My relationship with making commercial goods is well…turbulent to say the least. From around 2007-2013 i made thousands of garments, bags and accessories. During that time I create some #magic…but it was extremely unsustainable. My line had a gazillion skus, that required photography and marketing. I was doing custom orders and vending markets practically every weekend. Basically i was making every single idea that popped in my head and folks were definatly responding to the explosion of ‘things’ i was featured in the NY Times, The Post and tons of blogs. I did collaborative projects with Nickelodeon and Birkenstocks. I even had a studio that was sponsored by the founder of etsy. Honestly I was horrible at running that business. I didn’t start ‘making’ to manage people and was really bad at delegating. Running a company that generates goods and requires space in a quickly gentrifying NYC is just not the best practice. Especially when you have an upcycling process that requires random deconstruction. I often found my self barely making ends meet, shuffling from one studio space to another pretty much right after i got things set up. I burnt out and was frustrated.
So I decided to take a break get real with money and create a tactile service practice. Not quite sure what it was going to be but I knew I didn’t want to sit behind a computer all day. That was around the time i started doing still life and prop styling. Hell, if i can make a bag i can certainly make a bag look good. In the mean time i saved my monies did some investing, studied the history and current state of economics and how that applied to my life. I developed regular yoga practice and decided to fill in the pieces that I felt were lacking…the boring stuff…the stuff ‘i wasn’t good at’.I always have creative ideas. I wake up with my mind swarming sometimes hurting with all the possibilities…but financial management might as well had been the language of starfish and that was really weighing me down. I learned so much about global markets, manufacturing economics, economies of services vs goods and fast fashion. I learned why ‘making things look good’ provides a better income than actually ‘making things’. I learned to set up a better foundation… and give a business financial wiggle room. I learned that i was using goods a catalyst for my art because at the time i didn’t know folks who bought art or how to go about creating art in public spaces…but i knew folks who buy sneakers and clothes. I also learned that was selling myself short and needed better boundaries.
Styling came easy to me. It’s a solution based occupation and I was very much in the practice of figuring out solutions. In some ways many shoots allowed me to be in my head. It was quite meditative. I have an awesome diverse creative clientele and work with some of the most talented photographers. Things are shifting as they always do. I’m making again but stuff that can be enjoyed my many vs worn by few. My creative practice is a lot less stresssed and it seems the universe is welcoming me in that direction on the form of shows, art sales, opportunities etc. Can’t wait to see what’s down this rabbit hole.
