We were lucky to catch up with Joe Silvera recently and have shared our conversation below.
Joe, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. Are you able to earn a full-time living from your creative work? If so, can you walk us through your journey and how you made it happen?
Back in 1991, I graduated and started working as a jeweler by day and cultivating a career as a jewelry artist. 14 laters I would be the owner of a jewelry school. Somewhere along the way I became successful, I had a mostly stable income from making things, and at first I didn’t have a clue how to even start.
How many artists have a business plan? I graduated with a BFA in Jewelry Arts and we never spoke about how to sell your work, make a living, etc. Seems like it’s the same story for painters, sculptors and others who love to make stuff, but dread selling. You would think it would be an essential part of our training, but it’s not. You’re on your own to find the path to enduring success. Sure, now there are more books and online sites to give you advice, but back in the 90s, I felt like I had to figure this out myself.
I was lucky to find a business course for artists. There were some good take aways from it that helped me to succeed. First, is to realize that you’re not just an artist. You’re also a sales person. So sales person conjures up images of a used car salesman, unblinking eyes like a opossum, watching nervously, and ready to pounce. Not attractive. But truthfully, if I couldn’t sell my work, who could?
Next one: have as many sources of income as you have fingers on one hand. The wisdom behind this was that when one income stream was not doing well, like slow sales at a craft show, I could pick up the slack with something else. For example, my income could come from selling wholesale, retail, custom work, freelancing as a designer for other companies and teaching. Good advice. A good part of any plan. I just had to put it into action, and deal with any of the so called failures and bumpy starts, until I figured out how to make it work!
And finally, don’t undersell yourself. It’s so hard as a beginner to really value your time. Most artists barely sell for more than their materials cost and don’t even realize it. Why? There are lots of reasons, from inexperience to imposter syndrome, to charge too little for your work. My business teacher’s advice? Before you quote a price to someone, double it. As much as it curls your toes, just double that number. And you may just be surprised at how ready they are to buy.
So with 2 jobs as an apprentice jeweler, I used my free time to design a line. I paid to sell at wholesale and retail shows, I sold my work to craft galleries, and cultivated custom jobs for wedding rings, etc. For me, selling at the shows was the worst. Completely unpredictable how well a show would turnout. One thing was constant: lots of expenses. Booth fees, inventory, lodgings, travel expenses, etc. Whether the sales were good or bad, the expenses still had to be paid.
It turned out that freelancing for other jewelry designers and teaching would become my best income sources. There’s no way that I could know that starting out. But by trying not just one, but several different ways to sell my work, I figured out that those two ways were the best.
Now, at the ripe age of 56, I’ve been teaching for over 21 years. My wife, Anat, introduced me to teaching jewelry. First we moved around, teaching at bead stores, festivals and by invitation all around the US. In 2005, we settled down with a bead and yarn shop of our own, and we both taught jewelry classes in our first classroom space.
When the economy tanked in around 2007-2010, Anat and I moved our school to Berkeley, CA. We soon moved from a 400 square foot classroom to more than double that size. Now we own the Silvera Jewelry School, we’ve earned a reputation as a great jewelry school, and we have a new business partner: Jenn Parnell Kirkpatrick.
How I got here was never clear from the start. I had to be just as creative about how to make a living as I was to make jewelry.
Joe, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?
My first loves were drawing and painting, followed closely by sculpture. I’d been drawing since I was 7 years old. But when I stepped into the jewelry studio during my university program, I fell in love with the ringing strikes of hammers on metal, with steel anvils and flaming torches. It was just all so wonderful!
As I searched for my voice as a jewelry artist, I was drawn to what I’d enjoyed making before: images and sculptures of animals, people, and plants. I took my love of figurative sculpture and transformed it into rabbit rings, frog pendants, and ladybug earrings. My nickname around the shows was the “bug guy”, because of all of the butterfly, ladybug and bee charms in my jewelry line. Along the way, I met fantastic craftspeople and made new friends, some of the best I’ve ever had.
