Follow Your Passion and a Tidbit of Luck

Follow your Passion and find a niche business. That sounds so easy doesn't it. I did it, but purely by luck. I was a creative kid, always happy puttering around with fabrics or yarn. I did too many paint by numbers kits and was very good at staying in the lines- a very steady hand and concentration; I always think they stunted my painting. Mom always had craft projects for us to do and my friend's mom did, too. And there was Girl Scouts and Home Ec...

I remember lots and lots of paper mache. That kept us busy for days and days. And remember the little enameling kits and oh the reptile molds that you would bake. I can almost still smell them baking. Not all of these are especially creative, but it was the process of DOING. Just writing this I am thinking back to some of the other Saturday projects.

In Jr. High School I took a course in silver jewelry after school at the Y. It could have been a passion, but wasn't "The One". My grandmother was a superb jeweler and continued her studies as a fine silversmith. After the class I did set up a little work shop in our basement and made necklaces and rings, but soon lost interest.

In High School I was interested in learning to Weave. By this time I had left my public high school and headed to a private school in Yarmouth, Maine. I was finally happy in school, we had small classes and supportive environment. I had mentioned to the headmaster that I was interested in learning to weave and he applied for a grant to hire a weaving teacher. This was a critical turning point for me. They hired a wonderful woman, Rosalie. She was a tapestery weaver and a real artist. She expected high standards for us and was very generous sharing all of her knowledge with us. I am forever grateful that I had the opportunity to get the early start on textile design and art history. And she made us listen to classical music just when we only wanted to hear rock and roll! Another piece of the pie.

I continued to follow my textile love in college. I had applied to a variety of schools and especially wanted to go to RISD but had applied under Interior Architecture and needed high SATS...no luck for me, I was crushed. I got into all the other schools I applied, most would have had more professional textiles studies, but my dad and I had visited Vermont and I was sold. The University didn't have the greatest program for me, but I figured I would be happy in Burlington. I had actually had applied into Interior Design and upon arriving for orientation we were informed the program had been cut out. So, I fell into Textile Design. Yikes, I slogged through the first year of HOME EC and beelined quickly over to the Art Department. I found more likeminded students in the Art Department. And here I found a teacher that was my second important mentor in my education. An artist from Shelburne, Elsa Waller would come to the University once or twice a year and teach one tapestry weaving class. How lucky I was once again to have stumbled into such a great class. Each time Elsa taught a class I was right there ready to dig in. This was the 1970's when abstract weaving had it's peak. I loved it.

After graduating with an Art degree, career choices were not so obvious. I continued with my weaving projects but not with intent for a business. I didn't see I would ever be able to live off of my tapestry weaving. I worked a few different retail jobs.... just a job. My last one was to work in a kitchen/gift shop. My friend Laura and I was in our early 20's and we were "the girls". We had fun together and always got our customers laughing, especially after a long day. I learned more at this job that I might like to admit; many of the skills I learned followed me to my Lampshade Shop. Jackie the owner of The Store always said that if you have something so unusual and beautiful that the customer will buy it no matter what it costs. She always tried to carry special treasures in her store and I try to carry this into my business. Why would I make lampshades similar to ones you can buy in a lighting store that were made for pennies in China?

My husband and I moved to Southern Vermont for a career move on his part. I was 28 and just pregnant. I didn't get a job because we were just settling in and now with baby. It gave me a chance to work on my weaving, knit very cute baby sweaters and make pillows and quilts for our new home. There was a craft store nearby that sold lampshade making supplies. I thought it might be fun to make some lampshades for my new house. Off I went to get the needed materials; it didn't take much to get started. I figured I could teach myself and the rest is history. The first years after my son was born I puttered around with making lampshades. They were great Christmas gifts and our new house was sporting lots of new lampshades. I continued on, figuring out how to start a business with little money. I still find it a fun challenge how to market a small business on a shoe string and these days it's a good thing to know. Okay, enough for now, to be continued.