Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Eva Shelley. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Eva, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today Have you been 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? Was it like that from day one? If not, what were some of the major steps and milestones and do you think you could have sped up the process somehow knowing what you know now?

Yea I have been able to make a living off making my work as an artist- though I was told by someone not to put all my eggs in one basket! And I did put all my eggs in one basket- I found a cozy spot to make some income and forgot to continue to network and look for more outlets to sell my work so when hiccups happen it makes it harder to bounce back! The key is to network and always look for more work.

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

I first started working with glass when I was 20 taking private lessons at the Crefeld school in Philadelphia. The Crefeld school is a private school housing middle and high school students and they are lucky enough to have a glassblowing studio in their school where they can learn the process of the craft as part of their curriculum. I started to blow glass when I was 20- so about 25-26 years ago,
I fell in love with the material and process right away and decided to travel and take more classes. I took class at Pilchuck, in Seattle, the Pittsburgh glass center and Salem community college. I transferred my credits from community college and decided to attend temple university to learn more about the process of glassblowing and from there I graduated with a degree in fine art majoring in glassblowing at tyler school of art. I graduated in 2005.

Since I’ve created a small business custom creating glasswork for clients including floral designs, figurines , jewelry, ornaments, decorative dishes and so on

In really love making my floral designs and really want to push the idea of custom creating new designs made for clients . I’d like to get a larger audience in hopes to generate more sales and pieces.

What do you find most rewarding about being a creative?

I love having the freedom of doing what I want pretty much when I want. I’m also often late at showing up on time, and working for myself has really helped out a lot as far as reliving stress of being late . I also love selling my own work. It’s so rewarding learning the value of what I make and seeing what people are willing to pay for my product, and love watching people buy my work.

We often hear about learning lessons – but just as important is unlearning lessons. Have you ever had to unlearn a lesson?

Don’t put all of your eggs in one basket! Things happen though life and it’s not good to get comfortable with one job especially as a creative. It’s a good reminder to always constantly look for more work that is exciting and rewarding. I was told this by one business owner whose location I sold my work on and eventually I did lose his location. He told me one day they might ask me to not come anymore for no reason at all and fill my space with another vender- I was told to not get comfortable and keep looking for work. I got comfortable and stopped looking for more work and realized that lesson was good advice.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.evaeglassworks.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/evaeglassworks_?igsh=MTRjNW92aDY3ZTVkaA%3D%3D&utm_source=qr
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/share/1A1SwNDScH/?mibextid=wwXIfr
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/eva-shelley-7147586?utm_source=share&utm_campaign=share_via&utm_content=profile&utm_medium=ios_app

Image Credits

Joey Del Palazzo for any photos with me in it- Ron farina for two shots and then me for the rest