Charon Kransen's guest appearances

Charon Kransen

Jewelry Journey Podcast

Robert Lee

Stefanie Walker

Sasha Nixon

Matt Burkholz

Elyse Zorn Karlin

Irija Øwre

Barbara Schwartz

Sarah Nehama

Lisa Berman

Donna Schneier

Lisa Kramer

Amy Wilson

Diana Holstein

Jo Ellen Cole

Bill Harper

OwlTail

What you’ll learn in this episode:  Why Charon cares more about quality of content than whether something is defined as art, jewelry or craft Why social pressures can make it difficult for people, especially men, to wear art jewelry, and how education can change that Why so many people choose to spend money on traditional jewelry, even if they are intrigued by an art jewelry piece Why Charon believes every artist has a uniqueness that can be developed How the relationship between artist and gallery is changing  About Charon Kransen Charon Kransen established Charon Kransen Arts in New York City in 1993, in order to promote exciting jewelry from around the world in North America. The work is presented annually at various American art fairs, such as SOFA New York, SOFA Chicago, SOFA Santa Fe and Art Palm Beach and the Int. Art and Design Fair in New York and at select galleries specializing in contemporary crafts and design. As a private dealer, Charon Kransen Arts welcomes individuals, collectors and museums to the Upper West Side of Manhattan. The collection consists of jewelry, hollowware and accessories by both renowned and emerging artists, whose work may be found in museum and private collections around the world. The focus is on the artists' personal vision and on an innovative approach, characterized by the use of a wide spectrum of materials from paper to precious. The educational branch of Charon Kransen Arts includes lectures and seminars throughout the USA, Europe, Australia and South America and the distribution of books and exhibition catalogs on all aspects of jewelry, metal and design Additional Resources:  Website: www.charonkransenarts.com  Photos Available on TheJeweleryJourney.com Transcript: It takes a certain type of person to appreciate art jewelry, and it’s even rarer for someone to wear it unabashedly. Charon Kransen proudly considers himself the latter. As the founder of Charon Kransen Arts, he is a gallerist and educator who hopes that more people embrace and express their differences through jewelry. He joined the Jewelry Journey Podcast to talk about the challenges that galleries are facing today; why people wrongly assume that traditional jewelry is a better investment; and how education can help people find the confidence to wear art jewelry. Read the episode transcript here. Sharon: Hello, everyone. Welcome to the Jewelry Journey Podcast. This is the second part of a two-part episode. If you haven’t heard part one, please head to The JewelryJourney.com.    My guest today is Charon Kransen, and he’s truly a man of the art jewelry world. He studied in several countries and speaks several languages, and he teaches and lectures about art jewelry globally. Welcome back.    I was rereading the transcript from last time, and you had described this market as being somewhat elitist. I was surprised to reread that. I think of it as more of a mass market thing because it’s more affordable and you can change it more.    Charon: What I mean by elitist is, in general, you have to have a certain sophistication. You have to have educated yourself. You have to have a certain courage. You have to have a certain emotional intelligence to be able to appreciate this work and look at it not like—what do people say?—“This is different.” That’s what I mean by elitist. Most people couldn’t care less. In general, they want to wear something really small; you barely see it. I don’t mean elitist in a pretentious way, but yes, you have to have a level of sophistication in order to appreciate it, right?   Sharon: Yes, if you want to think of elitism being that. There is only a certain segment of a population that’s going to understand it or even stop to think about it for a minute.    Charon: For many years, I’ve done the art fairs in Florida in Palm Beach, and I was the only contemporary jewelry dealer in that fair. There was a lot of high-end jewelry and estate jewelry, and so many times I heard people walking into my booth saying, “Oh, this is so inspiring. This is so refreshing,” and then I saw them across the aisle buying something high end and very expensive because that is, in the end, where their decision lies. “Oh, this is too much fun. I’d better put my money in something that is made of precious metal,” or whatever. I’ve seen that happen so many times. That is what gives people the kind of certainty that they’re not throwing their money away by buying something very out of the ordinary. This is generalizing, of course, but I’ve seen that for so many years. That’s just the reality of this field.   Sharon: Do you think that it is trending toward the lighter, the more fun, the jewelry that’s interchangeable, or that you can afford to have some choices?   Charon: I think it brings up the issue of listening more closely to who you are, what your mood is. If you want to use the word fun, it’s how to embrace fun in your life and not try to be somebody who, from the outside, is all together and all blah, blah, whatever. Yeah, it brings a certain lightness and a certain freshness and a certain leaving your comfort zone energy.   Sharon: Has the way you’ve sold this jewelry, your jewelry, changed over the years? Have you emphasized the lightness of it or the affordability or anything because something changed?   Charon: There are definitely people—and I’m not just talking about since the pandemic, but even before that—who’d say, “Charon, you need to sell more traditional jewelry, more commercial jewelry, more low end,” meaning very low end. I thought about it many times, but that is not something that has my passion. That’s just not the kind of work I want to present. In the end, I have to live with me; I have to be surrounded by work that I find inspiring and energetic. You’ve known me long enough that I have always shown work that, for a large part, is very colorful. The format of certain jewelry might be a bit traditional sometimes, but in terms of color and material and content, this is the kind of work I want to represent. It’s pretty obvious.   Sharon: Can something that’s made out of a material you’ve seen before and thought was innovative, and now you see it in a different format, can that be considered innovative, or is it only the first time?   Charon: Essentially what I think makes a work innovative has a lot to do with a certain uniqueness. When I lecture or do seminars, I talk a lot about what it is that makes a piece of jewelry so special and unique. I think that is something that has a lot to do with how you as a maker infuse your uniqueness into this piece. It could be how you infuse it by manipulating a certain material, but in a way only you can do. I really believe deep down that everybody has a uniqueness. It might be totally underdeveloped, but I do believe people have that. That, to me, is what makes a work unique and even innovative. It’s a combination.    Maybe the best way to describe it is this. I get packages for artists, several every week, and you open a package and think, “O.K., Charon, in all the years you’ve seen it all. You’re probably a bit jaded.” Then I open it and I jump, like, “Wow! I thought I had seen all of it.” In many ways, my opinion is often the thing that needs to be developed more than anything. You can call it the voice of an artist. That makes me jump, like, “I thought I’d seen it all. Wow!” It’s seeing something I’ve never seen before, and I don’t even know how to describe it. It’s not about analyzing how it’s made, but more of the energy that it expresses. It’s interesting that after all these years, I can still have that sensation. It just is what it is.   