I LOVE connecting with people about my work and learning what part of a piece speaks to them. Over the years, I’ve learned that unexpected connections in jewelry making often happen in ways I never could have planned. At art shows especially, pieces I was convinced would never sell were sometimes the first to find a home.
It’s funny how, as artists, we can be so critical of our own work. We judge it too harshly and miss how someone else might see something completely different in it.
An Unexpected Connection at an Art Show
In the years when I was doing art shows, one particular experience stands out to me.
I created a bracelet with a woman’s face in the center; her hair swooped high with flowers. The colors did not turn out the way I had hoped, and some of the finer details were softened. I didn’t feel proud of the piece and assumed others would overlook it, but I made it available for sale anyway.
At that show, a woman going through a difficult divorce stopped at my booth. She looked at the bracelet and immediately connected with it. She told me she felt “invisible” in her life and saw herself reflected in the piece. Even with the muted colors, she saw beauty in it, and she saw her own beauty too.
That moment affected me. What I thought was a flawed piece became something deeply personal for her. It reminded me how differently we all see things, and how often the pieces we doubt end up speaking the loudest to someone else.
That woman and I ended up becoming very close friends over time. These days, we walk through both the good and hard seasons of life together.
What Handmade Jewelry Can Carry
Moments like this remind me how powerful unexpected connections can be in handmade work. We cannot always predict the impact a piece will have on someone else.
The pieces we create may not speak to us the way we expect. That does not mean they will not speak to someone else in a meaningful way.
Trusting the Process
As makers, it helps to remember that each piece carries its own story, even if it is not the one we intended. Sometimes the person who finds it is the one who completes that story.
That is something I carry into my work now. I remind myself to trust the process and let each piece find the person it is meant for.
