We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Annie Grimes Williams. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Annie Grimes below.
Annie Grimes, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. One deeply underappreciated facet of entrepreneurship is the kind of crazy stuff we have to deal with as business owners. Sometimes it’s crazy positive sometimes it’s crazy negative, but crazy experiences unite entrepreneurs regardless of industry. Can you share a crazy story with our readers?
I make most of my living from art shows. I do some online sales, some wholesale and consignment with galleries, and teach occasional workshops. In March of 2020, suddenly every single revenue stream I had, except for my meager online sales, suddenly shut down, as it did for many artists and craftspeople who rely on shows and galleries to sell their work. Looking for some way to bring that back and make some much needed income when shows were canceling left and right, my neighbor and fellow artist Emily Clare would see each other out for walks in the neighborhood, and we began talking. We started formulating a plan to create a safe and socially distant outdoor show featuring our own work and other artists in our neighborhood. We convinced 19 other local artists to join us and set up their booths in their own yards or yards of friends along a walkable path through the neighborhood. In September of 2020 we hosted the first Ardmore Art Walk with 21 artists. People were so excited to get out and connect with others, even wearing masks outdoors at the time, that the show was a huge success. We decided to host another Art Walk in December of that year since all other shows had been canceled, and this time we had 40 artists. We hosted two more Art Walks the following year, then dropped back to one a year because each time it grew with more artists as well as more work on the back end with organizing and advertising. But it has become a local favorite event. I also started another local show with my artist collective group The Metal Mavens called FUSE Makers Market in 2022, which is now it its third year. And we are currently working on the eighth edition of the Ardmore Art Walk to take place in November 2024. I never in my wildest dreams would have thought I would become an art show director, but here we are. And that’s how it all started.
Annie Grimes, 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?
I’m a metalsmith and enamelist and the owner and artist behind CopperTide Contemporary Enamel Jewelry. I work out of my home studio in Winston-Salem, NC where I live with my husband, 8 year old son, dog and two cats. I actually didn’t start out with the intention of becoming a jewelry designer and metalsmith. I knew I wanted to have a career as an artist, but I wasn’t clear on what that meant. I started as an art major at East Carolina University with a concentration in Graphic Design. I hated it. I don’t know what I thought it would be, maybe more creating inspired designs that were graphic in nature, but I was not good at designing logos and working with type. I took a metals class in the year 2000 as one of my required 3D credit courses and was hooked. I loved cutting and forming and making a rigid material like copper or silver look flowing and organic. Then I took an enameling class and was absolutely in love. I changed my major and graduated in 2003 with a BFA in Metal Design. I got my first credit card and maxed it out on an enameling kiln. Over the next few years I worked for other artists and galleries while I slowly built my jewelry business with a few consignment accounts, and officially started CopperTide in 2009. I chose the name because I obviously work in copper for enameling, and at the time most of my work was inspired by my love for the sea. Over time, my work has evolved to more expansive natural influences. And it’s currently focused on shapes and textures found in nature but also architecture and period design movements. Color itself plays a huge role in my work, and I enjoy creating unique and interesting color combinations based on mood and season.
I use traditional metalsmithing techniques such as piercing and shell forming to create the metalwork as the base for all of my pieces. I use two different types of enamel. The more traditional enamel powders are the bright solid colors, and those are sifted or wet-packed on the metal surface and then kiln fired. I also use a liquid form white enamel, where the copper pieces are dipped, and then once dry I use a sgraffito technique to hand draw designs and textures into the piece. These are often my graphic interpretations of natural lines and textures I see in the world. (Probably closer to what I thought graphic design would actually be.) These pieces are then kiln and torch fired. The precise application of heat with the torch allows me to draw out the copper oxides which then have a chemical reaction with the enamel and create amazing color variation, each piece being unique.
All of my work is intentionally thoughtful in its inspiration and execution. Unique design, excellent craftsmanship, and attention to detail are what set my work apart. It’s my goal for the people who wear my work to have a high quality piece of art jewelry that they can be proud to wear and pass along to later generations. But I also want the wearer to notice the details in the work, the things that inspired that particular design and to understand why they were drawn to it. I want the work to inspire people to notice the little textures, the color variations, the beautiful lines found in the world around us every day; to take the time to appreciate the beauty all around us and to be bold in celebrating it.
We’d love to hear a story of resilience from your journey.
As I was building my business, I had many other jobs along the way. I only ever had one other full time job working for another company, another artist actually. But when the economy tanked in 2009, the studio shut down and I was laid off. That’s when I took the time to really get my own business started. In 2011, I still had a couple side hustles, but I decided the best way to build by business was to start doing art shows. I had attended many but I didn’t really have any friends who were doing shows in that way that I could ask. So I just dove in. I applied and was accepted to a local festival. I made a lot of new work and purchased booth displays. What I didn’t realize was that this festival was not an artist-focused show, it was just a street festival, and the audience was not one that was there to purchase art jewelry. It was miserable. It was about 107 degrees, and I sold three tiny pairs of earrings the whole weekend. But I learned my lesson about researching shows and audiences. I also learned along the way how to build an eye-catching booth display and how to create a cohesive body of work that not only would look great when presented all together, but would also catch the attention of the right kind of juried art festivals. Now, 13 years later, I am getting invitations to high quality art festivals and shows with the right kinds of audiences and make almost all of my income from selling my work at these events.
How did you build your audience on social media?
I think the best thing about social media is that it’s so accessible. It’s free to use if you don’t have a lot of extra money to throw at marketing, but have the option of paid boosts and ads. It does take time to find your voice and build your brand on social media though. The whole point is to connect with people and show them why they should invest in your brand. I don’t like the kind of strategies that are only focused on selling. Of course that’s the ultimate goal, to sell your work. But I use social media to show my story and who I am as an artist, business owner, and as a person. I find Instagram to be the most effective platform for my work because it’s so visual. I try to post almost every day and share to Facebook. With my posts I try to change it up to keep in interesting – finished work both worn and displayed, inspiration, work in progress, etc. The algorithm is always a challenge, but I use relevant hashtags to try to reach an interested audience. I also try to be active by liking, commenting, and sharing posts from other accounts to build relationships. And I try to respond when people comment on my posts as well.
I also have an email list and send a monthly newsletter with links to my website, a list of shows where I’ll be and links to those, as well as links to my social media. At shows I have an email sign up and a QR code that people can scan to follow me on Instagram. But I think the biggest thing is just trying to build and maintain relationships with like minded audiences, including other artists and brands as well as potential customers.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.coppertide.net
- Instagram: @coppertide
- Facebook: @coppertide
- Other: https://www.pinterest.com/anniegwilliams/ www.metalmavens.org www.ardmoreartwalk.com
Image Credits
larger neckpiece with circles – credit Cole Rodger other individual pieces – credit artist model shots – credit Lauren Carroll