Online Exclusive
Victoria Hughes: Making Spirit VisibleA Self-taught Artist Reveals Her Secret to Finding A Balance In Her Work and Her Life
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Online ExclusiveVictoria Hughes: Making Spirit VisibleA Self-taught Artist Reveals Her Secret to Finding A Balance In Her Work and Her Life |
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| by Noelle Backer |
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TCR: How and when did you get involved with polymer clay?
TH: I first ran across Fimo, the original brand of polymer clay, when I was 13, living in Paris. Fimo is a German product, developed as a kids' modeling material. Being a typical kid living in Europe, I naturally picked it up and experimented with it.
I was interested in it because it was so unknown, so easy, and so versatile. Fimo quickly responded to my curiosity by being many different kinds of material, although at that age all I cared about was that it would do all the things I wanted it to do, with no fuss or mess, and do them durably enough to survive the next move.
TCR: How did you pursue it?
TH: I made a lot of small sculptures and jewelry, sold some of them, gave some to friends, and just kept going from there. I've been making and selling things since I was 14. My family is very hands-on: my father was an engineer with GE and made things in the basement, my mother's studio was the spare bedroom. Learning about a material by playing and experimenting and making things was a normal response, given my family culture.
I am self-taught in this medium. I did not go to art school; I went to a liberal arts college and majored in studio art, and minored in geology. At the beginning, there was very little information about polymer clay.
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TCR: What challenges did you face in the beginning?
TH: I never thought of doing my art as a challenge. Learning and generating ways to integrate other aspects of living into doing my art ... like establishing a schedule for myself that allowed time off, so that I didn't burn myself out, have occasionally been challenges. And being comfortable fine-tuning prices and terms as my work changes.
TCR: How did you overcome them?
TH: By sheer will and meditation. And paying attention to what's happening in my life, how I am creating it, and therefore how I can change it. ... I have watched this struggling-artist thing my whole life. It's not supposed to be that way! Creativity is our human delight, our joy -- it's not meant to be a struggle. ...
It took a lot of years to learn that I have to be in charge of my parameters around time in the studio. I worked for four years straight in my late twenties -- no vacation, rarely even a Sunday off; because there was a large demand for my work, and I didn't feel right telling gallery owners I would ship in six weeks instead of four weeks. The inevitable happened -- I burned out. I couldn't make anything. ... I learned that lesson the hard way. Sure, I had friends and relatives all saying, "Take a break, honey, you look so tired," but I wouldn't [listen to] them until I went all the way to the end and over the edge.
TCR: Where and how did you first begin selling your work?
TH: In terms of my business as an adult, just after college I was actually making one-of-a-kind handmade wearable art -- assemblages of antique fabrics and embroidery and beautiful pieces of this and that. The pieces were sort of Japanese in feel, very lovely and ceremonial, and way too labor-intensive. I went around to galleries in southern Connecticut and Westchester County to sell those, but the prices were too high for retail. At the first gallery, the owners bought my fabric pieces at wholesale for themselves (couldn't commit to ordering for their stores), but wanted to know where I'd gotten my necklace. I had made it ... Hmmm. [They asked immediately if I] could make more of those ... by next week. The second gallery didn't even buy my fabric pieces, just went right for the jewelry. That was a clear enough sign for me.
I started selling to galleries and boutiques in the New York/Connecticut area, which is a great area for jewelry sales. I was fortunate to start showing work in a part of the country that has an affluent and sophisticated population. I tried a rep briefly, but for me it did not work out well. She had unspoken agendas ... and I wanted to do one-of-a-kind work and she wanted me to do production. It all culminated in a large order from Florida that I filled, and then did not get paid for. The rep refused to be involved. I finally called the Volunteer Lawyers for the Arts in New York, whose letterhead put the 'Fear Of God' into the Florida company. I was paid almost four months after shipping the jewelry.
I know this is not characteristic of all reps -- I have friends who swear by their reps. I'd actually be happy to try a rep again -- that was almost 20 years ago, and I have a production line now.
About a year after I started selling to galleries and stores, I did one local craft show. The Milford Oyster Festival. What a wonderful and bizarre scene. I had one-of-a-kind polymer clay and mixed-media jewelry, priced from $30 to $350. Next to my booth was a man selling Harley-Davidson T-shirts, and across from me was a guy selling those foam rubber ducks with paddle feet that are pull toys, for two bucks a duck. I actually sold a lot of jewelry to couples who were as bemused by my being there as I was. The next year I did the West Springfield/ACC (American Craft Council) show, and never looked back.
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TCR: Have there been major turning points in your career? What changes resulted in the 1990 renaming of your business?