Sharon: I’m surprised. Is there anything left that would surprise you? That’s my thought.    Charon: Absolutely, yeah.   Sharon: Yes?   Charon: The mind is endless. There is no limit to the mind, and people come up with things. That’s why I’m still doing what I’m doing. I’m far from retiring.    Sharon: How did you make it through Covid? Did that affect your business?   Charon: It was basically dead the first half-year, and then—you’re talking to somebody who in many ways is kind of old-fashioned. I’ve never done social media. I’ve developed clientele on a very personal level. But this time, it was just horrendous. I kept thinking, “Well, no art fairs. Galleries are closed. No exhibitions, no nothing. How are these artists going to survive?” I’m part of the system that pays them money so they can live and work. So, I forced myself to start with Instagram, which was a big stretch for me because I don’t really like it.    Then I approached a lot of people describing the situation, how it really is for artists. I wasn’t that concerned about my own survival, but I thought about all these artists who do not have any income. How can I expect them to be motivated to sit in their studios and make work and say, “O.K., this is difficult and challenging situation. We just have to sit it out”? I felt a lot of their financial pressure, their stress. I approached so many people for help understanding the situation, and of course offering them a bigger discount so I would be able to send checks to artists. Many wonderful, loyal people responded.   I would say it’s still kind of problematic because to develop new clients, you have to do the art fairs, but the art fairs are extremely expensive. You end up paying so much for the whole thing. Financially, I really question whether that is still the way to go, especially in jewelry. When you do these fairs and see artwork, sculptures and paintings that sell for $100,000, yeah, O.K. We’re talking jewelry here. What is the price range? You have to sell a shitload of work in order to break even. So, I’m rethinking that whole art fair model. Everybody also says the market has changed big time. The 90s and the early 2000s, they were golden years. It’s amazing what people would spend. That has changed big time. I hear it from other colleagues also, not even in our field, but in other fields, too.    Sharon: There have been a lot of changes, yes. I can see that in what people buy and how much they’re willing to spend.   Charon: We’re talking here about work that is worn on the body. When you just look at images, you miss the three dimensionality. You can’t imagine it, really. You miss the tactile aspect, the sound aspect. We’re constantly looking at two-dimensional images, and not everybody is able to translate that. I’m trained as an artist so I can do that, but most people can’t. It’s different than looking at an object. How is this going to be on my body? That is a big issue. If you look at commercial jewelry that’s sold over the internet, it’s simple; it’s accessible; it’s understandable; you can totally figure it out, but this kind of work is a completely different story.   Sharon: That’s true.   Charon: That is where we are. We’re looking at images. I send things on approval because I want people to see them and try them on. With this kind of jewelry, I think it’s very difficult to sell on the internet. I really do.   Sharon: I think you’re right. When I think of the images I see when I’m scrolling through Instagram, most of them are things you don’t have to imagine. You know how it’s going to look.   Charon: Right.   Sharon: In your mind, do you have some art fairs you think you’ll still go to that are reasonably priced?   Charon: None of them are reasonably priced. I had several meetings with the director of SOFA Chicago. SOFA Chicago is not happening again this year, and they’re rethinking the whole idea. We’ve been talking about a much smaller fair with exquisite objects. When I think of SOFA Chicago as it was at Navy Pier—   Sharon: SOFA being Sculpture, Objects, Functional Art and Design?   Charon: Yeah, it’s huge. People go there to be entertained without any intention of buying anything. I think there is definitely a market for people who are interested in exquisite objects in glass, in wood, in ceramic jewelry and textiles that would attract them. I might be talking to them about developing something in that different format. I think that would totally work. Right now, I’m focusing on New York Jewelry Week. I’m going to do something I’ve wanted to do for a long time but never did, and I’m very excited about it.   Sharon: I hope to be there. I think that’s the place if you want to experiment.   Charon: I’ve now had two years to focus on the Far East with five or six countries, Korea, Japan, China, Taiwan, Thailand—what am I missing? That was great because this is the aesthetic we mostly don’t see.   Sharon: We don’t.   Charon: It was great, but it was a lot of work for us. I showed the work of like 45 artists. Anyway, I have a theme in mind, and I think it could be great.   Sharon: I’ll keep my eyes open. I’ll wait for round three until after New York Jewelry Week, and I’ll ask you what you’ve done next year post-Covid. I think everybody is changing the way they operate with Covid.   Charon: Quite frankly, I think we’re all in survival mode and reinventing ourselves, and we’re understanding also that somehow it has to make sense. Many years ago, I heard this term which was new to me, “I need to spend money in order to make it.” But the past three years have been horrendous, and not just for me but for so many people, I think. But I’m still here; I’m still getting excited about it.    I am involved in something that unfortunately I cannot quite talk about. Well, I can say this much: I was invited to be a judge of a major international competition. It’s interesting to go through all these submissions and see where we are as a field. This is not just jewelry. There are so many artists. I remember in one of your questions you sent me, you wrote something about education, like “Who needs to be educated most?” I might get a lot of reaction to this, but I think artists need to be educated mostly.   Sharon: On what will sell?   Charon: No, most artists are incredible. They’re talented in what they make, but once the work leaves the studio, there’s a whole world out there that is foreign to them. I think especially during the pandemic, artists started to sell themselves individually, whether they had a relationship with a gallery or not. It is a problem. It’s an issue, but what do you do as an artist when you’re desperate financially and you can barely survive? It brings up a lot of new issues. I won’t bore you with examples, but there are lots of examples where I feel like, “Well, maybe galleries are obsolete. Maybe the relationship between artist and gallery is changing because everybody has been going through a very difficult time.” It’s going to be interesting to see how that continues, but it does bring up a lot of issues and a lot of problems.   Sharon: When that’s developed more, that’s something I’d like to talk with you about. It sounds very interesting. Thank you for being with us today. I look forward to the next time.    Charon: When we meet.   Sharon: It was great. Thank you for being here.   Charon: Thank you for the invitation, and like I said, to be continued. Thank you for having me.   Sharon: We will have photos posted on the website. Please head to TheJewelryJourney.com to check them out.   Thank you again for listening. Please leave us a rating and review so we can help others start their own jewelry journey.

