Wrinkled knees, Chicken neck, really? Ugh. The physical aspects of getting older are tough enough, but wow, the emotional and mental are POWERFUL. Realizing I have more years behind me than ahead of me and how fast time flies, has me recalibrating everything.
I haven’t done all the things I wanted to do when I was a young, idealistic kid. I never became that artist I wanted to be because I feared ending up a “starving artist”. Plus, my dad’s voice was always in the back of my head saying “get a business degree”, which I ultimately did. In college, I thought about being an art teacher, but I quickly realized that repeating myself (or talking at all, really) is not something I like to do. What I do like is making stuff. Creating things with my hands. All kinds of things - art, jewelry, crochet, clay, sewing, designing - all the things. So, I’ve come to the realization that I want to get back to my creative, artist self.
This desire has taken on a new urgency in recent years. Life, as we all know, can be fragile and far too short. This truth was brought into sharp focus with the passing of both my parents far too young – my dad in 2018 and my mom in 2019, both after long illnesses but only in their 60’s. Then, in 2022, my stepmom also left us suddenly, and it hit hard. These losses, in close succession, served as a profound wake-up call. They made me realize I’ve got to do it now, or I may never. My creative self, the part of me that feels most alive and "ON," needs to breathe freely again.
Don't get me wrong, my decades spent in corporate marketing have been positive and successful. Learned a ton, worked with smart, wonderful people, paid the mortgage. Check, check, check. It built skills I’m genuinely grateful for – strategy, discipline, how to talk to humans (which is not a strong suit - that might be my GenX showing). But it’s time to re-evaluate and make changes, and 2025 is my year of rediscovery.
I’ve been making stuff in my spare time off and on. I had my polymer clay era, my pour painting era, and an everlasting crochet era, and I made my jewelry era permanent with the establishment of Kerry Best Designs in 2014 on Etsy (which is still where I am - I haven’t built this site out yet). So I’ve spent years making jewelry, mostly after hours. All the making has felt less like work and more like breathing, and it kept the pilot light lit. But it was always in the margins, not front and center.
So, I am officially starting the clock on a transition. The plan: spend the rest of this year (2025) seriously prepping to take Kerry Best Designs (or something) full-time in 2026. This will mean expanding beyond jewelry into all the other things I love – painting, drawing, fiber arts, maybe some adventures with clay, we’ll see. Basically, making the art thing the main thing. It's about taking responsibility for my reality and consciously choosing to awaken that creative spirit I had before the world and corporate jobs made it feel… less important. It's time to demolish those external and internal blocks – the worry about what other people think, the feeling of what I 'should' be doing – and truly embrace the urge to create.
Why blog about it? Maybe it’s the Gen X need to document, to figure things out by writing them down. Maybe it’s just putting it out there so I can’t back out easily. Mostly, it feels like a way to process this shift openly. And maybe my stumbling through this will be enlightening to other creatives - or maybe just entertaining, who knows .
Here’s what I’m planning for 2025:
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An Ambush?: I picked up this book, "The Creative Ambush." Sounds intriguing, maybe slightly ominous, but after the first chapter, I am in. The book is by Matteo di Pascale, and while some of it has to be taken with a grain of salt, I believe it will help serve as a guide for this adventure.
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Making Stuff (or Trying To): Reports from the studio front lines. Expect paint splatters, dirty fingernails, tangled yarn, maybe some finished pieces if I’m lucky.
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Finding the Spark: Finding inspiration, probably involving dirt, flowers, trees, and rocks, if I had to guess – it’s almost always a connection with nature that inspires me.
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The Logistics: Shifting gears from corporate brain to artist brain. Should be…..something.
It doesn’t really feel like a jump into the deep end, but more like deciding to finally explore that dirt road I’ve been driving past for years & never had time to explore. I’m finally prioritizing that essential part of myself that longs to make things and to feel "ON”.
So, that’s the plan. No guarantees it’ll be smooth, but it feels right. Feel free to check it out. Or don't. Whatever works. 😉 But I'm glad you stopped by.
Adventure awaits…
Kerry