Hi
This is a non issue.
None the less, it is an issue that people here struggle with from
time to time.
It’s my impression, and I apologize if I am out of line, that the
issue stems more from “validation” than anything else. There was a
movie that came out a while back…not a great movie, “Girl,
Interrupted” In the opening, the girl has just attempted suicide and
is sitting before a panel while they decide where she should be sent.
The panel asks her “well, dear, what do you plan to do now” She
replies, “I plan to write”. The forum says “that’s nice dear, but I
mean for work?” She stammers and they send her to a psychiatric
facility.
There is, I believe, still a certain stigma (I’m sorry that I don’t
have a better word) attached to any career choices related to the
“arts”. Surely, from conversations here, many feel that jewelry
making is related to the “arts” or, some say, is an art.
I see it too. People ask me, from time to time, what I do. I tell
them I’m a jewelry designer. “I make beaded jewelry, which I sell, in
galleries”…“that’s nice dear”. and “I’m studying to be a
goldsmith”. Their eyes light up. This is far more admirable than just
beaded jewelry.
The original poster didn’t elaborate on her current position. For
myself, a trained accountant, I find that I feel I have to justify
the fact that I don’t plan to go back to my former career choice.
It’s up to you. No one can answer the question, but you.
I have to say, from some of the things I have seen written here, I
would much rather buy my jewelry from someone who had a formal
education, preferably, GIA or the Revere Academy, but I can be a bit
of a “tight-wad”. I’m frugal. I really want to be assured that the
person who made my jewelry knows what he/she is doing. That’s just me
and I’m talking about expensive jewelry. Again, there are many
factors, one of which is, what type of jewelry do you plan to make?
At the end of the mediocre movie, the girl is sitting before the
panel and they are deciding whether or not she should be allowed out
of the psychiatric hospital. They look at her very evenly and ask
"what do you plan to do?’ and she says “I plan to write”. you all
know what they say. She stands and says “I plan to write”.
If you are asking the question here, you already know the answer.
Good Luck
Kim