What you’ll learn in this episode: <ul> <li>Why Charon cares more about quality of content than whether something is defined as art, jewelry or craft</li> <li>Why social pressures can make it difficult for people, especially men, to wear art jewelry, and how education can change that</li> <li>Why so many people choose to spend money on traditional jewelry, even if they are intrigued by an art jewelry piece</li> <li>Why Charon believes every artist has a uniqueness that can be developed</li> <li>How the relationship between artist and gallery is changing</li> </ul> About Charon Kransen Charon Kransen established Charon Kransen Arts in New York City in 1993, in order to promote exciting jewelry from around the world in North America. The work is presented annually at various American art fairs, such as SOFA New York, SOFA Chicago, SOFA Santa Fe and Art Palm Beach and the Int. Art and Design Fair in New York and at select galleries specializing in contemporary crafts and design. As a private dealer, Charon Kransen Arts welcomes individuals, collectors and museums to the Upper West Side of Manhattan. The collection consists of jewelry, hollowware and accessories by both renowned and emerging artists, whose work may be found in museum and private collections around the world. The focus is on the artists' personal vision and on an innovative approach, characterized by the use of a wide spectrum of materials from paper to precious. The educational branch of Charon Kransen Arts includes lectures and seminars throughout the USA, Europe, Australia and South America and the distribution of books and exhibition catalogs on all aspects of jewelry, metal and design Additional Resources: <ul> <li>Website: <a href="http://www.charonkransenarts.com/" rel="noopener nofollow" target="_blank">www.charonkransenarts.com</a></li> </ul> Photos Available on <a href="http://TheJeweleryJourney.com" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">TheJeweleryJourney.com</a> Transcript: It takes a certain type of person to appreciate art jewelry, and it’s even rarer for someone to wear it unabashedly. Charon Kransen proudly considers himself the latter. As the founder of Charon Kransen Arts, he is a gallerist and educator who hopes that more people embrace and express their differences through jewelry. He joined the Jewelry Journey Podcast to talk about the challenges that galleries are facing today; why people wrongly assume that traditional jewelry is a better investment; and how education can help people find the confidence to wear art jewelry. Read the episode transcript here. Sharon: Hello, everyone. Welcome to the Jewelry Journey Podcast. This is the second part of a two-part episode. If you haven’t heard part one, please head to The <a href="http://JewelryJourney.com" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">JewelryJourney.com</a>.  My guest today is Charon Kransen, and he’s truly a man of the art jewelry world. He studied in several countries and speaks several languages, and he teaches and lectures about art jewelry globally. Welcome back.  I was rereading the transcript from last time, and you had described this market as being somewhat elitist. I was surprised to reread that. I think of it as more of a mass market thing because it’s more affordable and you can change it more.  Charon: What I mean by elitist is, in general, you have to have a certain sophistication. You have to have educated yourself. You have to have a certain courage. You have to have a certain emotional intelligence to be able to appreciate this work and look at it not like—what do people say?—“This is different.” That’s what I mean by elitist. Most people couldn’t care less. In general, they want to wear something really small; you barely see it. I don’t mean elitist in a pretentious way, but yes, you have to have a level of sophistication in order to appreciate it, right? Sharon: Yes, if you want to think of elitism being that. There is only a certain segment of a population that’s going to understand it or even stop to think about it for a minute.  Charon: For many years, I’ve done the art fairs in Florida in Palm Beach, and I was the only contemporary jewelry dealer in that fair. There was a lot of high-end jewelry and estate jewelry, and so many times I heard people walking into my booth saying, “Oh, this is so inspiring. This is so refreshing,” and then I saw them across the aisle buying something high end and very expensive because that is, in the end, where their decision lies. “Oh, this is too much fun. I’d better put my money in something that is made of precious metal,” or whatever. I’ve seen that happen so many times. That is what gives people the kind of certainty that they’re not throwing their money away by buying something very out of the ordinary. This is generalizing, of course, but I’ve seen that for so many years. That’s just the reality of this field. Sharon: Do you think that it is trending toward the lighter, the more fun, the jewelry that’s interchangeable, or that you can afford to have some choices? Charon: I think it brings up the issue of listening more closely to who you are, what your mood is. If you want to use the word fun, it’s how to embrace fun in your life and not try to be somebody who, from the outside, is all together and all blah, blah, whatever. Yeah, it brings a certain lightness and a certain freshness and a certain leaving your comfort zone energy. Sharon: Has the way you’ve sold this jewelry, your jewelry, changed over the years? Have you emphasized the lightness of it or the affordability or anything because something changed? Charon: There are definitely people—and I’m not just talking about since the pandemic, but even before that—who’d say, “Charon, you need to sell more traditional jewelry, more commercial jewelry, more low end,” meaning very low end. I thought about it many times, but that is not something that has my passion. That’s just not the kind of work I want to present. In the end, I have to live with me; I have to be surrounded by work that I find inspiring and energetic. You’ve known me long enough that I have always shown work that, for a large part, is very colorful. The format of certain jewelry might be a bit traditional sometimes, but in terms of color and material and content, this is the kind of work I want to represent. It’s pretty obvious. Sharon: Can something that’s made out of a material you’ve seen before and thought was innovative, and now you see it in a different format, can that be considered innovative, or is it only the first time? Charon: Essentially what I think makes a work innovative has a lot to do with a certain uniqueness. When I lecture or do seminars, I talk a lot about what it is that makes a piece of jewelry so special and unique. I think that is something that has a lot to do with how you as a maker infuse your uniqueness into this piece. It could be how you infuse it by manipulating a certain material, but in a way only you can do. I really believe deep down that everybody has a uniqueness. It might be totally underdeveloped, but I do believe people have that. That, to me, is what makes a work unique and even innovative. It’s a combination.  Maybe the best way to describe it is this. I get packages for artists, several every week, and you open a package and think, “O.K., Charon, in all the years you’ve seen it all. You’re probably a bit jaded.” Then I open it and I jump, like, “Wow! I thought I had seen all of it.” In many ways, my opinion is often the thing that needs to be developed more than anything. You can call it the voice of an artist. That makes me jump, like, “I thought I’d seen it all. Wow!” It’s seeing something I’ve never seen before, and I don’t even know how to describe it. It’s not about analyzing how it’s made, but more of the energy that it expresses. It’s interesting that after all these years, I can still have that sensation. It just is what it is. Sharon: I’m surprised. Is there anything left that would surprise you? That’s my thought.  Charon: Absolutely, yeah. Sharon: Yes? Charon: The mind is endless. There is no limit to the mind, and people come up with things. That’s why I’m still doing what I’m doing. I’m far from retiring.  Sharon: How did you make it through Covid? Did that affect your business? Charon: It was basically dead the first half-year, and then—you’re talking to somebody who in many ways is kind of old-fashioned. I’ve never done social media. I’ve developed clientele on a very personal level. But this time, it was just horrendous. I kept thinking, “Well, no art fairs. Galleries are closed. No exhibitions, no nothing. How are these artists going to survive?” I’m part of the system that pays them money so they can live and work. So, I forced myself to start with Instagram, which was a big stretch for me because I don’t really like it.  Then I approached a lot of people describing the situation, how it really is for artists. I wasn’t that concerned about my own survival, but I thought about all these artists who do not have any income. How can I expect them to be motivated to sit in their studios and make work and say, “O.K., this is difficult and challenging situation. We just have to sit it out”? I felt a lot of their financial pressure, their stress. I approached so many people for help understanding the situation, and of course offering them a bigger discount so I would be able to send checks to artists. Many wonderful, loyal people responded. I would say it’s still kind of problematic because to develop new clients, you have to do the art fairs, but the art fairs are extremely expensive. You end up paying so much for the whole thing. Financially, I really question whether that is still the way to go, especially in jewelry. When you do these fairs and see artwork, sculptures and paintings that sell for $100,000, yeah, O.K. We’re talking jewelry here. What is the price range? You have to sell a shitload of work in order to break even. So, I’m rethinking that whole art fair model. Everybody also says the market has changed big time. The 90s and the early 2000s, they were golden years. It’s amazing what people would spend. That has changed big time. I hear it from other colleagues also, not even in our field, but in other fields, too.  Sharon: There have been a lot of changes, yes. I can see that in what people buy and how much they’re willing to spend. Charon: We’re talking here about work that is worn on the body. When you just look at images, you miss the three dimensionality. You can’t imagine it, really. You miss the tactile aspect, the sound aspect. We’re constantly looking at two-dimensional images, and not everybody is able to translate that. I’m trained as an artist so I can do that, but most people can’t. It’s different than looking at an object. How is this going to be on my body? That is a big issue. If you look at commercial jewelry that’s sold over the internet, it’s simple; it’s accessible; it’s understandable; you can totally figure it out, but this kind of work is a completely different story. Sharon: That’s true. Charon: That is where we are. We’re looking at images. I send things on approval because I want people to see them and try them on. With this kind of jewelry, I think it’s very difficult to sell on the internet. I really do. Sharon: I think you’re right. When I think of the images I see when I’m scrolling through Instagram, most of them are things you don’t have to imagine. You know how it’s going to look. Charon: Right. Sharon: In your mind, do you have some art fairs you think you’ll still go to that are reasonably priced? Charon: None of them are reasonably priced. I had several meetings with the director of SOFA Chicago. SOFA Chicago is not happening again this year, and they’re rethinking the whole idea. We’ve been talking about a much smaller fair with exquisite objects. When I think of SOFA Chicago as it was at Navy Pier— Sharon: SOFA being Sculpture, Objects, Functional Art and Design? Charon: Yeah, it’s huge. People go there to be entertained without any intention of buying anything. I think there is definitely a market for people who are interested in exquisite objects in glass, in wood, in ceramic jewelry and textiles that would attract them. I might be talking to them about developing something in that different format. I think that would totally work. Right now, I’m focusing on New York Jewelry Week. I’m going to do something I’ve wanted to do for a long time but never did, and I’m very excited about it. Sharon: I hope to be there. I think that’s the place if you want to experiment. Charon: I’ve now had two years to focus on the Far East with five or six countries, Korea, Japan, China, Taiwan, Thailand—what am I missing? That was great because this is the aesthetic we mostly don’t see. Sharon: We don’t. Charon: It was great, but it was a lot of work for us. I showed the work of like 45 artists. Anyway, I have a theme in mind, and I think it could be great. Sharon: I’ll keep my eyes open. I’ll wait for round three until after New York Jewelry Week, and I’ll ask you what you’ve done next year post-Covid. I think everybody is changing the way they operate with Covid. Charon: Quite frankly, I think we’re all in survival mode and reinventing ourselves, and we’re understanding also that somehow it has to make sense. Many years ago, I heard this term which was new to me, “I need to spend money in order to make it.” But the past three years have been horrendous, and not just for me but for so many people, I think. But I’m still here; I’m still getting excited about it.  I am involved in something that unfortunately I cannot quite talk about. Well, I can say this much: I was invited to be a judge of a major international competition. It’s interesting to go through all these submissions and see where we are as a field. This is not just jewelry. There are so many artists. I remember in one of your questions you sent me, you wrote something about education, like “Who needs to be educated most?” I might get a lot of reaction to this, but I think artists need to be educated mostly. Sharon: On what will sell? Charon: No, most artists are incredible. They’re talented in what they make, but once the work leaves the studio, there’s a whole world out there that is foreign to them. I think especially during the pandemic, artists started to sell themselves individually, whether they had a relationship with a gallery or not. It is a problem. It’s an issue, but what do you do as an artist when you’re desperate financially and you can barely survive? It brings up a lot of new issues. I won’t bore you with examples, but there are lots of examples where I feel like, “Well, maybe galleries are obsolete. Maybe the relationship between artist and gallery is changing because everybody has been going through a very difficult time.” It’s going to be interesting to see how that continues, but it does bring up a lot of issues and a lot of problems. Sharon: When that’s developed more, that’s something I’d like to talk with you about. It sounds very interesting. Thank you for being with us today. I look forward to the next time.  Charon: When we meet. Sharon: It was great. Thank you for being here. Charon: Thank you for the invitation, and like I said, to be continued. Thank you for having me. Sharon: We will have photos posted on the website. Please head to <a href="http://TheJewelryJourney.com" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">TheJewelryJourney.com</a> to check them out. Thank you again for listening. Please leave us a rating and review so we can help others start their own jewelry journey.

