TallGuyKen

It has been quit some time since I have really paid close attention to all my gallery spaces. In the last 2 months, I have had a lot of changes. The birth of my son has brought with it the strange thoughts that I had when I was just barely a teenager of I can do anything I set my mind to. Thoughts that I feel that some teachers and most hourly jobs tend to program out of you slowly. "You must do it this way and that way for it to be right." and "Do not think outside the box, (It's scary)." Bringing a child into the world is a miracle. I never understood it fully until just a couple of months ago and with that new understanding came the thoughts long lost.

In the last couple of months I have set a lot of things into motion. I have a fully dedicated site to my jewelry at Kennethewebb.com and several social media profiles to help support that. You can find me on twitter @kennethewebb and on facebook  at /KennethEarlWebb . I have never been fantastic at updating any of my site regularly, but I intend to change that. I have even set into place a youtube channel so that I can start making videos of tutorials, processes of a piece, and maybe even a critic - talk video of other peoples works and events. I like the idea of sharing with others and creating a place that all like minded artist can come to learn about jewelry.

As far as deviant art goes, I have been on this site since early 2007. When I discovered it I enjoyed the ability to share with others and to see what was going on. I feel though I have fallen behind the times and don't quit fit with the majority of the site. The site is great, don't get me wrong, but I do not feel like it fits me anymore. I maybe taking down a good portion of the works out of the gallery and turning this profile into a play area for my digital sketches, drawings, and random art not related to jewelry. For that I have my site and my social feeds. So please, if you like seeing what comes next and you have twitter / facebook , follow me to see what I will be doing next.

Thank you to everyone that has watched, commented, and enjoyed my postings on this site.

It has been some time since I have last updated my deviant account.  I believe the last time was back in June of 2010.  Around that time I started to feel the need for change, growth, and to do something greater than I had been thus far.  My art was showing signs of becoming stale warning that I was loosing sight of what I was wanting to do.  Many of the designs I worked on were dumb down versions of previous pieces or simply lacked deep meaning and passion.  This realization of what was happening made me pause and really ponder what it was that I wanted.  I looked inward to see what it was that I needed to get back to were I had been and to continue working on that path.

I spent many months talking with my good friend Kevin and going back to the old design to see what I had lost a long the way.  What was discovered during the last 8 months was that I had slipped into a sort of art rut that comes from lack of inspiration and energy.  This topped with the need to make something people would want to buy instead of the art that I was connected to made it difficult for me to even go to the studio to work.  That wasn’t what I wanted.

  

I didn’t want to make pieces for the sake of selling off.  It was a nice thought at the time and it may work for some.  For me though I could not be fully satisfied by that form of creating.  I needed a deeper connection to the works that I produced.  I wanted people to buy pieces that were apart of me as much as they were separate objects that reflected the wearers own personality.  With this in mind I worked mostly through my sketch book looking for that hidden spark.  I began to go back to the studio to created pieces that were more involved that the simple quick works from the year before.  Each piece I designed and produced brought me closer to the spark I so desperately sought.  My pieces and I were started to show again my passion for making art jewelry.

Towards the middle of last January I went to the ECU Metals Symposium in Greenville NC.  I was able to speak with professional metal smithers, professors, and students from all over the US.  This helped me discover the last hidden feeling I had been struggling to accept.  I was wanting to get my Masters in Fine Arts and exposure to new and inspiring artist.  I ignored this feeling for a long time, the last 3 years in fact, because it meant that I would have to leave the one person that I felt was my rock.  I can not ignore the desire to go off and find more of myself though.  It would only drive myself to misery.  Soon I will start another chapter in the life of an artist and start it by traveling to Phoenix AZ to visit my grandmother and Arizona State University.  It will be the third time I have been on that side of the US and may become my new home for the next 3 years.  So through all this rambling if you have made it this far I hope that at least you get that you shouldn’t ignore your feelings for too long.  You may miss a chance or delay what will eventually happen anyways.

