Many say there is a market for their work throughout the year, as a result of religious ceremonies and rites of passage -- practically every gift-giving occasion. The recent rise in the popularity of religious and symbolic craft hasn't hurt either.
Jewelers Wendy Silver and her father, S. Arthur Silver, of Hallandale, Fla., have been making sterling silver and 14k gold Judaica for six years. Their market is mainly wholesale, and they sell their work to Jewish museums, temple gift shops, craft galleries and jewelry stores across the country.
Wendy Silver says her Judaic art sells well year-round. "Who needs an occasion to buy jewelry?" asks Silver. For example, a mezuzah (an encased piece of inscribed parchment rolled up and affixed to doorways of Jewish households as a sign of faith) can be a housewarming or wedding gift, or a gift for a bar/bat mitzvah. The Silvers' mezuzah pendants are worn around the neck and are appropriate for both men and women. Although it is more apparent that these items can be gifts for various occasions, a more seasonal item such as a dreidel, for example, can also sell at times other than Hanukkah.
"When I first started making dreidels (tops that are played with during Hanukkah), I thought that they would only sell during the Hanukkah season," says Silver. "I was pleasantly surprised to see them sell all year long. Many people collect dreidels and are always looking for more to add to their collection. This also applies to many other items."
Marketing Judaica is not a problem for the Silvers either. In recent years they have seen the market flourish.
"In general, people are buying more Judaica for themselves and as gifts," acknowledges Silver. "For example, a menorah used to be an object you took out for Hanukkah and then put back in the closet after the holiday. Now, the menorahs are being made with such beauty that people are buying them and leaving them out on display all year long."
Jewelry artist Judit Leiser creates mezuzahs such as this, as well as other Judaica. Leiser finds that sales are slower in the summer than in the fall and spring.
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This boom in Judaica popularity is no surprise to Gayle Weiss, independent curator and speaker on topics related to Judaica. According to Weiss, Judaica items are popular because so many Jewish people display these items in their home throughout the year. "Judaica is not like a Christmas tree -- it's a daily fixture in the house," says Weiss.
Weiss offers the following advice to those considering making and selling Judaica: "Do your homework. It is your responsibility to know what you're creating and that it is ritualistically correct. Then ... take it to your regular market. That's where it will be best received."
Woodworker Patrick Ross, owner of Tarik's Ethnic Art, has been making kinaras (seven-branched candle holders used to celebrate Kwanzaa) for four years. "The high point of my year is during the Kwanzaa season," he says.
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Judit Leiser, of New City, N.Y., a Judaica jewelry artist, finds that her work is collectable and says there is a demand for her handmade, one-of-a-kind silver and 14k gold work, which includes mezuzahs, menorahs (nine-branched candleholders used in celebration of Hanukkah), charms and pins. Leiser concentrates on selling her work to stores, Jewish museum shops and on the Internet.
Leiser, unlike the Silvers, has some trouble selling her work year-round. "Fall and spring are the best times to sell my work; in the summer it doesn't sell," says Leiser. She indicates that in the fall, menorahs and dreidels sell well, as it is right before the Hanukkah season, and in the spring, when many bar/bat mitzvahs are held.
Planning is the key to maintaining her income throughout the year, Leiser points out. "I expect the ups and downs; cash flow has to be planned. In June, July and August, I plan new designs and stock new items. It is a time to organize and order more materials."
Inconsistent sales do not affect her love of her craft, of which she is very proud. "I find a lot of pleasure in my work because people buy it for a special gift, like a wedding, and the recipient keeps it forever because it has a religious significance. It's not just any item," says Leiser.
Sometimes Judaica art is not as specific to the holiday, as with Jane Herzenberg's handpainted tallits, prayer shawls made of linen, wool or silk, worn preferably by married men depending on the laws and customs of individual synagogues. Herzenberg, of Northampton, Mass., has been an artist for 22 years, making handpainted ties, and it has been only within the last three years that she started making tallits, after making one for her son. Recently, Herzenberg also discovered that her family made tallits 150 years ago, and this inspired her to create her own line.
Herzenberg says that her market is broad, and she does not experience "seasonal" sales. "Judaica really doesn't have a season," says Herzenberg. She adds that buyers are eager to learn about tallits and the proper usage of the shawl. But she does not want to expand her tallit business significantly. "My work is one-of-a-kind, and I'm not looking for a big business. I like putting my personal touch on every piece."
Some artists make work centered around more than one religion, such as Leslie Manas and Jean Huffenus who make Judaic and Christian craft. Manas is Jewish and her partner, Huffenus, is from a Catholic upbringing, but also has a connection with Israel, as he lived there for three years.
ABOUT
HANUKKAH,
CHRISTMAS and
KWANZAA |
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Hanukkah: an eight-day festival beginning on the 25th day of Kislev, commemorating the victory in 165 B.C.E. of the Maccabees over Antiochus Epiphanes (c. 215-164 B.C.E.) and the rededication of the Temple at Jerusalem. Also called Feast of Dedication, Feast of Lights. Gifts are exchanged on each of the eight nights.
Christmas: the annual Christian celebration honoring the birth of Jesus Christ. It has been celebrated in December since the fourth century (A.D. or C.E.). In the U.S., Christmas is both a religious holiday remembering Christ's birth and a secular winter holiday. Many countries exchange gifts and/or cards at this time of year.
Kwanzaa: an African-American holiday that occurs every year for seven days, from Dec. 26 to Jan.1. Kwanzaa is a Swahili word which means "first fruits of the harvest." The holiday of Kwanzaa was created by Dr. Maulana Ron Karenga in 1966 as part of a new faith system for African-Americans. The purpose of Kwanzaa is for African-Americans to celebrate their heritage and unite culturally.