Episode 195 Part 2: Why Charon Kransen Hopes More People See the Joy of Wearing Art Jewelry

What you’ll learn in this episode:  Why Charon cares more about quality of content than whether something is defined as art, jewelry or craft Why social pressures can make it difficult for people, especially men, to wear art jewelry, and how education can change that Why so many people choose to spend money on traditional jewelry, even if they are intrigued by an art jewelry piece Why Charon believes every artist has a uniqueness that can be developed How the relationship between artist and gallery is changing  About Charon Kransen Charon Kransen established Charon Kransen Arts in New York City in 1993, in order to promote exciting jewelry from around the world in North America. The work is presented annually at various American art fairs, such as SOFA New York, SOFA Chicago, SOFA Santa Fe and Art Palm Beach and the Int. Art and Design Fair in New York and at select galleries specializing in contemporary crafts and design. As a private dealer, Charon Kransen Arts welcomes individuals, collectors and museums to the Upper West Side of Manhattan. The collection consists of jewelry, hollowware and accessories by both renowned and emerging artists, whose work may be found in museum and private collections around the world. The focus is on the artists' personal vision and on an innovative approach, characterized by the use of a wide spectrum of materials from paper to precious. The educational branch of Charon Kransen Arts includes lectures and seminars throughout the USA, Europe, Australia and South America and the distribution of books and exhibition catalogs on all aspects of jewelry, metal and design Additional Resources:  Website: www.charonkransenarts.com  Photos Available on TheJeweleryJourney.com Transcript: It takes a certain type of person to appreciate art jewelry, and it’s even rarer for someone to wear it unabashedly. Charon Kransen proudly considers himself the latter. As the founder of Charon Kransen Arts, he is a gallerist and educator who hopes that more people embrace and express their differences through jewelry. He joined the Jewelry Journey Podcast to talk about the challenges that galleries are facing today; why people wrongly assume that traditional jewelry is a better investment; and how education can help people find the confidence to wear art jewelry. Read the episode transcript here. Sharon: Hello, everyone. Welcome to The Jewelry Journey Podcast. This is the first part of a two-part episode. Please make sure you subscribe so you can hear part two as soon as it’s released later this week. My guest today is Charon Kransen. Even if you think you don’t know him, you’ve probably already bumped into him. He was familiar to me years before I met him. I asked a lot of people, “Do you know Charon?” and they would show me what they had bought from him. He’s truly a man of the art jewelry world. He studied in several countries and speaks several languages, and he teaches and lectures about art jewelry globally. There are few book fairs where he is not present with his books and jewelry. He talks to those making art jewelry everywhere. If you’re on his mailing list, he keeps well-apprised of the new things coming out. He was one of the first guests we had on the podcast. We called that episode “Having the Confidence to Create and Wear Contemporary Jewelry.” I read that title and thought, “That says a lot.” I’m looking forward to hearing about the ups and downs of the intervening years. I know some of them have been very, very hard and some of them have been O.K. Charon, thank you for coming back for round two of the podcast. Charon: Glad to be here. Sharon: First, is there a difference between art jewelry and contemporary jewelry in your mind? Charon: I’ve always tried to avoid the term art jewelry. It’s a very strange term. When you talk about contemporary jewelry, the definitions that people understand are so varied. People call modern jewelry contemporary jewelry or studio jewelry. As a matter of fact, I’m not really interested in what to call it. It feels like a very contrived term. Two weeks ago or so, I was invited to the preview and award ceremony of the Loewe Craft Competition, which showed the work of 30 finalists. Three of the artists I represent were included in that show. Anyway, the big winner was Eriko Inazaki from Japan. She was Japanese, totally overwhelmed when that was announced, and with the help of a translator, she had to improvise and say something. You can Google the winner. It is just an incredible piece. It’s a porcelain object. But the way she talked about it was, “I don’t really care how you call it, whether it’s art or whether it’s craft,” and I totally related to it. For many years, when people asked me those kinds of questions, like, “What is it, craft or art?” I don’t think that way. All I can say is all these people have graduated from an art academy somewhere in the world. They’re trained as artists, and the best way to describe how art jewelry is different from commercial jewelry, estate jewelry, fashion jewelry, you name it, is these are artists who have chosen the medium of jewelry to express what any artist wants to express in his or her medium. So, when I think about the word “art jewelry,” it is about something. It is content based. There is a story to it. I’m not talking about a literal story, but it has something to do with—I’m using my own invented words or description when I talk about art jewelry. There is something about the quality of content and learning to see that. In the 54 years I’ve been in this field, I’ve obviously seen a lot of jewelry. There is room for every option in the jewelry field, but the more I see—and there’s a lot that I see—I’m just not interested. What I’m more and more interested in is, “I don’t know what I’m looking at, but there is a quality of content.” It’s mysterious. It’s not literal, and it brings up a lot of questions. It’s not about elegance, necessarily; it’s not about beauty; it’s maybe about a different definition of beauty, but it’s very content based. You know what I’m saying? You walk past things that are beautifully made, but what is it about, and what do I get to receive from the artist’s mind? Sharon: Would you say that is what attracts you to art jewelry? You’re saying, “What do I see? What do I understand from the piece? I don’t know what the piece is.” Charon: I would say that is what touches me. Of course, one can be touched in many different ways. When you go to the Hermitage in St. Petersburg and go to the treasure room, you see the most incredible jewelry and objects made with craftsmanship that is just amazing. I can appreciate it for that reason, but does it touch me personally? No, not really. At this point of life, all that matters to me is that I want to be engaged with it; I want it to bring up questions. That’s where I am right now. Sharon: That’s interesting. As you were talking, I thought that while contemporary jewelry is fashion, it’s commercial, it’s not the kind of thing that would attract you, I would guess. I think all of that is pretty or I might want it, but I do have questions. What does it mean, what did the artist want to say, that sort of thing. Charon: Right. What does it do to me? What does it trigger in me, and which part of whoever I am does it resonate with? I want that connection. Sharon: Do you think that’s how you grow the field? By educating people, the makers and the buyers, that there is a connection? Charon: After I graduated in 1975 in Germany, I went back to Holland. This was a time where things were just starting to happen in terms of a different kind of jewelry we didn’t have a name for. I’m talking about the environment. There were no galleries; there were no museums that collected jewelry; there were hardly any publications. There was nothing, really. So, you can then say, “Well, if we want to make a living at some point, we need to educate the public. We can’t just put it out and say, ‘O.K., you people have to understand it and appreciate it and put money towards it.’ No, this is all about education.” I’m probably more of an educator than anything else because the things I do constantly require education, because we’re talking about work that is more or less foreign to most people. Most people want and wear what already exists, right? Sharon: Right. Charon: That is their comfort level; that’s their comfort zone. Who am I to say that’s wrong? No, it’s not wrong. But in order to find the connection to this different kind of work, let’s call it, it requires education and, I would almost say, emotional and psychological education. Am I going to wear something so people will look at me like, “Where are you from? What planet are you from?” because they have no reference whatsoever? Am I able to withstand that? Am I able to ignore that and say, “Hey, this is what I want to wear”? It involves a lot of things that certainly have an emotional and psychological component. Do I have enough courage? Do I need to be seen? No, I don’t need to be seen, but this expresses something in a nonverbal way about who I am, and thank God there is this. Do you know what I mean? Sharon: Yes. Charon: It’s essential. It still is in many ways because we’re a relatively small field compared to the global, bigger jewelry fields. That’s just the reality of this separate option in the bigger jewelry field. It’s complicated. It’s challenging. I’ve always known that. This is not going to be a big market. If you compare it with the market for estate jewelry, for high-end jewelry, for commercial jewelry, it’s tiny. Sharon: Why did you choose it? The things I’ve seen you wear are different. Is it because they are expressing who you are? I’ve mainly seen you wear brooches at fairs and things. Charon: It expresses who I am. It expresses my mood, and that can change from one day to the other, obviously. It can feel like protection. That’s how I wear jewelry. Of course, sitting here, I’m not wearing jewelry. I’m not always wearing jewelry by any means, but yes, it does speak a language I use because I want the world to know this part of me. Sharon: Do people come up to you—women especially—and say, “Gee, I wish my husband had the courage to wear a brooch or something besides cufflinks. Do you think my husband could do that?” Charon: That’s an interesting question. It’s not just women who talk about their husbands. It’s also women who say, “You can wear it because—” fill in the blank. “You’re tall. You have a long neck. You have the right personality,” etc. It’s always something in comparison. When I hear something like this, I always think this is just a way to say, “I’m not really interested.” Fine, but to always put it on the other, like, “You can do it. You can wear it. You can get away with it. You, you, you, not me.” Well, why not me? Why not? And that, of course, brings up a lot of questions. I don’t have issues wearing jewelry; I don’t care what people say, but we live in a pretty traditional society. I have certain couple clients where the husband has slowly ventured out to wearing small lapel pins, and he’s becoming a little more courageous under the constant education of the wife. But let’s face it: most men do not wear it. They’re afraid of color. They won’t wear anything that draws attention, because God forbid what that would do. That would open up a discussion that a lot of people just don’t want to have. Sharon: What do you think the difference is? Karen Rotenberg from Gallery Loupe talks about how women come in and say, “Oh, I could never wear that,” and then they leave wearing something that’s contemporary or really out there or something they thought they couldn’t wear. Why does that happen? Charon: In the past few months, I’ve had some rotator cuff problems. I’m going to PT two to three times a week, and there are two physical therapists, both men, and me being me, I comment on the fact that the colors they are wearing are so boring. It’s almost as if I’m back in the 50s in Holland, in a Calvinist country where we wouldn’t see colors. It was gray, beige, dark blue, black, basically. My apartment is full of color. I wear a lot of color. So, we talk about it sort of jokingly, and it’s like, “Oh no, you can’t do that. That is not very manly to wear color.” I’ve been going there now for a few months. Last week—and I kind of tease them also—one of them said, “You know what? I bought four very colored T-shirts.” That is education, but in a light way. I think there are all kinds of traditional attitudes attached to it. God knows what they are. “Men don’t wear color.” Well, look in nature. I lived for a year in Lapland. If you see how the men dress in Lapland, their whole chest is full of jewelry. There are so many different cultures where men wear jewelry. Look in nature. So, what have we done to the man? Sharon: That’s a good point. Most physical therapists who are male wear dark colors, whereas the women might wear peach scrubs or something like that. Charon: Why is that? Is it that you’re afraid to show who you are? What is that all about? Sharon: That’s a good question. People think that’s male. Charon: Right. Adornment belongs to women, or whatever is in your mind. I think all these people miss out on a lot of pleasure, a lot of leaving your comfort zone. Yeah, it might be a little scary, but in the end, it’s great, especially when you hear comments from people. A lot of it is fear-based, I think. What will other people think? Sharon: You must get a lot of comments on a piece of jewelry, a brooch or something. It opens the door. Charon: It does. At the opening of the Loewe preview, I wore a big brooch and saw people looking. There were very few people who actually commented on it. I think it was just too awkward for most people. Can you believe it in the New York crowd? I think it brings up a certain confusion. They see a man wearing something very colorful, a brooch or whatever. Maybe that’s the confusion. They don’t know how to approach it. They don’t know how to respond to it, instead of saying, “Wow, that looks great. I don’t know what I’m looking at, but it looks great, and it has great energy.” You know what I mean? Sharon: Yes. Like you said in the title of the last time you were on, you have to have confidence to create it and to wear this kind of jewelry. You have to be confident in yourself. There must be a piece of yourself that’s confident about it. Charon: It doesn’t just apply to jewelry. It applies to anything in life. How do you want to be in life? Who do you want to be? How do you want to dress? How do you want to develop friendships? It’s anything. There’s a lot of talk about how we can develop younger collectors. I’m generalizing of course, but the problem with younger collectors is that they haven’t really grown into their own. There are a lot of things that will guide them towards Cartier or Tiffany because that’s recognizable, and that tells the viewer, “I belong to a certain status; I wear Tiffany or I drive a Mercedes.” I think it comes with age that at a certain point, you look back and say, “Now, who’s going to determine what I do, what I say, what I wear, what I eat? Is there somebody like me who says, ‘It makes me feel a certain way, and that is why I’m doing it this way. That’s why I’m wearing it’?” There are so many phases in life where you’re preoccupied with all these questions. You look at adolescents and teenagers, and thank God I’m not in that phase anymore, because it’s so much about blending in and being like the group. You’re talking to somebody who has, in many ways, always has been an outsider, so maybe you need to embrace that in yourself, whatever way you are different than other people. Sharon: That’s interesting. I’ve never heard anybody talk about the issues of having collectors be younger or nurturing them. I’ve never heard anybody explain it that way, in that you have to grow into it in a sense. Charon: Right, it’s being different or an outsider. Maybe this is way too philosophical, but I think we spend a lot of time coming to terms with that and viewing it as, “What’s wrong with me?” versus saying, “I embrace the difference in me. I embrace it. I don’t judge it. It’s not a negative thing. On the contrary, it’s inspiring, and this is how I want to live.” I think time and experience help you get to that point, and then you can start living your life and wear whatever you want. In Western Europe, we call it Calvinism. In Scandinavia, you call it Janteloven, but it all comes down to, “Don’t think you’re anybody special. Try to blend in as much as possible. Don’t draw attention to yourself.” Well, if you want to live that way, be my guest. Sharon: That’s not my image of New York, blending in, but I suppose. We will have photos posted on the website. Please head to The JewelryJourney.com to check them out.

