Corinabeads and challenges

They don't buy it because they like the item but merely for a chance to
resell it for a profit.

I think some buy just to have a piece by a popular artist, to make themselves
look good. Be in with the in crowd. I'VE got a piece of her work...



......Stephanie.....

I think there will always be sellers at the lower ends, price-wise. I
also think you will always be able to buy beautiful, well-made beads at
the lower end of the price range. There's a niche for everyone... my
personal niche is in making beads for jewelry designers, and I would
have to completely re-niche myself if I wanted to charge more for my
beads. Frankly, I'm very happy doing what I'm doing, which is
specializing in high-quality beads that are affordable enough to be
re-sold in jewelry.

-Kalera
http://www.beadwife.com
http://www.snipurl.com/kebay


Su/Cutworks wrote:
Fran wrote:


That's how I see it. The market for mainstream artisan
lampwork beads is currently capped at a thou! That
benefits every beadmaker/beadseller out there (in varying
degrees, of course, but it's a positive nonetheless). Yay
for us!


Yep. The higher the bar is raised the more beadmakers out there have a
chance at getting a higher price even at the mid-range or lower end of the
market. It helps everyone except us poor bead buyers. :-)

-Su

Yep yep yep. The stuff I was *selling* ten years ago would literally get
flung into my garden today. Most of the stuff I saw for sale, and much
of the stuff getting featured in magazines, would be considered
unsalable newbie work by and large, nowadays. But... that's because
almost all of us *were* newbies at the time, and didn't have a body of
knowledge and experience to draw from. I remember figuring out how to
make dots with stringer... oooh, how clever.

And I agree about buying newbie lampwork. I really enjoy it, and I love
buying lampwork from the same artist a year later and seeing how much
they've grown. I get really excited looking at established artists and
wondering what they'll be doing in a year... what horizons they'll be
advancing!

-Kalera
http://www.beadwife.com
http://www.snipurl.com/kebay


Kathy N-V wrote:
-snip-
The only real responsibility we have as buyers is to be really fussy
about what we buy. If we refuse to accept crap, we force beadmakers
into making good stuff and to keep learning new and better skills.
When I look at Bead and Button mags from ten years ago, it shocks me
how well, crummy the beads were. Making dots was considered the
epitome of skill.

I compare the top-tier of lampwork today (say in "1,000 Beads") to
that of a decade ago, and that stuff isn't even close to the same
league. The art is evolving, and getting better. By insisting on
buying good stuff, and paying a fair price for it, everyone benefits.
That doesn't always mean buying from top "names," it means buying
items that are on the cutting edge of the art, no matter who made it.
-snip-

Yes on all counts!

-Kalera
http://www.beadwife.com
http://www.snipurl.com/kebay


Karin Cernik wrote:
"IN" Bawlmer would be the critical phrase here.... :-) My guess would
be it's not in the newly gentrified areas of the city, and it may be a
while before it's inhabitable, let alone a safe neighborhood. But those
reclamation projects have to start somewhere.

Karin

Kalera Stratton wrote:

My friend Michael is looking at a 4-bedroom brick home in Baltimore
that's up for sale for $18,000.

-Kalera
http://www.beadwife.com
http://www.snipurl.com/kebay

Kaytee wrote:

In article , "~Candace~"
writes:



I could buy a 4 bedrom house here for $20,000!


Where is that? India?

$20K won't even add a room to an existing house, here. And may not even be
enough to remodel the kitchen.
Kaytee
"Simplexities" on
www.eclecticbeadery.com

Wow, and in Portland it's $1400!

-Kalera
http://www.beadwife.com
http://www.snipurl.com/kebay


vj wrote:
vj found this in rec.crafts.beads, from "~Candace~"
:

]Even rentals here are amazing--for example, my own home--$350 (plus $35 a
]month for the land care, cause we have no lawn equipment) for a 3 bedroom, 1
]bath, Big kitchen, full sized laundryroom and attached mud room.

and in Sacramento, that's $1000/month.

And... I was totally wrong! One of the sellers shared on a public
forum... it's this:

http://snipurl.com/8udw

Now, what am I going to do with that 1/2 kilo of Gaffer Light Tobacco I
have on order? LOL!

-Kalera
http://www.beadwife.com
http://www.snipurl.com/kebay


Kalera Stratton wrote:
How about this? (I could be wrong but...)

http://snipurl.com/8u3o

-Kalera
http://www.beadwife.com
http://www.snipurl.com/kebay


Lori Greenberg wrote:

Kalera Stratton wrote:

AW!

(Make sure it's Gaffer)



Now you've got me confused. I could only find Zimmerman Opaque. I
guess I'll have to go look some more.

Lori-no-signature-yet-Greenberg

And -- with ANY art (doesn't matter what it is) -- I've found that the more you
know about the history of art as a whole, the more answers about "What is Art?
And what isn't Art?" fall into place.

If you KNOW art, it's easier to make distinctions. As opposed to simply
*feeling* it -- although feelings are very important. It helps to have every
tool (in your head) that's available.
~~
Sooz
"Try to define soul in a way that everyone agrees on, and then maybe we'll have
a basis for defining art." Kalera Stratton, glass artist

It helps bead-buyers too. If the prices are reasonably high, talented
people can afford to keep lampworking - when prices are dirt cheap,
they can't earn enough to make the lampworking worthwhile. You'll
also get more people making beads on a full time basis, which means
they get lots of practice and make nicer beads.

*And* they're freer to take artistic risks! That's an aspect I just love.
~~
Sooz
"Try to define soul in a way that everyone agrees on, and then maybe we'll have
a basis for defining art." Kalera Stratton, glass artist

And I agree about buying newbie lampwork. I really enjoy it, and I love
buying lampwork from the same artist a year later and seeing how much
they've grown. I get really excited looking at established artists and
wondering what they'll be doing in a year... what horizons they'll be
advancing!

This, to me, is now the most thrilling part of buying lampwork from artists (as
opposed to the mass-produced stuff, which I don't buy anyway).
~~
Sooz
"Try to define soul in a way that everyone agrees on, and then maybe we'll have
a basis for defining art." Kalera Stratton, glass artist

I love reading Corina's chats, and HER DOGS JUST KILL MEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!

Scooter & Bonzo:
http://snipurl.com/8ui8
Three are photos of them all over her site, but I still want MORE!

I just hope everyone can remember that Corina is a person and she sees all
of this and has feelings about it. People should read the chats on her
website


~~
Sooz
"Try to define soul in a way that everyone agrees on, and then maybe we'll have
a basis for defining art." Kalera Stratton, glass artist