Hearty's handbags, which she offers in different colors, range in price from about $50 to $300. To Hearty, her handbags symbolize the "poetry of everyday life" and represent her personal motto that "EVERYDAY need not mean ORDINARY."

TCR: How did you first begin selling your work?

CH: I have always sold my work through craft shows. I really count my blessings that the field of craft shows and I have grown together; there are a lot more shows now than when I went to art school, and it has become possible to earn a decent living because of it. There really is a partnership between exhibitors and promoters -- we both need each other.

TCR: What challenges did you face in the early stages of your business? How did you overcome them?

CH: I was younger when I started, and challenges didn't phase me as much. You don't know what you're getting into when you first start out, which is probably good because you might not go into it if you know beforehand! The biggest challenge was learning how to do good work and continually educating myself.

TCR: Is your studio in your home or do you have separate studio space?

CH: I work at home, and I love it. People put a lot of effort into their homes, and working at home I get to enjoy mine more than most people. I have to commute a lot to do my shows, so I don't want to have to commute to my studio. I like to be able to stay home and take a break whenever I need to, to do some gardening or something.

I do have my studio on a separate floor, though. Right now, it takes up the entire second floor of my two-story home, and I'm probably going to add on to the house this winter. ... I'm running out of room!

Pouring Wisteria Tea (Bag). Leather constructed, leather over wood feet. 14" high by 10" wide by 4" deep.

TCR: What are your biggest financial challenges?

CH: Having my studio in my house keeps my studio expenses low.

I buy a lot of "job lots" -- leftovers, canceled [orders}, tag sales in the industry, so this helps keep my material expenses low.

Shows are the biggest expense. And, I have over 5,000 names on my mailing list, so mailings can be expensive. Plus, the show fees and travel expenses. ... I put it all under heading of marketing, and this is the part [of my business] which is most expensive and time-consuming. I spend as much time on marketing as I do making things.

TCR: Through what venues do you sell your work?

CH: Everything I do revolves around shows. I'm glad to have the person-to-person contact.

I have a Web site, but it has an adjunct relation to my shows; I send mailings out around show times (I do an average of two shows a month), and that brings the [number of hits on my site] up at those times.

I travel all over the country, and fly to some shows, and I really enjoy it. I'm in the middle of my life, and I look back now and see that going to shows over long distances has really broadened my horizons; I'm familiar with my own country having done business in most areas of it, and it has made my life more interesting, moving around and meeting different people in different parts of the country.

Escargot (Bag). Leather slashed, reconstructed, leather over wood fee and bead. 12" high by 9" wide by 5" deep.

TCR: Some craftspeople have trouble balancing the travel and time it takes to do a lot of shows with time in the studio creating and having something that even resembles a personal life. How do you manage to do more than 20 shows a year all over the country?

CH: One thing that enables me to do so many shows is that I don't have children. I can't have everything in life -- I work more and have less family life. Different people have different structures in their lives, and this is one of the overriding structures of my life. I have single mom friends who can't do shows because they have no husband to help out.

It also takes a lot of organization and planning, like anything else you want to do. I suppose for people just starting out it must be harder to break into the shows. When I started doing shows, they were much cheaper. I wonder how fresh talent gets started these days, with booth fees from $500 ... due months in advance of the shows. I guess they're still coming up through the smaller shows first.

Two Tornado Bags

TCR: What do you remember about your first craft show?

CH: That I was lousy! The first craft shows I did were as a quilter; and I didn't make much money, but I was amazed that I sold anything at all. When I think of my first shows selling my handbags, I am amazed that people bought my work. I was [relatively] unskilled then as compared to now. One woman who had bought one of my handbags brought the bag back to me at another show; the glue had bled through the leather and looked like a stain. I sent the woman a new bag, and she was happy, but I thought it was hysterical.

When people come up to me with the first bags I made and say, "I'm still using this bag," I think, "Wow, you gave me money for that?!" But, I appreciate their appreciation for my earliest bags. It has been 15 years since I started this business, and I still have some of my original customers.

FOR MORE INFORMATION

Carol Hearty 59 Stebbins Rd. Carmel, NY 10512 Ph./Fax: (914) 276-8661 http://www.carolhearty.com

TCR: Do you see any challenges specific to leather artists?

CH: The leather industry is dying in this country. Producers are moving offshore. You can still find the people who make leather, but most of them are getting older. It's just not something young people take up. My medium is going to become more rare as time goes on. People like me will become more rare too. There will still be handbags, but they will all be made offshore. I've bought materials from people whose businesses no longer exist anymore. Every 10 years or so it gets slimmer.

I have a small private handbag practice. I guess over the years you find your own specialized niche and work your way into it, and the world you work in sort of guides you into it too. For example, my best supplier went out of business, and that was the major reason I stopped doing wholesale. It turned out to be a great decision, but it wasn't planned. So who knows, I may eventually end up changing media for the same reason.

DETAILS

Materials and Supplies: CH: I go to all different places to buy materials, mostly in New York City, and pick up a bundle here, a bundle there. I ask suppliers if they know of other suppliers. I go through the yellow pages -- the New York Business to Business Yellow Pages is one of the best resources I have found. You can order a copy of it through the phone company. And, I go to leather shows to find new resources. That is one word of caution I would offer to other artists just getting started: Never order leather. Go and see it in person. If you order it, they always send you the junkiest stuff; that's just the way it is. It's a natural product, and you have to go there personally to buy it.   Studio and Health Insurance: CH: I used to get my insurance through an insurance broker. When I got married, I got it through my corporate-employed husband. I do have homeowner's insurance, which covers a home office, though I'm a little overextended in that area. They call people like me "self-insured" -- I'm extraordinarily careful with my work; I never leave it unattended. When I pack it in my van, I never leave my van. I park in front of windows at restaurants so I can keep an eye on it, and I have an alarm. After I put the addition on to my studio, I'll probably review my studio insurance.

TCR: What has been the biggest challenge to you in making a living at your craft?

CH: As a creative person in a creative field, you have to keep yourself awake to being creative and not being a drudge of labor and cranking out widgets. I have to remember that I'm a creative person to my customers, and I have to keep coming up with new ideas and new perspectives. I have to find new ways to be creative.

One way I have tried to do this is by putting energy into posters I put in my booth. I come up with a saying that I believe enhances the creativity of my work, sort of like a short artist's statement, and I create a poster [layout] on my computer, then take it to Kinkos and have it blown up and laminated. I have about 10 posters, and every now and then I change them. It does make people stop to read them, and I think it adds depth to my work. I am always trying to add another dimension to my work.

My materials also kind of drive my designing in a way. I have to do certain things to suit my materials. I use that as one of the ways I keep my work fresh. It's easy to fall into the habit of just replacing what has sold, so you need to find ways to keep yourself changing. I do that through new materials, and through customers asking for new things.

Also, one of the problems in being a studio artist is the solitude. Sometimes it's nice, although it used to drive me nuts. I'd listen to books on tape, the radio. ... And I actually left [my studio work] for a few months and sold real estate, so I could talk to people all day. But, I realized [the solitude] was OK, and I also realized that in the field of real estate I could never distinguish myself, but in the craft field, I create my own voice and distinguish myself. You have to think about why people come to these shows -- because they want to see something different, something special.