An OLD Lesson

Many, many years ago, I was attending some Political Soiree with my (then) husband. It was very polite and people were going around Meeting and Greeting and shaking as many hands as possible.

I was introduced to one such gentleman as "So & So's Wife", when he smiled and asked me "And what do YOU do?" in a tone of voice that sounded like a Master patting the head of his beloved Dog.

I responded "I make jewelry".

He smiled a vacant smile (you ALL know what I am talking about) and said "Really! What kind?" as he was scanning the rest of the room.

I happened to be wearing a newly finished ring in 18k Yellow Gold, with a 3 carat Blue Sapphire Cab and Diamonds, holding my hand high so he could see.

Silence.

"Oh.......you make JOOOOOLLLLLLRY!!!" he said in a totally new tone of voice and looking me square in the eye.


This scene has always stayed with me, knowing the huge scope of the word "Jewelry" and its varied perception of "And what do you do?"

And, now, after so many years, I have decided that it is time for me to CLEARLY make that distinction via my Domain Name of my website. It, like my skills, have evolved to the point that I feel it is important to clarify that, not only do I make "jewelry", I make "JEWELRY".

So, I have changed my Domain Name from "PATRICIA RILEY JEWELRY" to

"PATRICIA RILEY METALSMITH"

Now, the pages have been re-directed, and no one really will see any difference, except me.

Why now?

It helps DEFINE the scope of the jewelry I create and how it is done. I believe this is important when there are so MANY "jewelers" around. I actually came to this decision last summer when I happened to be talking to a woman who works for a jewelry manufacturer of "high end costume jewelry", who told me that all their Sales Associates (all 1700 of them) are called "JEWELERS"

.......REALLY!!!

And, it appears, I am not the only metals artist feeling this way. I have noticed a growing trend - at many fairs we have attended recently, if the artist works in metals, look for the word "Metalsmith" in their name now.

Here is a newly finished project of mine:


Now, Back to Work!!!