We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Kristi Lewis. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Kristi below.
Kristi, appreciate you joining us today. Are you happy as a creative professional? Do you sometimes wonder what it would be like to work for someone else?
I love the flexibility that working for yourself and setting your own hours allows. I struggle with inflammation issues, and can be more forgiving with my studio schedule during flare ups, prioritizing my physical well being and moving at my own pace. Being lucky enough to have a job combining my love of geology, fantasy, mythology and jewelry while learning more about metal working is a dream come true. I tend to live in my head scheming up the next collection or design, which means I struggle to stay on top of the more mundane tasks outside of the actual jewelry making fun and feel like I can beat myself up for falling behind. It can be super hard to balance all the tasks self employed artists have, and I don’t know if people recognize that creating is only a percentage of the work artists must do to support themselves. Being your own boss can definitely have its unique challenges, and sometimes I do wonder what it would be like to have the breathing room of a consistent paycheck or health insurance. I just always saw myself working in a creative field ever since getting my GED at 16, and have never been drawn to super structured environments. Most days when I sit down at my work bench or am packaging an order I feel so so grateful that I found an artistic outlet that also allows me to support myself financially while incorporating my interests. Of course getting to play with fire and beautiful stones everyday makes all the stress worth it, as well as the people who support and feel a connection to your art.
Kristi, 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 jewelry making journey started at a super young age with wire wrapping odds and ends into wearable adornments, from trinkets picked up along the road to natural elements found in nature. Many years later metal smithing piqued my interest as a way to create longer lasting talismans from these crystals and bones, ensuring these special relics could be passed down generations, quickly becoming a full time passion upon my first jewelry making class in the form of a month long soldering course for beginners. Picking up a torch and putting fire to metal I became instantly hooked. Every spare second I had outside of working full time as a Hair Stylist was spent hunched over my work bench, consuming youtube videos and sacrificing my finger tips to the fire and occasional hammer kisses while shaping the metal. Taking only one class I consider myself to be a self-taught Smith, and have spent hours pouring over books and experimenting til I found my distinct style. I continue to expand my knowledge as I approach my 7th year as a full time Metal Smith, recently adding wax carving and sand casted styles alongside my hand fabricated ones.
As a self taught Smith I’ve had to provide my own definition of success, while providing high quality fine jewelry with a heavy emphasis on eco friendly practices, as well as supporting lapidary artists directly to ensure they are paid fair wages.
How can we best help foster a strong, supportive environment for artists and creatives?
The most important thing that we can do as a society to make sure artists are supported is to implement policy changes like universal healthcare and rent control. So many of the issues facing people who want to even start a hobby or career in a creative field are financial barriers. Having affordable healthcare tied to a traditional job keeps people working in industries that offer stability, but keep them from pursuing their artistic passions full time because the lack of infrastructure and support provided when self employed. It is so much easier to create when not having to hold down multiple jobs to pay for the rising costs of living on top of outrageous rent. So many artists I know have had to take a step back from what truly inspires them just to barely survive the current housing crisis, and cities are suffering the losses of their working artists which provides much of the culture.To ensure a thriving creative ecosystem cities must do their part to preserve and uplift spaces like artist studios, venues, theatres, galleries, artisan shops and provide grant money for public art works.
Individually its much easier to support your family or friends who are creators by just spreading the word, supporting them on social media, and if you can afford to, buying their work!
Have you ever had to pivot?
I relocated into a larger studio a few months ago in Richmond VA, and decided it was time to finally rebrand my jewelry line. It was originally started under my one chair salon name, and never given its own til now. I am super nervous about transitioning after building a brand under one name for 9+ years, but am extremely excited about the space I have now, and the projects on the horizon. I now have room to pursue welding, plasma cutting and expand my casting area, pushing myself even more in my knowledge of all things fire and metal.
Ruthless Fabrication will soon have a permanent line of made to order classics including favorites of the last decade and some new designs that I can’t wait to show off. My work has been mostly large cohesive collections based on the seasons or mythology, which I will still be offering, but am looking forward to having a consistent line of customizable pieces available on my website.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.ruthlessfabrication.com
- Instagram: ruthlessfabrication