Frustrating

I've been frustrated with the response of jewelry stores and galleries when I present my jewelry, hoping they'll want to carry it. There seem to be two responses:

1) "Oh, that's WAYYY nicer than anything we carry. If it's over $10 or $15 dollars, it's too much for our customers." or
2) "Is it gold and diamonds? We don't carry anything but gold and diamonds." (insert condescending tone of voice here)

Unfortunately, I'm not going to work with sterling silver and gemstones and spend hours on a piece just to sell it for $15 dollars - I can find easier ways of losing money. I like working with silver. It's inexpensive enough that I can make a few mistakes without bankrupting myself. It's popular - if you haven't noticed, everyone under 30 and a large percentage of those over 30 are wearing silver quite a bit more often than they're wearing gold. It's pretty, it looks good with the techniques I'm using, it looks good with the stones.

If I used gold in the type of jewelry I'm making, a bracelet like the first picture I posted Tuesday would be thousands of dollars. Instead, because I used silver, it's only $295. Considering the amount of work that went into it, and the quality of the materials used, that's quite reasonable. I don't want to make my art inaccessible. I want real people to be able to enjoy what I do.

www.shyviolet.net