We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Liette Murphy. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Liette below.

Liette, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. If you could go back in time do you wish you had started your creative career sooner or later?

I often think what it would have been like had I started my creative career sooner in life. From childhood I have always been drawn to the arts, whether it was drawing, writing, music, or crafting. My first choice, as a teenager, would have been author or illustrator (or both!) and writing was a passion that I pursued for many years without success. It wasn’t until after college that I took my first metalsmithing class, and even then I didn’t consider this new artistic pursuit to be a possible career choice–it was just another way to express my creativity. However, as I continued to take classes and explored metalsmithing and blacksmithing, I found that I was spending all my free time working with metal. One of my instructors encouraged me to look into graduate programs for jewelry, going so far as to put together a whole binder of options for furthering my education, while the other was quite disparaging of my efforts. Looking back I see that I let fear guide my decisions and I decided to listen to that negative voice; I continued treating metalsmithing as just another hobby. And yet, over the years I never stopped making. I bought books and invested in tools, and put together a small workshop in my apartment. I was working in the restaurant industry as my full time job, and jewelry-making became my side hustle. There was never enough time to fully commit to my art, and I was always feeling frustrated.

I do wonder what would have been different had I chosen to pursue a graduate program, or some other path to further my skills and education in metalsmithing. But there are no guarantees that I would have been happier or more fulfilled, or even that I would have found a career as a jeweler. Being in a position to carve out time for what I truly loved has made it that much more important to me. Although I worked in the restaurant industry for over 30 years, I jumped from job to job, always looking for a position that would give me more time and freedom to do what I really loved. That time working for someone else, although frustrating, was not wasted. I learned a lot about running a business that I’m able to apply now to my own business. There’s always that little voice that says “what if”, and a part of me that wishes I could have pursued my passion earlier in life, but I wouldn’t give up the longer journey I have taken. It has given me a lot of beautiful experiences and informed my art in ways I can never fully express in words. Being able to pursue a creative career full time now is that much sweeter because of the journey.

Liette, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

My name is Liette Murphy and I am the designer/metalsmith behind Flying Crow Metalworks. I am an Arizona-based artist who designs and fabricates art jewelry using a variety of metalsmithing techniques. I first learned metalsmithing, blacksmithing, and jewelry design at Pima College in Tucson, AZ, and I started my business in 2011. My jewelry has a modern and contemporary feel, influenced by the natural world, and inspired by ancient techniques for working with metal.

As a jewelry lover, I want to wear something that is different from the mainstream, which is why I specialize in one-of-a-kind jewelry pieces. All of my jewelry is hand fabricated by me in my home studio. I create collections that often revolve around, and are inspired by, the unique stones and gems I have hand selected. Some designs see new life in repeated themes that are slightly different from their sisters, either because of the unique stones, or due to the nature of handmade and my desire for novelty!

We’d love to hear a story of resilience from your journey.

When I first started taking metalsmithing and jewelry making classes, there were three instructors in the department. Two of the teachers were very encouraging to me. But I took (and re-took) most of the classes from the third instructor, who taught the intermediate and advanced courses. Most of the students were taking these classes as an elective, but I already had my degree and I was working full time. I began repeating the classes each semester so that I could have access to the lab and equipment, and to continue practicing and honing my skills. I spent all my free time at open labs, and the instructors would let me sit through classes I hadn’t signed up for, as long as I stayed out of the way. As time went on that third instructor began to disparage my work, never outright putting me down, but always with some remark meant to let me know my pieces weren’t up to his standards. He even had his old professor from the university come to visit one of our classes, and while I was raising a copper vessel the professor pronounced my efforts to be “B or C work at best”. I’d never even met this person, but it was clear to me that my instructor had put him up to this. It was around this time that one of the other instructors had started encouraging me to look into graduate school. I’ll admit that I let the negative remarks get to me. In reality I used them as an excuse to not challenge my own fears; I was afraid that I wasn’t good enough. Not long after that I quit taking classes.

However, I couldn’t stop making jewelry! I started buying books, and I kept at it. There were many times after I started my business that I decided it was too hard, I wasn’t good enough, no one was buying my work so I should just quit. But I couldn’t bring myself to walk away from something that, although challenging, brought me so much joy and fulfillment. It took a long time, and required a lot of work and dedication, but eventually I got to a point where I was able to quit my “day job” and pursue my business full time. There’s always going to be a negative voice telling you that you aren’t good enough. These days it’s my own voice I hear. On the days when I hear that voice I try to recognize that it is my own fear talking, and let it fuel my desire to get better at what I do.

What do you find most rewarding about being a creative?

There are so many challenges that come with running your own business, especially as an artist. But after working nearly 35 years for someone else, it feels good to know that all my hard work is going to directly benefit myself and my family. Finally being able to fully immerse myself in doing what brings me the most satisfaction is truly rewarding. While I’m consistent in my work practice, I have a lot of freedom and flexibility as well, and that has been really beneficial to my home life. I’m able to create more balance between my family and my business. There are some tasks in running a business that I don’t love as much as others, but because it’s all in pursuit of my art, it feels more satisfying to take on those chores.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.flyingcrowmetalworks.com
• Instagram: https://instagram.com/flyingcrowmetalworks/
• Facebook: https://facebook.com/flyingcrowmetalworks/

Image Credits

All images are mine