a visit with: Robbi Farschman of Lost Girl Metalworks
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!
We're delighted to wrap up this week by spending some time with talented jewelry artist and first time Second Storie vendor, Robbi Farschman...
a visit with:
- Robbi Farschman -
What first inspired you to create/make what you do now?
I've lived overseas for three years so far and have traveled a bit. Several years ago, I was in a village in Kenya where the women wore layers of these beautiful beaded necklaces. I was admiring one when the owner took it off and gave it to me. While I wouldn't say this piece informs my work, the kind gesture has - I'm inspired by the idea of things being passed along, where they'll acquire a new history, another meaning, and are cherished for different reasons.
Your advice for someone just starting out
and wanting to sell their work?
I started metal smithing on an ad-hoc basis in 2009, soon saying "Someday, this is what I'll do every day." The idea of eating until I retired to do something I loved, though, became absurd (Who knows if I'll even make it to that rather arbitrary-determined age for retirement?). After almost three years, I decided "someday" was today, gave a two-moth notice, and left my stable job with benefits. My advice: don't "want to sell" - do it! Put your feet on the path and see where the journey takes you.
- her studio -
Three things or people who inspire you?
My muses are all "creatives" in their own ways: my grandma Grace, an amazing woman shoe believed I could do whatever I wanted and whose kindness and generosity knew no bounds.
Jaime, my Wyllie Fox farmer, who has taken a hopefully brief hiatus from what he loves most to delve into the "typical" world of work to save money for a tractor and an irrigation system (he currently moves pipe by hand at the end of each day to the next field) - he greets the world with open hands, asking what he can do to help, and his perseverance is humbling.
Mary, my friend and mentor when I was working as a community organizer in Baltimore, who didn't spend time worrying about the "what if's," focused her attention on changing the "what is," and helped me to determine what was really worth my concern.
- her work -
Favorite way to take a break/recharge your creative batteries?
My man and I love to grow veggies! Every morning now, we go out to our little plot and pick the ripened harvest together (okay, I may sneak a tomato on my own now and then!). We hope to always be in a place where there are truly four seasons, since he also likes watching me practice my hockey moves...mostly on my butt!
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