second storie indie market: a visit with: Jenna Thompson of Smallbird

Over the next few months leading up to our November market, Tuesday through Thursday we'll be showcasing one of our 2012 market artists, their work, and a little peek at where they make the magic happen. We hope you'll enjoy this new series, where we'll ask the same questions of each of our makers.

You'll get to know a little bit about our talented makers and what inspires them, read about their favorite ways to recharge their creativity, and learn what experience has shown them to be an invaluable piece of the puzzle in selling their work. Come November, won't it be great to walk into a room filled with inspiring, familiar faces? We think so, too!

This week, we begin by spending some time with talented jewelry maker and returning Second Storie vendor, Jenna Thompson...

a visit with:

- Jenna Thompson -

What first inspired you to create/make what you do now?

I've always made art and craft, but I didn't try metalworking until college. I decided to revisit jewelry making a few years ago, mostly because I am drawn to so many different types of functional and wearable art. Although working with metal is challenging, it's very gratifying to create something that can be worn on a daily basis.

Your advice for someone just starting out

and wanting to sell their work?

Make it manageable! I have a full-time job in addition to running my little jewelry business, so I have to be efficient about how I divide my time. One way I do this is by asking my customers to allow up to a week for the creation of a ring made in their size. By setting a reasonable timeframe, I make sure that I have enough studio time in my schedule to produce high-quality jewelry pieces.