And that’s one of the things I love about jewelry – no matter what your background, you can bring it to the craft of jewelry making. Photography? You can anodize or etch or even enamel photos on metal. Like to draw? You can paint and draw on the surface of the metal. Got a degree in marketing or business? Use it to help you sell and maintain your livelihood as a jewelry artist.
Being a part of a community of makers is also priceless. There’s nothing like that energy and understanding you get when you’re sharing your love of creation with a another artist. It’s joyful to share what you know and to learn from others.
When I found my path curving towards teaching in the early 2000s, I knew in my heart that I found a way to be a part of the community, to help new jewelers to learn the traditional ways to work in metal, and a lasting place in the center of creative energy. As a teacher I can inspire students, teach them how to make a safe place to make jewelry at home, and be in turn inspired by their excitement for jewelry.
I count myself fortunate to be part owner of my own jewelry school with my wife, Anat and our partner Jenn. We can make, teach and live by the work of our hands.
In turn, our school focuses on helping students to find their creative voice, and teaching jewelry techniques with a focus on using safe tools and materials, both for personal health and to do right by the environment. Students can learn with us in person and online in their home studios. We make it safe and simple to continue to make jewelry with home friendly tools.
How can we best help foster a strong, supportive environment for artists and creatives?
I was fortunate to have arts programs in middle school and high school. My teachers provided me with the skills and support, and most importantly the encouragement to seriously consider a career as an artist.
In many ways, we’ve moved our education system so far towards academics and testing, that a whole group of students who gravitate more towards making and creating often get left behind.
My opinion is that we should invest in our future by making education free. But not just for STEM programs, which are important. But also for more hands on vocations, like the arts, crafts, invention and manufacturing. Germany is a good example. If you’re not interested in an academic degree, you can go to vocational school for free, including the jewelry arts. And they offer help with job placement. Imagine that? No student loans, and a lot more people with the skills to make things, invent and bring beauty and ornament to our lives.
I would also like to see cities and states investing in the vibrant energy and renewal that artists bring to communities. Artists are the pioneering plants that take the vacant lot and transform it into a garden. This small scale improvement is often more in tune with the environment, and more sustainable. Time and time again, others then move in and profit from this labor. Why not put the vacant super stores and warehouses in the hands of makers? Give them space and support, turn them into studios and incubators for small businesses. Now imagine how much better life could be for everyone when we really support the arts.
What’s a lesson you had to unlearn and what’s the backstory?
In school, I was lucky to be well rounded in my education. I could write creatively, studied math up to the level of calculus, did fine in science classes, and of course put a lot of energy into my arts education. But that ability to do a lot of things was actually more of a burden than a boon.
One of my bosses said to me once, as a self employed person you can only sit in one chair at a time. If you try to take on too many jobs, you won’t be able to give each one a 100% of your focus. When I started out, I was designing my jewelry line and selling, but I also learned html to code my own site, navigated my bookkeeping and accounting, and advertised myself any way I could. But it was all a big learning curve. I knew how to make jewelry, but I was trying to learn all of the these other skills, tool. I just couldn’t see how much it was draining my creative energy.
Today, in the 21st century of social media and constant contact with texts, smart devices, etc, there is so much more to distract and derail my creative time. In a lot of ways, it was easier to focus in the before times, so to speak.
What I had to unlearn was trying to do everything. Instead, I needed to embrace what I enjoyed and did well, like making jewelry and teaching, and try to farm out as much of the rest of it that I could to trusted professionals. There are so many more resources to do this today. Don’t feel like you’re saving money by doing it yourself, was my lesson. I just couldn’t see how much of my time I was devoting to things other than my creativity and making, which was the real heart of my business. If I could make better jewelry and sell it, I can pay for the other people to do my website, accounting, etc.
Contact Info:
- Website: http://www.silverajewelryschool.com
- Instagram: silverajewelryschool
- Facebook: silverajewelryschool
- Youtube: silverajewelryschool
Image Credits
Photos by Joe Silvera and Jenn Parnell Kirkpatrick