TH: Well, doing the ACC shows and other upper-end shows certainly changed my approach to my business. When I began doing them, there were no other artists working in polymer clay selling at the shows. There also was very little public information about the material. Consequently, I did as much educating as I did selling. ... As I involved people in what the material was and how I worked with it, they learned to appreciate what they were seeing. And ... they could put more value on their own positive response to the work. Unfortunately, people often seem to need permission to like something enough to buy it. I don't push sales; telling them about what they're looking at gives them a chance to say yes internally, and then to feel OK about buying the piece.
In 1989, one of my assemblage postage-stamp pins was on the cover of Ornament magazine. This came about in a serendipitous way. My jewelry was in an exhibition at Sculpture to Wear in Los Angeles, and I flew out to the opening. Ornament reviewed the show, and interviewed me since I was there. The cover story considerably boosted interest in and sales of my work, and the effects have lasted to this day. I've been featured in several other issues of Ornament as well.
In 1990, I moved from Massachusetts to Marin County, Calif. ... This was a turning point. I changed the focus of my business, from being one of primarily object-making to one of unified balance and creative expansion. The name change, from Art For Life to ArtRanch, reflects my desire to be creative and courageous in all aspects of my life. No longer limiting my willingness to be creative to one particular facet of my life but acting upon it everywhere -- my object-making, my teaching, my writing, my spiritual path, and understanding my greater purpose on this planet, which is to live a fully creative life.
So 1990 was when I committed myself fully to this expanded creative life. I made a sign for my studio: "Make Spirit Visible." That is my motto for my work, my art, my teaching, my presence. I want that purpose to resonate in everything I do.
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TCR: Who is the market for your work?
TH: TH: Most of my clients and collectors are women, 35-65 years old, who are intelligent, thoughtful, view themselves as a little outside of the mainstream, as a bit adventurous, and as independent thinkers. Often moderately affluent, but not always. Often well-traveled. Not especially interested in the predictable, the normal, the safe. My jewelry is different, evocative, tends to draw attention. People who buy it want to illustrate their own uniqueness by what they wear, and don't mind a bit of attention themselves. They see something of their own desired presence in the presence of the pieces I make.
I certainly have customers outside that thumbnail sketch. Men buy my pieces sometimes for themselves, sometimes for women. I do make pieces that are not gender-specific, and of non-jewelry items. I make a wide range of types and prices of objects, so there's usually something for everyone.
TCR: How do you reach them?
TH: When I was doing nothing but jewelry and small sculpture, I did two ACC shows a year, usually West Springfield and either Baltimore or San Francisco; and several smaller, high-end retail shows, like Crafts at the Castle, or the Westport (CT) show. So the wholesale shows kept me busy through the year, and gave me great exposure -- that's how Sculpture to Wear found me, at West Springfield. And the smaller shows gave me income boosts and great contacts.
I don't do advertising for my jewelry. I do occasional mailings when I am doing a show in the area.
For years, wholesale and retail were my only source of income. I've gone through the situation of having 35-40 galleries, and no employees who I felt could properly assist me. Establishing a balance of income-producing activities feels much better.
A good proportion of my sales at this point are directly to studio visitors, students, or to audiences when I lecture. ... I also do occasional trunk shows, usually in conjunction with going somewhere to teach. I do a number of invitational shows a year in galleries. I do one or two retail shows a year. I have to finish my book and get it published before getting back into wholesale. Additionally, I have several collectors with whom I keep in touch -- I send them boxes of things, and they select what they like, sending payment and the remainder back. That's based on a relationship set up over time.
Images of several of my pieces have been made into greeting cards, printed and sold by a company that specializes in cards, and related ephemera, of polymer clay and mixed-media work. These bring in a small but steady royalty as well. And I get royalties from the videos.
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TCR: Tell me more specifics about your video series.
TH: I had been trying to write a book on my techniques, but never made enough time to get it finished. A friend, who'd been a student of mine, said, "Why don't you consider doing videos?" At that point I was not able to immediately set up plans, and I'll admit I felt shy about being on camera. I made a note to myself, and then forgot about it.
A few months later, I was teaching in Oakland, and one of my students hired me to give a private class for her kids. It turned out that Jeremy, my student, and her husband were very video-oriented, and her husband liked to video tape almost anyone doing anything. He watched me teaching their kids, and asked, "Hey, can I video tape you?" I stammered about how I actually would like to make a video series, but I was really shy. They all laughed; the kids showed me videos they'd made, they told me not to worry -- so we made a short video right then and there. The moment I looked in that round black dot and waved to Howie through the lens I was hooked. I was a ham on camera. And I'd had no idea I could do that. I just assumed I was shy, but I wasn't.