Calling all deviant artist! I need your help with a project that would improve the life of a friend of mine.  I want to toss my idea out there and see what everyone has to say about it.  My friend and I haven't really been around each other for almost a year.  The reason is complicated so I'll leave that part for another day.  I recently heard through the grape vine that they are struggling financially and do not really have any real help.  School is important to them and I want to help make sure that they will make it to the end to graduate.  I sincerely want to make a difference.  This is the only way I know how.  It's also about time I start giving more to the world.

This isn't a call for donations so please don't think that is what I'm asking for.  I have an idea that I need serious feed back on.  The idea is a simple one I believe but will take some work.  Every once and a while I will design a piece of jewelry that is not really along the lines of my other pieces.  The design are not as serious so they usually get set to the side and forgotten.  I want to pull those designs out and produce them to sell on Etsy or other art site.  All the money from the sells will then be donated to help my friend out.

An example of some of these designs are pictured.  This pendant design is a lathed oak disc with an image drawn on it.  I use lightfast black well ink to create the images on the wood using dip pens.  I might use colored well inks and paint in a little accent color or stain the wood.  The wood will be protected with several layers of polyurethane.  I have not fully worked out the bale for these yet. I'm leaning towards a metal band that will wrap around the disc. It would be secured at the top by a tube rivet and a jump ring.  The other bale idea is drilling a hole at the top of the disc with a tube rivet.  The jump ring would go through it.  I would sell it with a colored leather necklace.

I have also thought that I would pass out 10 disc to each of their close friends.  It would bring support and variety to the series.  I would also customize what gets drawn on the pendant too.  My goal is to produce 100 to start.  I am not sure if I should dedicate an Etsy account to the project or add it to my already existing Etsy page.  The price for these pendants is still up in the air too.

  I'm leaning toward $7 USD if the bale is just a jump ring and $10-$12 USD if I go with the metal band.  The pendants would be roughly the size of a US quarter, but they can be made up to 1 inch.  Someone I showed the drawn disc to said that they looked like wooden buttons without the holes.  That is spurring another idea of oversized two hole buttons with inked in designs.  I would be selling them at whole sale cost to help keep the price low.  It is a charitable project. I want it to be a suprise as well, so I thought a dedicated account would help keep it that way.

I would also like to ask for help in promoting this project by spreading the word since I am not really all that good at it.  So in your opinion is this a good idea?  Would it be successful enough to truly help someone out? All suggestions are welcome and greatly appreciated.

We all want to be successful.  For some of us though, success is merely a day dream that seems unattainable.  I am one of those who day dreams about being successful.  Dreams can not fulfill real world results.  It takes more than just a dream and a talent to achieve what you want.  Over the last 6 months I have been studying what it takes to follow your dreams.  I had enough of working for someone else while not getting ahead in life based purely on my work ethics and ability to do what ever job I was given well.  It seems more and more when you are at the bottom of the chain that those alone are no longer rewarded and there isn't anywhere to go except side ways.  I have always held the dream of having a family and owning my own studio business.  My art would support us well and life would be good.  I would travel the world and meet others who I could inspire and be inspired by.  I am talented and learn techniques quickly.  

So how then am I still working for someone else and barely scrapping by?  Hell, I'm not even scrapping by anymore. I'm falling behind on everything, including life.

The decision was made just over a year ago that I would start producing pieces to sell.  Now I'm not producing pieces just to sell.  That isn't my style and I hate the thought of a piece being produced purely for the selling of.  The mass produced jewelry store have that pretty well covered.  I decided  to design limited series of pieces that I could let go into the world to help support my passion.  I want to share this passion of design and art with everyone.  My passion will be how I live.

When I decided to do all of this I was not truly aware of the personal journeys that are involved.  The test of true passion versus infatuation.  Trips into fears and secrets locked below the surface of unconscious thoughts.  The need to change oneself, to force a true examination of who and what we are.