What you’ll learn in this episode: <ul> <li>Why Charon cares more about quality of content than whether something is defined as art, jewelry or craft</li> <li>Why social pressures can make it difficult for people, especially men, to wear art jewelry, and how education can change that</li> <li>Why so many people choose to spend money on traditional jewelry, even if they are intrigued by an art jewelry piece</li> <li>Why Charon believes every artist has a uniqueness that can be developed</li> <li>How the relationship between artist and gallery is changing</li> </ul> About Charon Kransen Charon Kransen established Charon Kransen Arts in New York City in 1993, in order to promote exciting jewelry from around the world in North America. The work is presented annually at various American art fairs, such as SOFA New York, SOFA Chicago, SOFA Santa Fe and Art Palm Beach and the Int. Art and Design Fair in New York and at select galleries specializing in contemporary crafts and design. As a private dealer, Charon Kransen Arts welcomes individuals, collectors and museums to the Upper West Side of Manhattan. The collection consists of jewelry, hollowware and accessories by both renowned and emerging artists, whose work may be found in museum and private collections around the world. The focus is on the artists' personal vision and on an innovative approach, characterized by the use of a wide spectrum of materials from paper to precious. The educational branch of Charon Kransen Arts includes lectures and seminars throughout the USA, Europe, Australia and South America and the distribution of books and exhibition catalogs on all aspects of jewelry, metal and design Additional Resources: <ul> <li>Website: <a href="http://www.charonkransenarts.com/" rel="noopener nofollow" target="_blank">www.charonkransenarts.com</a></li> </ul> Photos Available on <a href="http://TheJeweleryJourney.com" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">TheJeweleryJourney.com</a> Transcript: It takes a certain type of person to appreciate art jewelry, and it’s even rarer for someone to wear it unabashedly. Charon Kransen proudly considers himself the latter. As the founder of Charon Kransen Arts, he is a gallerist and educator who hopes that more people embrace and express their differences through jewelry. He joined the Jewelry Journey Podcast to talk about the challenges that galleries are facing today; why people wrongly assume that traditional jewelry is a better investment; and how education can help people find the confidence to wear art jewelry. Read the episode transcript here. Sharon: Hello, everyone. Welcome to The Jewelry Journey Podcast. This is the first part of a two-part episode. Please make sure you subscribe so you can hear part two as soon as it’s released later this week. My guest today is Charon Kransen. Even if you think you don’t know him, you’ve probably already bumped into him. He was familiar to me years before I met him. I asked a lot of people, “Do you know Charon?” and they would show me what they had bought from him. He’s truly a man of the art jewelry world. He studied in several countries and speaks several languages, and he teaches and lectures about art jewelry globally. There are few book fairs where he is not present with his books and jewelry. He talks to those making art jewelry everywhere. If you’re on his mailing list, he keeps well-apprised of the new things coming out. He was one of the first guests we had on the podcast. We called that episode “Having the Confidence to Create and Wear Contemporary Jewelry.” I read that title and thought, “That says a lot.” I’m looking forward to hearing about the ups and downs of the intervening years. I know some of them have been very, very hard and some of them have been O.K. Charon, thank you for coming back for round two of the podcast. Charon: Glad to be here. Sharon: First, is there a difference between art jewelry and contemporary jewelry in your mind? Charon: I’ve always tried to avoid the term art jewelry. It’s a very strange term. When you talk about contemporary jewelry, the definitions that people understand are so varied. People call modern jewelry contemporary jewelry or studio jewelry. As a matter of fact, I’m not really interested in what to call it. It feels like a very contrived term. Two weeks ago or so, I was invited to the preview and award ceremony of the Loewe Craft Competition, which showed the work of 30 finalists. Three of the artists I represent were included in that show. Anyway, the big winner was Eriko Inazaki from Japan. She was Japanese, totally overwhelmed when that was announced, and with the help of a translator, she had to improvise and say something. You can Google the winner. It is just an incredible piece. It’s a porcelain object. But the way she talked about it was, “I don’t really care how you call it, whether it’s art or whether it’s craft,” and I totally related to it. For many years, when people asked me those kinds of questions, like, “What is it, craft or art?” I don’t think that way. All I can say is all these people have graduated from an art academy somewhere in the world. They’re trained as artists, and the best way to describe how art jewelry is different from commercial jewelry, estate jewelry, fashion jewelry, you name it, is these are artists who have chosen the medium of jewelry to express what any artist wants to express in his or her medium. So, when I think about the word “art jewelry,” it is about something. It is content based. There is a story to it. I’m not talking about a literal story, but it has something to do with—I’m using my own invented words or description when I talk about art jewelry. There is something about the quality of content and learning to see that. In the 54 years I’ve been in this field, I’ve obviously seen a lot of jewelry. There is room for every option in the jewelry field, but the more I see—and there’s a lot that I see—I’m just not interested. What I’m more and more interested in is, “I don’t know what I’m looking at, but there is a quality of content.” It’s mysterious. It’s not literal, and it brings up a lot of questions. It’s not about elegance, necessarily; it’s not about beauty; it’s maybe about a different definition of beauty, but it’s very content based. You know what I’m saying? You walk past things that are beautifully made, but what is it about, and what do I get to receive from the artist’s mind? Sharon: Would you say that is what attracts you to art jewelry? You’re saying, “What do I see? What do I understand from the piece? I don’t know what the piece is.” Charon: I would say that is what touches me. Of course, one can be touched in many different ways. When you go to the Hermitage in St. Petersburg and go to the treasure room, you see the most incredible jewelry and objects made with craftsmanship that is just amazing. I can appreciate it for that reason, but does it touch me personally? No, not really. At this point of life, all that matters to me is that I want to be engaged with it; I want it to bring up questions. That’s where I am right now. Sharon: That’s interesting. As you were talking, I thought that while contemporary jewelry is fashion, it’s commercial, it’s not the kind of thing that would attract you, I would guess. I think all of that is pretty or I might want it, but I do have questions. What does it mean, what did the artist want to say, that sort of thing. Charon: Right. What does it do to me? What does it trigger in me, and which part of whoever I am does it resonate with? I want that connection. Sharon: Do you think that’s how you grow the field? By educating people, the makers and the buyers, that there is a connection? Charon: After I graduated in 1975 in Germany, I went back to Holland. This was a time where things were just starting to happen in terms of a different kind of jewelry we didn’t have a name for. I’m talking about the environment. There were no galleries; there were no museums that collected jewelry; there were hardly any publications. There was nothing, really. So, you can then say, “Well, if we want to make a living at some point, we need to educate the public. We can’t just put it out and say, ‘O.K., you people have to understand it and appreciate it and put money towards it.’ No, this is all about education.” I’m probably more of an educator than anything else because the things I do constantly require education, because we’re talking about work that is more or less foreign to most people. Most people want and wear what already exists, right? Sharon: Right. Charon: That is their comfort level; that’s their comfort zone. Who am I to say that’s wrong? No, it’s not wrong. But in order to find the connection to this different kind of work, let’s call it, it requires education and, I would almost say, emotional and psychological education. Am I going to wear something so people will look at me like, “Where are you from? What planet are you from?” because they have no reference whatsoever? Am I able to withstand that? Am I able to ignore that and say, “Hey, this is what I want to wear”? It involves a lot of things that certainly have an emotional and psychological component. Do I have enough courage? Do I need to be seen? No, I don’t need to be seen, but this expresses something in a nonverbal way about who I am, and thank God there is this. Do you know what I mean? Sharon: Yes. Charon: It’s essential. It still is in many ways because we’re a relatively small field compared to the global, bigger jewelry fields. That’s just the reality of this separate option in the bigger jewelry field. It’s complicated. It’s challenging. I’ve always known that. This is not going to be a big market. If you compare it with the market for estate jewelry, for high-end jewelry, for commercial jewelry, it’s tiny. Sharon: Why did you choose it? The things I’ve seen you wear are different. Is it because they are expressing who you are? I’ve mainly seen you wear brooches at fairs and things. Charon: It expresses who I am. It expresses my mood, and that can change from one day to the other, obviously. It can feel like protection. That’s how I wear jewelry. Of course, sitting here, I’m not wearing jewelry. I’m not always wearing jewelry by any means, but yes, it does speak a language I use because I want the world to know this part of me. Sharon: Do people come up to you—women especially—and say, “Gee, I wish my husband had the courage to wear a brooch or something besides cufflinks. Do you think my husband could do that?” Charon: That’s an interesting question. It’s not just women who talk about their husbands. It’s also women who say, “You can wear it because—” fill in the blank. “You’re tall. You have a long neck. You have the right personality,” etc. It’s always something in comparison. When I hear something like this, I always think this is just a way to say, “I’m not really interested.” Fine, but to always put it on the other, like, “You can do it. You can wear it. You can get away with it. You, you, you, not me.” Well, why not me? Why not? And that, of course, brings up a lot of questions. I don’t have issues wearing jewelry; I don’t care what people say, but we live in a pretty traditional society. I have certain couple clients where the husband has slowly ventured out to wearing small lapel pins, and he’s becoming a little more courageous under the constant education of the wife. But let’s face it: most men do not wear it. They’re afraid of color. They won’t wear anything that draws attention, because God forbid what that would do. That would open up a discussion that a lot of people just don’t want to have. Sharon: What do you think the difference is? Karen Rotenberg from Gallery Loupe talks about how women come in and say, “Oh, I could never wear that,” and then they leave wearing something that’s contemporary or really out there or something they thought they couldn’t wear. Why does that happen? Charon: In the past few months, I’ve had some rotator cuff problems. I’m going to PT two to three times a week, and there are two physical therapists, both men, and me being me, I comment on the fact that the colors they are wearing are so boring. It’s almost as if I’m back in the 50s in Holland, in a Calvinist country where we wouldn’t see colors. It was gray, beige, dark blue, black, basically. My apartment is full of color. I wear a lot of color. So, we talk about it sort of jokingly, and it’s like, “Oh no, you can’t do that. That is not very manly to wear color.” I’ve been going there now for a few months. Last week—and I kind of tease them also—one of them said, “You know what? I bought four very colored T-shirts.” That is education, but in a light way. I think there are all kinds of traditional attitudes attached to it. God knows what they are. “Men don’t wear color.” Well, look in nature. I lived for a year in Lapland. If you see how the men dress in Lapland, their whole chest is full of jewelry. There are so many different cultures where men wear jewelry. Look in nature. So, what have we done to the man? Sharon: That’s a good point. Most physical therapists who are male wear dark colors, whereas the women might wear peach scrubs or something like that. Charon: Why is that? Is it that you’re afraid to show who you are? What is that all about? Sharon: That’s a good question. People think that’s male. Charon: Right. Adornment belongs to women, or whatever is in your mind. I think all these people miss out on a lot of pleasure, a lot of leaving your comfort zone. Yeah, it might be a little scary, but in the end, it’s great, especially when you hear comments from people. A lot of it is fear-based, I think. What will other people think? Sharon: You must get a lot of comments on a piece of jewelry, a brooch or something. It opens the door. Charon: It does. At the opening of the Loewe preview, I wore a big brooch and saw people looking. There were very few people who actually commented on it. I think it was just too awkward for most people. Can you believe it in the New York crowd? I think it brings up a certain confusion. They see a man wearing something very colorful, a brooch or whatever. Maybe that’s the confusion. They don’t know how to approach it. They don’t know how to respond to it, instead of saying, “Wow, that looks great. I don’t know what I’m looking at, but it looks great, and it has great energy.” You know what I mean? Sharon: Yes. Like you said in the title of the last time you were on, you have to have confidence to create it and to wear this kind of jewelry. You have to be confident in yourself. There must be a piece of yourself that’s confident about it. Charon: It doesn’t just apply to jewelry. It applies to anything in life. How do you want to be in life? Who do you want to be? How do you want to dress? How do you want to develop friendships? It’s anything. There’s a lot of talk about how we can develop younger collectors. I’m generalizing of course, but the problem with younger collectors is that they haven’t really grown into their own. There are a lot of things that will guide them towards Cartier or Tiffany because that’s recognizable, and that tells the viewer, “I belong to a certain status; I wear Tiffany or I drive a Mercedes.” I think it comes with age that at a certain point, you look back and say, “Now, who’s going to determine what I do, what I say, what I wear, what I eat? Is there somebody like me who says, ‘It makes me feel a certain way, and that is why I’m doing it this way. That’s why I’m wearing it’?” There are so many phases in life where you’re preoccupied with all these questions. You look at adolescents and teenagers, and thank God I’m not in that phase anymore, because it’s so much about blending in and being like the group. You’re talking to somebody who has, in many ways, always has been an outsider, so maybe you need to embrace that in yourself, whatever way you are different than other people. Sharon: That’s interesting. I’ve never heard anybody talk about the issues of having collectors be younger or nurturing them. I’ve never heard anybody explain it that way, in that you have to grow into it in a sense. Charon: Right, it’s being different or an outsider. Maybe this is way too philosophical, but I think we spend a lot of time coming to terms with that and viewing it as, “What’s wrong with me?” versus saying, “I embrace the difference in me. I embrace it. I don’t judge it. It’s not a negative thing. On the contrary, it’s inspiring, and this is how I want to live.” I think time and experience help you get to that point, and then you can start living your life and wear whatever you want. In Western Europe, we call it Calvinism. In Scandinavia, you call it Janteloven, but it all comes down to, “Don’t think you’re anybody special. Try to blend in as much as possible. Don’t draw attention to yourself.” Well, if you want to live that way, be my guest. Sharon: That’s not my image of New York, blending in, but I suppose. We will have photos posted on the website. Please head to The <a href="http://JewelryJourney.com" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">JewelryJourney.com</a> to check them out.

