ajazzydancer

So dA has changed their rules and is finally allowing username changes!  Unfortunately it is only available to subscribers.  I am not one of those, and I'm not really fond of having to pay for this feature.   ( I'm sorry Deviant Art, I have bills to pay).  I'm considering getting one for the username change, but I'm not sure if it is worth it.  Also the payment methods confuse me :/  


If I did change my username, what do you think would be better?  Just using my name  or "April Field Designs" as I've been using on Flickr and Facebook?  Or something else along these lines?   If I make this change, I want it to look more professional.  I've felt for a long time that the name "AJazzyDancer" looks so immature.  Although I'm biased since this just reminds me of my 14-16yr old years and I just don't want to be 16 anymore.  



Other than this, I haven't updated in a while.  Right now I'm still working at a jewelry company in Philadelphia.  Working there full-time does make it challenging to make work on my own sometimes though, because my hands do need a break from being beaten up all day.     I'm also having a problem of starting too many projects and then not finishing all of them.  I decided to make a "work in progress" box in my studio.... it's overflowing with projects!

I am also getting back into crocheting again.  Both for hobby and for my professional jewelry.  
I recently made a baby blanket, hat and shoes for my friend's baby shower, so maybe I'll post pictures of those soon.  They came out really cute!

Well I haven't wrote a journal entry, in what seems like forever...  graduation was almost a year ago now  (probably around 8-9 months ago).
A LOT has changed.  

Over the summer I got hired by a bead shop in New Jersey.  Recently though my hours were cut, since business isn't doing so well.   However I see this as a blessing in disguise, as I quickly found a full-time position at a production jewelry company right by my apartment in Philadelphia.  Although I can't say production work is thoroughly exciting,  I'm glad to be putting my degree to work.  ( And proving many wrong, by showing them, YES I can get a job with a degree in jewelry and metalsmithing.)  

I've been neglecting deviantart.  That's because I've been busy starting a wordpress blog ( that will eventually be my main website), a facebook fan page, and a twitter.  I'm also more active on etsy again, hoping to start earning money from my work  (see links for all of these below).  

I've also been taking advantage of the Corzo Center, a group that encourages entrepreneurship in the arts community and works through UArts to support alumni like me.  They host lectures every other week on various topics such as marketing for artists, market research, and strategic planning.  They also give out grants to alumni, which I am very happy to hear, since I am hoping to apply so I can get the tools and supplies to really get my jewelry business going.  

One of the nice things about my new job, is the shorter commute ( my old commute was 45min-1hr each way)
So I feel like I've gained 2 hours of each day.  Maybe this means I'll have a bit more time to pay attention to deviantart now, as well as work on my jewelry!

Etsy: www.etsy.com/shop/aprilfieldde…
Wordpress:aprilfielddesigns.wordpress.co…
Facebook: www.facebook.com/AprilFieldDes…
Twitter: twitter.com/AFieldDesigns
Flickr: www.flickr.com/photos/aprilfie…

So, many of my followers may have noticed that I haven't been as active lately, which is mostly due to me being busy completing my senior thesis.  
  
This week I finished my last semester at UArts.  I will be graduating next week with a BFA in Crafts, with a concentration in Metals/Jewelry.  (And an unofficial minor in fibers).

In the next few days I will update my gallery to show my senior work and my senior thesis work.  (much of this is on my flickr as well: www.flickr.com/photos/aprilfie…)

My senior show was really exciting and I have already been contacted by a gallery interested in my work, among some other possible opportunities.
Although I am still in need of a job in my field when I finish my summer teaching gig.


I hope to do the following in the coming months:

-make an artist blog
-make my own website
-start selling on etsy again
-maybe participate in a crafts fair.

To anyone who has advice for an emerging artist fresh out of art school and someone who is about to start her own buisness, please share some with me

I listed this item because I got an offer to buy it.  Unfortunately that person has not gotten back to me in the last two weeks, so I just " unreserved"  the listing, so that any of you can buy it if you wish.

www.etsy.com/listing/64813271/…

If you are interested in buying anything in my gallery, let me know, I am selling many of my older pieces, I'll let you know if I'm selling something you want.   Or I can make another version of it for you.


However, serious inquiries only please!

I made this deviantart page when I was 16, and because of that, I have the old screenname I used to use at that age.  I'm not a jazz dancer anymore, I'm a jeweler.
I'm pretty sure I can't change my name on dA, but I would like to if possible, either change it, or create a new account so I can have a page with a more professional name.  
I'm going to be graduating college soon and I don't have my own website yet, so when people ask me about my artwork I often send them here, and I do NOT want them to know me as "ajazzydancer" (for many reasons)  

So my question to you, my watchers, is what do you think the best way to do this is?
I'm worried if I make a new account, it might take a really long time to transfer over a lot of the deviations that I want to keep with my professional name.


Or perhaps I should move it all to my flickr account and have that be my more professional page?
www.flickr.com/photos/37537551…

Just some things I've been thinking about for a while, and I might not make the change soon, I honestly have so much work to do now that I'm a senior in college.