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The Judaica items they create in sterling silver and 14k and 18k gold include pendants, chai rings (rings with two Hebrew letters, spelling "life") and Stars of David (six-pointed stars symbolizing Judaism). Christian items include crosses, peace doves and Christ figures, among others. They also create non-religious items such as animal brooches and mother/child pendants. According to Manas, these have "universal appeal."
The holiday centers around seven principles, each which are represented by red, green and black candles. The seven principles are: unity, self-determination, collective work and responsibility, cooperative economics, purpose, creativity, and faith.
Manas and Huffenus say that their work sells year-round, although their Judaica and Christian work sells more strongly in December and in the spring, for confirmations, baptisms and bar/bat mitzvahs. Their work is sold nationwide in fine, independent jewelry stores, galleries and museums.
Manas notes that the marketplace for their religious work is changing toward the non-traditional and ornate. "The marketplace used to be traditional, no-risk and un-evolved," says Manas. "Now it has become beautiful, but beyond the people's love of the ornate, there's a spirit attached to it. Lifestyles are changing, people are marrying again. With the new millennium approaching, people are becoming more introspective, and religion has become more mainstream."
Another craft couple, Stephen and Helen Wise, of Manassas, Va., create Christian and animal sculptures. Their two lines of work feature a "fantasy elephant collection" and a holiday collection which they began three years ago and includes nativity sets and ornaments.
Julee Dickerson-Thompson started creating Kwanzaa greeting cards in 1978. Now, she says, the market has become too mainstream, and she does her cards by special order only.
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Because the Wises have two lines, they say it isn't hard to make a steady income selling their work to stores and galleries. They point out that their holiday sales are big in July and as Christmas approaches.
Over their three years in business, Stephen Wise has noticed a rapid increase in the popularity of the holiday line. He says that in the first year it accounted for 15 to 20 percent of their profits, and this year it rose to about 50 percent. "I noticed it is now socially acceptable to sell religious things," says Wise. "In the beginning there was some resistance from buyers, but I don't [experience] that anymore."
The Wise family is considering expanding into Judaica work, as a result of encouragement from buyers and their Jewish friends. "There's a huge market for Judaica," says Wise. "Judaica paved the way [for Christian crafts]. There need not be a stigma attached to selling religious work."
Ramón José López, of Santa Fe, N.M., makes santos (two- or three-dimensional images of saints, of Spanish origin,
symbolizing faith), rosaries, crucifixes, chalices (cups or goblets used during Communion), and jewelry based on Christianity and Catholicism. He makes the items out of wood and sterling silver.
In the Southwest, there is a demand for his Spanish-influenced work. "My artwork is unique, and there isn't a problem selling it here. I do some advertising, but most of my sales are by word of mouth," says López.
López says he used to exhibit at about 25 craft show per year, but recently he has scaled back to exhibiting at about three a year, and concentrates on selling his work to museums, galleries and collectors.
For the most part, Kwanzaa artists have a harder time selling their work throughout the year. Perhaps this is because Kwanzaa is an ethnic, symbolic holiday, not a religious one, celebrated specifically by African-Americans.
CONTACTING
THE
CRAFTSPEOPLE |
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Julee Dickerson-Thompson
(202) 269-3067
Jane Herzenberg
Herzenburg Designs
(413) 534-5099
Jean Huffenus and Leslie Manas
Jean Designs
(215) 922-2680
Judit Leiser
(914) 634-0589
Ramón José López
(505) 988-4976
Patrick Ross
Tarik's Ethnic Art
(301) 699-9313
Stephen and Helen Wise
Cirrus Design
(703) 791-2267
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Washington-D.C.-based artist Julee Dickerson-Thompson creates Kwanzaa greeting cards, and believes she was one of the first artists to create greeting cards for this relatively new holiday. She sold them to the African Museum of Art in Washington, D.C., in 1978, but now she designs and illustrates her cards only by special order because she found the market has become too mainstream. "So many people are doing it now, that I don't bother," says Dickerson-Thompson. Presently, she makes ancestral angels out of raffia corn husks and recycled materials.
When she did count on the Kwanzaa cards as a means of income, she found that her work sold well at the museum, and through mail-order and shops throughout the country. In general, Dickerson-
Thompson felt it depended on whether or not Kwanzaa was celebrated in the area where her work was being sold, and the type of other crafts which were sold at that venue.
Woodworker Patrick Ross owns Tarik's Ethnic Art in Riverdale, Md. He has been making kinaras (seven-branched candle holders used to celebrate Kwanzaa) and other items, such as his "Mirror Africa" (a mirror cut out in the shape of the continent and used as a wall-hanging) for four years. His work is sold in African bookstores and gift shops across the country.
Ross cannot depend solely on sales of his kinaras. "The high point of my year is during the Kwanzaa season," says Ross. He says that kinaras are mainly mass-produced and manufactured outside of the United States, such as in the Caribbean. But he hopes that as Kwanzaa catches on, handmade kinaras will become the new craze.
"Each year I hear that Kwanzaa is growing in the U.S.," says Ross. "There's an opportunity for it, and for bringing those products to the public. ... I have been following the principles that Kwanzaa speaks of all my life; it was a [natural] thing for me to do. But I never knew that people 'celebrated' it, or that it was a holiday until recently," he adds. "Maybe others just don't know about Kwanzaa yet either."
Kirsten Coughlin is editorial assistant of The Crafts Report.
