that I need to fight against it. I wrote about my fears in a blog post called “Choice and Fear“.  I need to remember, as Tara says: “You are not the critical voice. You are the person aware of the critical voice.”

In the book, Mohr gives 9 strategies for dealing with the inner critic, which I will not get into here, but the main thing not to do is not engage, don’t argue with it. The reason for this is: “When you spend any time arguing with the critic, the critic is ‘winning’ because while you are busy arguing with it, you are not doing your thing, putting your voice out there, risking failure to fulfill your aspirations, nurturing your budding dreams.” I love the language that Tara uses when she writes.

In conclusion, having an inner critic is a good thing, as Ms. Mohr writes: “many women find their inner critic speaks up most loudly around their most deeply felt dreams for their lives and work, because we feel particularly vulnerable about them. They experience the most panicky, overwhelming, self-doubt when they are moving towards what they truly long to do. The inner critic is like a guard at the edge of your comfort zone…when you hear a major inner critic attack, you can often greet it as good news: it likely means you are playing bigger.” Because my inner critic has been so active that means that I’m headed in the right direction. If I didn’t hear my inner critic, then I would be running away from what I am meant to do. I want to play big.

I’m working on playing bigger, staying in the uncertainty zone. I’m going to try some of the suggestions in the book and do some of her exercises. I need to work on acknowledging that the inner critic is speaking, naming it and moving on.

Is there anyone else here struggling with moving forward in the face of your inner critic? What strategies are you using? Please let me know if you are, I’m interested in hearing more.

 

 

  • *please note, this is an affiliate link if you click it and buy something I will get a small amount of money*
Categories
art jewelry

Hard Decisions


Hard Decisions

Or Shifting my Focus

I have come to a fork in the road, my path could lead in many different directions, but I feel I need to make a decision now. I’m tired of drifting endlessly and being so indecisive. When I declared myself an artist in November 2015 (see link here) I was very vague, I didn’t articulate what exactly I meant by being an artist. I’m at a point now where I can look at the bigger picture and I’ve come to a decision. Have you ever gotten to this point before? I know I have many times, but this time feels different.

I’ve decided to shift my focus away from the path of a fine artist and a focus my energy on to my jewelry business. There are many reasons why I decided to shift focus. Mostly it is because I feel drawn to making jewelry, it was my first love.

This is not a decision about running away, it’s about moving forward. Jewelry will be an equally hard path as that of a fine artist, but I feel as though it’s more exciting to me. The idea of pursuing it gives me energy, as opposed to the vague notion of being an artist. I’m not 100% percent certain that this is the right decision, but I learned the decision-making isn’t about being absolutely certain, it’s about taking a leap of faith. Besides, life would be so boring if you always knew what was going to happen. That said, I have decided to commit to selling my jewelry 100% percent for the next six months.

I have been making jewelry for a lot longer than I have been painting. I feel more confident about my jewelry making skills and some of my pieces are selling. If I focus my energy on one specific project, who knows how far I’ll go?

In the next post I’ll share my history with jewelry making if you are interested. Please comment below to let me know what you think.

I’m going to focus this week on selling my copper disc necklaces. Come check them out and if you know someone who might like them, feel free to share.

I have come to this decision thanks to many people, first of all thanks to the support of my fiends at fizzle.co and my friend Lisa Walker England. I’d also like to thank my mother, without whom I’d be nothing (literally).