Why Mannequins Are The Best Models ... Or, How I Met Zara

Many of you will have met my lovely mannequin, Zara. (Or not. Depends if you've looked at any of my necklaces online.)
She is indispensable to my business. I bought her on Trade Me for around $70.00 - some of the best money I've ever spent.
When I realised that prospective buyers really do want to see how jewellery looks when being worn, I considered using live models ... for about two seconds. Models have this irritating habit of wanting to be paid ... and not suiting the jewellery that they are modelling ... and not doing as they are told ... and not understanding what pose to assume ...
Ugh.
So I needed a mannequin. I looked on Trade Me (usually my first stop when I want anything specific that isn't jewellery supplies) and found several that would have suited. I lost the first one I was bidding on (it had arms, which would have been useful for modelling bracelets), and then I found Zara. She didn't have arms, but other than that she was perfect. When she arrived, she was even more perfect. I washed her thoroughly in the shower (because you just never know where things have been ... and because I'm paranoid), and so began our fulfilling relationship.
Zara is the best model I have ever worked with. She stands perfectly still, does exactly as she's told without having to be told, and never ever complains about anything. In fact, I think she loves the jewellery she gets to wear. She holds my magnifying headset sometimes, to keep it safe and off the floor, and I often leave necklaces on her for a few days while I decide whether or not I'm happy with them (or just admire them).
She is so versatile, too. When modelling pieces that have an ancient, historical feel to them, Zara does a sublime Greek marble statue look.

She can do bold, plunging statement pieces ...

... and smaller, more subtle jewellery.

She doesn't even have to change outfits. All I do is change the camera angle and Zara's angle. She can model both my - very different - jewellery brands with equal ease. She can work with almost any lighting, is utterly professional, and never upstages the jewellery itself. True, some things suit her better than others, but that is true of any model, and more so of many others than of Zara.
So, while I know that some jewellery designers use live models all the time, and while it undoubtedly works well for some, Zara's the gal for me.
Do you have fantastic plastic mannequin like Zara? Do you use live models? Or have you found another solution entirely? I'd love to hear in the comments. 

An Old Chinese Proverb

I am completely enamoured a fan of Chris Guillebeau's 'The Art Of Non-Conformity' blog. The guy makes more sense in two sentences than most people make all day.

Recently I finished reading his e-book '279 Days To Overnight Success'. Specifically, it's about making a living as a professional blogger, but, like most of Guillebeau's writing, it is also about doing anything that people say cannot be done.
At the end of the e-book, he concludes with this old Chinese proverb:

the person who says

something is impossible

should not interrupt the

person who is doing it.

Long live those of us who believe in doing the impossible. 

Dryad

I'm going to indulge myself slightly by showing you all a Whiteleaf piece that I made recently.

Its title is 'Dryad'. A dryad, in Greek mythology, is a tree spirit (specifically, an oak tree spirit; different plants had different spirits).
I had had the chocolate-brown agate leaf pendant hanging around for almost two years - it was something I bought when I first started making jewellery - and I had various plans for it, none of which worked out as the hole was too small. That meant I had to string it. With greens and browns and rust colours, I thought; Autumn colours. I got out all the suitable beads I had, realised that some gemstone chips naturally graduated in colour and size, and the design invented itself. 
I'm showing it off because it is quite different from what I've made before ... but I'm very proud of it.

I reshot this piece three times, because I'm not a good photographer and my camera seems to hate photographing gemstones; especially agates and jaspers. Doncha hate opinionated electronic equipment?

'Dryad' is currently listed here on Felt.

We now return you to your regularly scheduled programme. With a quote from Samuel Goldwyn:

“I don’t think anyone should write his autobiography until after he’s dead.”

Perseverance: the new black.

Annie is the jewellery maker of Ferosh Kitty Designs. Recently, she was Zibbet.com's Featured Zibbeter. On reading her interview, a particular sentence caught my eye: "And I’m a believer that perseverance is the new black!"

I love black.
Black is only one colour (in fact technically it's not a colour; it's the absence of light and therefore the absence of colour); it doesn't have shades or tints the way green and blue and other colours do; yet it can be dangerous, formal, mysterious, intimidating, enigmatic, aggressive, clean, precise ... think black cats, ninjas, hit men, top hats, limousines, formal calligraphy, the night sky ...
Black does not compromise. You can't negotiate with it. It is what it is, and if you want a lighter or darker tone then you're just going to have to look elsewhere. Black just is. When all other colours have faded away, all that will be left will be black.
(Literally.)
'Perseverance is the new black'. I like the nod to fashion there. It seems appropriate for artists to talk about perseverance in visual terms. 

Perseverance is a common trait of those who change the world. Research Thomas Edison, Sir Edmund Hillary, Marie Curie, or any other important person, and the chances are high that perseverance was the key to their achievement.

As Calvin Coolidge famously said, 

“Nothing in this world can take the place of persistence. Talent will not; nothing is more common than unsuccessful people with talent. Genius will not; unrewarded genius is almost a proverb. Education will not; the world is full of educated derelicts. Persistence and determination alone are omnipotent. The slogan "press on" has solved and always will solve the problems of the human race.”

(If, like me, you love quotes, here is an excellent trove of perseverance quotes. You're welcome. :-D)

Perseverance is the new black.

When all other skills and abilities have faded away, perseverance will still be there.
If you want to achieve something great, perseverance is not just the new black: it's the one and only black.

Why do you need to get away?

Instead of wondering when your next vacation is, you ought to set up a life you don't need to escape from.

- Seth Godin.

http://sethgodin.typepad.com/

I'm probably preaching to the converted if you're reading this blog, but I often wonder why people drift through life waiting for the weekend ... for the holidays ... for their lives to become free and interesting.

Why do you wait for your life to change when you could change it yourself?

If the reason you're not changing your life is because you can't really be bothered or you don't really want it badly enough, then stop whining about the life you have now. If you don't like it, change it; if you don't want to change it, stop complaining about it. 
If you feel that change is impossible, you have two options: make change possible, or learn to live with your situation.
But in all honesty, change is rarely impossible. What stops us changing things is not so much our ability as it is our fear.