When I started studying, there was a belief that some one had all the rules to success written down.  It was some "how to" list of step by step instructions that would give me the secret without digging to deep.  The more I looked, listened, and searched, the more I realized that there wasn't a secret formula at all.  Everything boiled down to core aspects that are really just common sense.  Those aspects are knowing what you want, acting towards that want,  perseverance, surrounding yourself with good relationships, and truly believing in yourself.  No matter what I read or who wrote it, these are always present when they discussed success.  

Most of these are fairly easy to put into practice.  Dream, do, and keep doing while having fun and surrounding yourself with good people!  The one thing that kept tripping me was truly believing.  This is where I began to dig deeper into the psychological aspect of success.  I questioned if I truly believed.  When I opened this can of worms I was in for a treat!   

I made a three columned list in my head of what I truly believed, was unsure about, and what I didn't believe.  After populating the list I had an understanding of where I was.  I knew without a doubt that I am a hard worker and can achieve everything I set out to do.  I am talented and have a lot to learn still.  My skills are fair and I can improve them.  My design sense is pretty solid and I have a recognizable personal style.  

What am I unsure about?   If I price my pieces accurately and are presenting them well.  If people will want to buy my pieces.  If I truly have what it takes to do all this and what the next course of action is. (These seem pretty common for those just starting out selling)  I am unsure about how to make strong lasting relationships that will support me and improve my quality of life.  I wonder about how deep my passion runs.

Now for the last column.  There is only one thing on this list; but, that one thing is a big issue that affects everything else.  I do not believe I deserve to be successful and happy.  This deep rooted issue works on everything I do or think.  It affects the results of plans I set and the relationships I have.  No matter how much effort I put into the other core aspects of success and what I do believe in, the effort is wasted and undermined by this program.  This belief that I do not deserve what I want most has played out my entire life and up to this point unnoticed.  I'm not blaming my failures on this.  The choice has always been mine.  I decided to listen to this disbelief and allowed it to direct my life.  I allowed others to dictate what I should do and let life affect me.

How did this get programmed into my belief system?  Who knows?  It could have been something I experienced as a child.  My parents always struggled when I was young.  It could have been this, or it could have been something as simple as the phrase “the poor get poorer as the rich get richer” that always seemed to pop up everywhere.  What ever the initial cause of this programming it's a mute point now.  Once I figured out what was undermining my efforts it was easy to see how I allowed it to affect me.  I would sabotage myself in so many ways all across the board in life.  A lot of “if I had done this” and “if I had done that” were washed away.  I wouldn't have done the things to help propel me to being happy and successful.  I was incapable all because I didn't believe I could.

Now that I know a little more about why I am holding myself back, the question is how do I remedy it.  Easy.  The common sense of success with a little modification:  I know that I want to change, I will act accordingly to achieve, surround myself with support, believe I can, and to keep at it.  You might think there is a catch 22 in this logic, and there maybe.  The fact that this ill programming influences everything I do might cause problems with this plan.  I wont fool myself.  Now that I see what it is I can adjust my thoughts little by little.  It also helps that I believe that I can change.  I have already proven to myself many times that I am able to cause deep personal change.

So if you are struggling against and unseen force that seems to block all your attempts at getting results, it might be as simple as adjusting an unconscious  belief.  


A few fair books:

“Secret of the Millionaire Mind” by T. Harv Eker

Helped me understand how much you can be programmed at an early age with what you feel you deserve and don't deserve.  

“Never Eat Alone” by Keith Ferrazzi

An book that showed me that building good relationships is essential to achieving the most out of everything. It made me see that “networking” isn't just about knowing someone to get somewhere.


A few blog reading suggestions:

Craftmba.com www.craftmba.com/
“Creating a Culture of Profit” article www.craftmba.com/2010/06/07/cr…

Zenhabits.net zenhabits.net/
“The Reason You're Stuck” article zenhabits.net/the-reason-you%e…

“How to Become Self Motivated” article  ezinearticles.com/?How-to-Beco…