The entire production team consisted of Jeremy and Howie Gordon, and me. ... Eventually we made an initial series of 14 videos. Each video stands alone, and focuses on one particular technique. We then invited a couple of other artists to be guest instructors "at the ArtRanch" -- the locale I announced at the opening of each video. I made another video in 1999, and have two more planned for production in the next year. The first set of 14 videos took two years to finish, because all three of us had other full-time jobs (Jeremy's therapy practice, my jewelry and teaching business, and Howie's writing career). The video I made in 1999 took one week, start to finish -- the story boarding, the step-by-step layout, the creation of all the props, and the filming. The props, incidentally, are a large part of the time involved in making our videos, because each technique is broken down into about 15 to 20 steps, and each of those stages needs two or three duplicates of the object we're making at that stage, in case we need to re-shoot a scene. Additionally, I must have a range of finished pieces using the same techniques, but done as exciting one-of-a-kind studio work, rather than teaching projects.
Our costs were minimal compared to most video productions because the whole thing was done in-house. ... Jeremy and Howie are well-connected in Berkeley, and got high-quality editing services at a good price, too. We pay ourselves a percentage of the video sales, after costs and capital reinvestment.
As for how this fits into my business, I see everything as interconnected. Some of my peers cautioned me, "No-one will take your classes if they can get the videos instead!" I've found exactly the opposite to be true. Some of my most eager students are those who have all 15 videos and have flown [across] the U.S. to take my class. The videos let people sample my teaching style and what I teach, and whet their appetite for the 'more.' Video and the Internet have been vital to polymer clay's success as a medium. Many people who want to work with the material do not have access to local classes or suppliers.
Additionally, the friendship Jeremy, Howie and I formed through the fire and intensity of two years living and working together is one of my most valuable possessions. I had always believed myself a true independent, working best by myself. I learned firsthand the incredible synergy that co-creating releases. My partnership with Jeremy is a profound gift.
DETAILS |
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Some of Tory Hughes' suppliers:
For Fimo, etc.: For Premo, etc.: For tools: Rio Grande Albuquerque (for general tools)
Indian Jewelry Supply |
TCR: In terms of business insight, what have you learned over the years to do or not to do?
TH: I have learned it is vital to:
The most fundamental action you can take is to know why you are doing what you're doing. Examine yourself clearly for your motive -- be honest; no one will judge you. Understand what you really want, and then you can go after it most successfully. As in art, so in life. If you've never figured out what you want, how are you ever going to get it? That translates for me as understanding my purpose, which is to make spirit visible. What are the most direct ways I can go about doing that?
2. Teaching what I believe in and know inside and out, and what I know benefits others. What I really am after in my teaching is to help each student see how creative she is, how much she knows, how valid her own uniqueness is.
3. Being a good business person is part of making spirit visible. That means being responsible, smart, attentive to my business. I also think of business as one of the most exciting creative endeavors we've got going. What a nexus of demands, needs, chances, right-brained stuff and left-brained stuff, time management! I do not agree with this simplistic, limiting notion that "artists can't be business people." One of the reasons I plunged so joyfully into the fine craft world as opposed to the fine art world was the blend of pragmatism and pure creativity. That's where the juice is, where the challenge is.
I wish someone had told me at the beginning to be truthful with myself about what I needed, in terms of pricing, time off, responsibilities and boundaries with wholesale and retail customers, and then to establish that up front. We fall too easily at the beginning into thinking that our customers, especially our wholesale clients, are just doing us a favor by buying our things. No, no, no. They are running a business. If they didn't think our work would sell they would not put it in their gallery.
TCR: Do you see any advantages or disadvantages specific to artists working in polymer clay?
TH: I don't see disadvantages to any medium. ... I make things I like, which secondarily happen to be made from polymer clay. Make your art because it's your vision of art. Be the master of your material. You are in charge, for heaven's sake.
Advantages? Yes and no. No, as my answer above indicates. Yes, in that polymer clay has very little history or tradition, and as the artists, the galleries, and the public become more educated about the myriad approaches to this material, a buzz is developing about work done with it. The lack of history means there is less of the pretension or elitism that sometimes stifles creativity in more established media, where it seems that everyone is responding either to or away from the past.
I know there is occasionally a negative assessment of polymer clay. This is based primarily on the early over-saturation of the lower-end marketplace with badly-done millefiore (or caning) techniques. It's also based on an uneducated view that anything plastic has less worth inherently than anything non-plastic. Finally, there's a mistrust of something that is this accessible to work with. ... Art is art. Either it's good art or it's not.
TCR: What has been the most difficult thing you've encountered in your line of work?
TH: Managing time effectively. Making choices about priorities. ... Not overworking. Not ignoring long-term aspects of my business to concentrate on immediate aspects.
RESOURCES |
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Tory Hughes fax (505) 897-3262 Web site: www.theartranch.com (as of 3/22/00, the site was not yet activated) To find out more about Tory Hughes' video series, visit: www.gameplanvideo.com; or send an e-mail message to Jeremy Gordon at: gameplan@earthlink.net. For more information on Tory Hughes' retreats, send an e-mail message to Jeremy Gordon. American Craft Council Craft Fairs(800) 836-3470 www.craftcouncil.org Artpark Crafts at the Castle National Polymer Clay Guild Ornament Ravensdale 2000 Westport Handcraft Show Volunteer Lawyers for the Arts |
TCR: You mentioned you don't use an answering machine. Why not?
