Bracelet by Sam Patania
Yesterday Ihad a new client come in to look at sapphires for an engagement ring he was shopping for. He was a referral from a relative.I am not very visable to the public, I don’t have a retail store. I sell through two galleries and a resort. I take commissions in my studio and do a very small amount of retailing here. I don’t carry much inventory in my studio. I do have some of my Patania Collection pieces here and portfolios to look through for those wanting ideas for commission work.
The new client was referred to my blog so he could see what type of work I do before he came in to talk to me. I try to let people know what type of work I do before we make an appointment so we don’t waste each other’s time. I do not do every kind of jewelry, I have my specialties and don’t take commissions which would be better done by a good wax carver. I have referrals to give for those types of jobs. I used to take in many more types of commissions but have slimmed down my offerings to what I am passionate about.
The client was trying to categorize me so he could understand if I was the one he would bring his novia to for ring designs. On the one hand I had a fantastic array of sapphires to show him, I got them in from Tim Roark out of Atlanta, but my work is not cad/cam perfect, I am definitely a one of hand made type of metalsmith. He didn’t want to offend me but he was trying to understand so he said that my work was a bit rough. He phrased it as a question to which I agreed, yes, I am not a jeweler, I am much more an artist. I love to experiment, I don’t duplicate my one of pieces. I got the impression that he was looking for a more slick retail atmosphere to make him and his novia more comfortable. I understand that completely. I personally look for local interesting people with whom I can establish a relationship with to do business. But, I understand that many people are not looking for what I look for. For instance I would not look for a computer at a “studio” as I would worry about price.
Bracelet by Sam Patania
As a studio artist I do small scale production and repeat many designs in the Patania Collection. I fabricate here in my studio and occasionally carve wax to send off to Racecar for molding and casting. I don’t reproduce designs I don’t love myself. I have three basic offerings to a potential client. First is the Patania Collection which is a lower price point because all the engineering and production methods have been worked out before they are offered. I design those with multiples in mind. Second offering is commission work where the client is involved in designing and choosing materials and the third is my art work. I want people to enjoy all three of these and they are often all chosen over a period of time by a client. The reasonably priced Collection pieces can be a gift for a loved one. The commissions are important pieces when someone is celebrating an event and the art work is for collectors and people interested in couture work.
The bracelets in the photos are all very simple bracelets made of sterling sheet and pierced by saw work. I had thought of this design years ago but the tooling I had would have been to crude to make what I wanted. It wasn’t until Rio Grande’s Catalog In Motion trade show this year, 2008, when I saw the tools I could use to make these. It was Bonny Doon who came to my aid with their new bracelet forming tools. I was then free to make this style of design. These bracelets retailed at a very reasonable price where I hope more people can feel they can have one of my pieces. These pieces are available through Mark Bahti’s shop, www.bahti.com
Bracelet by Sam Patania
{ 3 comments… read them below or add one }
Char 12.12.08 at 7:42 am
Hi Sam, One thing for sure…I don’t agree that your Jewelry is “rough” by any means! Very different, yes, but far from rough. You have beautiful Designs & the finish work is fantastic…I’m your groupie!
You’re Jewelry is a definite inspiration to me. Thank you for your blog sharing your work. I don’t even check out all the blogs, but I never miss one of yours.
Keep up the good work! Char
SJB 02.25.09 at 10:36 pm
I identify with this post after a decade of representing artisan winemakers who often hail from unknown wine regions and use wine varietals that are unusual and deviate from Chardonnay, Cabernet and Merlot (Diamonds, Rubies and Sapphires). As opposed to art that you can wear, they produce art that you can drink. People often comment to me that these wines are a “hand sell” or are “difficult to understand.” The few people that taste and “get” the wines sometimes become my friends because I’ve found that they are drawn to the same kinds of art that I enjoy (wine, music, jewelry, poetry). I love meeting people like this, but its the ones that don’t get it right away that I keep chasing because I want them to get a glimpse of what’s beyond their comfort zone. It is great that this client actually did stop and think about you and your work, perhaps you opened a little window for him.
Katherine 10.31.09 at 8:38 pm
I completely get it! Lovely stuff!