Photo by Justin Heininger, Artwork by Mark Hughes
It sure feels like spring has sprung around here. Oh sure, it rains fairly often and the temperature goes up and down quite a bit from day to day, but the grass is green, the birds are busy and the trees are unfurling their leaves. It’s downright pleasant.
With all the extra projects that can only be done during the warmer months in Vermont, I’m going to dive right in. This week may end up being a bit shorter, and that’s okay, we all have lots to do no matter what time of year it is.
Questions Answered
Where did your artistic journey begin? (Part 11 - post college drift)
Graduation from college for me was not really a big affair. Between graduating at Christmas time, not having an interest in walking with the next graduating class the following spring, and winter settling in, I decided to pick up more hours at Nectar’s and let the dust settle.
Honestly, I really didn’t know what to do with my new degree. I recall asking a professor at some point during my final three semesters how to apply my studio art major toward getting a job and the answer was lackluster, at best. It occurred to me at that time that UVM may not actually be the best place to pursue an art degree. I learned a lot. However, I was never taught how to apply art in a way that would earn me a living.
It crossed my mind sometime in January.
What now?
I really didn’t have a clue.
So, I continued cooking at Nectar’s.
I spent the next year and a half at it. I also began drinking more. It was primarily the culture of kitchen work in Burlington.
There were a few pivotal moments during that time that helped my move forward. One was that I didn’t really have great “flat mates”. At the end of the spring, I had one roommate leave a fair amount of damage, and the other (not being on the lease) moved out a month earlier than the lease was for. I was on the hook for both and it wasn’t fun.
To top that all off, I couldn’t find anyone to get an apartment with, nor an apartment which I could afford on my own.
One of my aging grandfathers actually lived a few houses away from my apartment and after discussing my predicament with my father, I decided reluctantly to move in with my grandfather.
For the most part it turned out to be an okay idea, even if I didn’t really know any of my grandparents very well and was actually a little scared of them. (I think it has to do with their generation's expectation that children should only speak when spoken to.)
My paternal grandfather was actually the only grandparent left at that point. So, I took on this challenge, if reluctantly.
After I moved in with my grandfather, I began a very long slow summer of cleaning lots and lots of clutter from many of the rooms that I thought I could help make use of. My grandmother had passed away probably about 1986 or so, and he was pretty lonely, so even though I didn’t spend a whole lot of time with him. (I tried to, but I was 22 and had other ideas of what was fun at the time.)
As I cleaned out rooms I started to find old photos. Some of the photos caused me to realize that he had been a happy, eager young man, who had pursued medical school, most likely with the idea of being able to help other people. I still recall the photos of him in the late 1930’s where he was smiling. It was a sight that I was not accustomed to as I always remember a more stern face. I figured out what may have happened one day going through some of his photos.
He had fought in WWII and had been a front line medic. As I was going through old things and attempting to declutter my grandmother’s old sewing room, I suddenly realized that in photos before the war, he was often seen smiling and then after the war, he was not. It was heartbreaking for me to realize how he had seen so much atrocity and destruction along with the needless human suffering that happens in war, that it had sucked so much joy and hope from his life. It also explained the late night drinks he would have before bed. (I would find liquor bottles out on the counter sometimes when I would come home late from being out with friends in bars – he never drank heavily, though it was fairly regular from what I could tell.)
With my father’s help, I slowly began clearing and cleaning out a space in my grandfather’s basement with the intention of creating a place where I would be able to make silver jewelry. I also began thinking about ending my time cooking at Nectar’s. From my perspective, I didn’t make it through college to cook in restaurants and I really thought I could make a living creating sterling silver jewelry. It was a lofty goal.
So with a mixture of sadness, excitement, and a little bit of fear I talked to Nectar about my plans and let him know that I was thinking about moving on. He was very supportive and also asked me to stay through the end of October as he was planning to go to Greece to visit family for a month. I didn’t really want to stay on longer than the end of the summer and told him I would have to think about it. After much reflection, I decided to stay until he returned, mostly because I knew that if the roles had been reversed, he would have done that for me. Nectar was probably the best boss I’ve ever had in my life, and though I didn’t actually know that at the time, he had always treated me fairly, even when I had made some major misjudgments which affected my ability to work a few times.
So at the end of October, 1996, I left and began creating the first iteration of this business, Beneath the Mountains.
Next time:
I’ll touch on some of the struggles and lessons I learned by attempting to make and sell silver jewelry before online shopping existed in its current state as well as a couple of major life events which resulted in my putting my business on the back burner for many years.
News of late
- I’m gearing up for summer, try to fit everything together between two jobs that take up roughly 6 days a week
- I’ve been getting some interest from people I meet and even got an order for a custom runic name pendant
- I’m investigating selling print on demand items using my designs
In the Works
- I’m working on a makers mark so that I can stamp my jewelry with it, and potentially an official trademark
- Continuing to finish the engraved bracelet cuffs that I had engraved by a local Vermont business
- Finishing up a custom name pendant for a customer
- Preparing to create a hand-pierced knot bracelet cuff
- Simplifying the way I track my inventory so that I can spend less time tracking things and more time making things
Until next time,
Justin