TH: It's part of my time management, as well as my desire to focus on what I am doing at that moment. I do always answer when I'm here, which is really the reason someone calls, right? To talk to me. Not to talk to my answering machine.
I'm away on business a great deal. When I don't immediately respond to messages, people are understandably put off, regardless of whether I'm there or not. It is more honest to turn off the answering machine than to leave it on for three weeks, not answering the people who left messages. And when I get home from a long business trip, I don't want to deal with three weeks' worth of old messages, I want to get on with the next stage of my work. I personally don't understand why we all agreed to be available to other people on demand 24 hours a day. I realize this may come across as arrogant, but for me it's practical and honest, not meant as a high-nosed gestured at all.
My fax machine is always on, and it is the quickest and most reliable way to get me. Most businesses have fax machines, so serious business communications still happen. ... I am not against the phone, just, I guess, being a servant to it.
TCR: When, how, and why did you get into teaching?
TH: I was backed into teaching at first. In 1984 a gallery owner in a small town in New Hampshire felt I had enough information to fill a one-day class. At that point I wasn't sure I did. ... I was terrifically nervous watching 14 students file into a small wooden room overlooking the harbor. But halfway through the class I forgot to be nervous and began to have a great time. From that time on, I've been enthralled by teaching.
I've done many different kinds of teaching. I've taught classes ranging from one hour long to three weeks long. Most are in the two- to six-day range. I've taught at high schools, at national conferences for different media, for individuals, galleries and stores, for many of the polymer clay guilds around the U.S., for private classes and retreat organizations. I taught for the U.S. Army at an international conference they had for art teachers and arts facilitators from army bases around the world. I taught at Artpark [a state park in New York] one year, and was an artist-in-residence there the next. Those experiences remain two of the most unalloyed, bliss-filled times of my life.
For a few years I was teaching at least two weekend classes a month, and teaching during the week at my studio; additionally teaching at one or two national conferences a year. At this point, I teach at least once during most months.
TCR: What inspired you to host retreats? How can people attend?
TH: Well, I love to teach, and I prefer to teach longer classes: there's more time for the students to process the information, use it in a dynamic environment, and get feedback right there. I also can spend more individual time with each student. Most of my retreat students are ongoing -- some of them have been working with me for years, and the opportunity to assist growth at that sustained level is very gratifying.
The retreats include morning demonstrations and discussions, afternoon open-studio time, evening slide presentations; occasional field-trips to areas of interest to the specific topic or for doing a particular technical or conceptual exercise. Food and lodging are included.
Jeremy Gordon is also my partner in organizing the retreats. Some retreats are invitational, some are invitational and open. I usually have about 12 participants, although the retreat I am holding this October (17th to 22nd) in New Mexico is limited to 10.
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TCR: Do you have any plans to develop a Web site?
TH: Yes, indeed. I'm excited by the potential of such wide access to so many types of people.
TCR: What resources have been helpful to you in your business.
TH: Many. ... I have found The Crafts Report particularly helpful for a balanced, impartial approach to the business of making and selling things. I'm especially impressed by the range of considerations in the magazine, from how to photograph to how to buy software, and more. There's no resource like this one. ... I think anyone serious about a career in the fine craft world should subscribe to The Crafts Report, and is probably in the middle of reinventing at least part of the wheel if they have not.
Ornament magazine, as I mentioned, has also been personally and professionally helpful. Ornament, like The Crafts Report, showcases a variety of work, not just a particular style, era, or type of piece. Their articles on individual artists, and on different cultures, constantly remind me of the universality of the creative response.
I have an extensive library on a wide range of topics, and I really value the ability through books to have long conversations and teachings with some of the best, most provocative, most evolved minds that have lived on this planet. And ojects I may never see in person I can look at anytime in a book.
TCR: Where do you expect your business to go from here?
TH: I am writing a book, as I mentioned, and it will be the first of several; communication is obviously very important to me. I am doing more large and outdoor work, and am learning to weld.
I also am very involved in sacred text, in making sculptures that reflect/contain/illuminate spirit's presence. I look forward to doing a show of these sculptures. I already did the first -- a peace-pole/prayer wheel, "Ola Nyingma" about 14 feet high, which was shown in New Jersey two years ago.
What's going on is that my life and my business are one thing. We are fortunate, as self-supporting artists, to be encouraged and identified by this culture as living a seamless creative life. I intend to do that to the fullest.
Noelle Backer is senior editor of The Crafts Report.
APRIL 2000: TABLE OF CONTENTS
