I frequent a coffee shop in the River Arts District. And being in the heart of the studio district, there is a lot of yummy art for sale. I had been eyeing this mug for months.
Here is the link to the artist’s website.
This week was the week this mug was going to come home to me. Not because it was at a discounted price. The price was an average $32. And honestly I would have paid more. It wasn’t about the mug itself. I could get a cute mug at Target for a fraction of the price. I do not know the artist. And until this morning, I did not know anything about her process or story. I just knew I loved the subtle colors and shape.
This week I bought a piece of someone’s vision and dream. The value of this $32 mug is all about the folding a piece of visual language that I resonated with into my everyday life. I bought into the idea that art matters, that someone else should be able to live their purpose of letting their visual language be a small part of a cultural time. Yep all this in the act of buying a hand crafted mug.
So here’s some food for thought… when you buy handmade, you are saying right-brain genius matters. You are not just buying stuff, you are supporting someone’s dream. You are helping another creative have the means to get their visual language out there.
If you are reading this chances are you are a creative as well. Your creative genius has value no matter where you are in your journey. Your creative genius is what sets you apart from other fiber artist no matter how similar you work might be to others. So never discount the value of what you make. What you make is more than about cost of your materials or how cheap the department store version is. What you bring to your work has value. Honor it.
An even cooler side-story about this mug… I bought this mug before my business mastermind meeting with a friend and had put it in the car before she arrived. When she got to the coffee shop and we were about to begin our meeting she said she wanted to get me a mug as a thank you gift. WOW! so that mug was coming home with me regardless. Clearly that bit of inspirational genius was meant to be in my life no matter what. I feel blessed.
Sign Up for the UrbanGypZ Fiber Arts Collective
Fiber artist Stacey Budge-Kamison AKA UrbanGypZ lives and works in Cary NC. She can also be found knitting in public, hammering out her latest e-course at local cafés and spinning yarns in her booth at her favorite arts festivals. A designer at heart, Stacey has decided that her mission is to help fellow knitters, crocheters, weavers and felters embrace their own style and creativity by exploring fiber art as it is a part of their everyday life and helping them embrace the title of artist no matter where they are in their journey. 
I love your mug story!
Whenever we have a local art and craft fairs, I always go intending to buy the work of at least one artist. I love the etsy artisans I buy from, but supporting local art is important. I have some beautiful one-of-a-kind things and the memories of chatting with their makers. Priceless!
Everything about you- what you do, write, and share inspires me. Thank you. This is a great story and the truth is deeply profound.