In the last few days, I’ve been finding amazing wire jewelry through Instagram and I found myself dying to create something with wires. I have never really tried, though it’s always been something I’ve wanted to try.
I have always seen amazing wire jewelry at powwows growing up and even watched one artist create a beautiful earring using only wires. That was my first experience with wire jewelry.
It stuck with me ever since.
So, I’ve been busy the last few days making my own wire jewelry. Maybe not as high end as the artist I watched at the powwow, but not bad.
Nothing is available for sell at the moment, though I’m getting offers from friends and family already, which feels amazing. But I hope to increase my inventory before I start selling, as not to get behind and to work out prices.
The last thing I want to do is undervalue myself. I always feel my work isn’t worth much, so I always sell my work for cheap or don’t sell it at all. But I’m trying to stray from that mindset and put value into everything I do.
Making jewelry is fun and rewarding. To stand back and look at a piece that I had just made feels awesome. I only hope to be able to acquire more tools to be able to make more intricate details and designs.
Most of my pieces will be native inspired; spirals, bead designs, animals, etc…and made with strong wire, and some works will be antiqued by being soaked in Liver of Sulfur.
If you would like to reach out or follow me, you can do so on Instagram at shawneerising or on my Facebook page Shawnee Rising Studios and stay up to date. Whether it’s art or just life, I’ll try to share as much as possible.
I have many projects in the works right now from jewelry, books, paintings, and digital art. If I can keep my focus, I’ll have some of them done by the end of the year. The books keep getting rewritten and the illustrations keep getting redrawn. But I promised myself this was the year things would start getting done.
There’s a life I want to make for myself and my family, and procrastination isn’t getting me there.
I want to say neyiwa, thank you, to my friends and family who support me and the work I do. Your likes and shares mean a lot, they truly do. I usually get to a point where I just want to quit with the art thing and move on, but I have awesome people in my life to keep pushing me to create things.
Neyiwa,
Michael Daugherty 