Episode 195 Part 1: Why Charon Kransen Hopes More People See the Joy of Wearing Art Jewelry

Charon Kransen is an internationally known lecturer and gallerist representing studio jewelers from around the world. He established Charon Kransen Arts in New York City in 1993, and the gallery’s collection consists of jewelry, hollowware and accessories by both renowned and emerging artists. The work is presented annually at various American art fairs, such as Sculpture Objects Functional Art and Design (SOFA), Art Palm Beach and the Int. Art and Design Fair in New York, and at select galleries specializing in contemporary crafts and design. Educated as a jewelry artist in Holland, Germany, Israel and Norway, Charon has taught and lectured extensively worldwide. The educational branch of Charon Kransen Arts also includes the distribution of books and exhibition catalogs on all aspects of jewelry, metal and design. What you’ll learn in this episode:  Why there was an explosion in the Netherlands of new jewelry styles using unconventional materials. Why education is the key to promoting an appreciation of contemporary jewelry. What qualities Charon looks for in new artists. Why avant-garde artists often end up making commercially appealing pieces out of necessity. How to evaluate and determine if you should acquire a piece of art jewelry.  Additional resources:  Website: www.charonkransenarts.com 

Charon Kransen is an internationally known lecturer and gallerist representing studio jewelers from around the world. He established Charon Kransen Arts in New York City in 1993, and the gallery’s collection consists of jewelry, hollowware and accessories by both renowned and emerging artists. The work is presented annually at various American art fairs, such as Sculpture Objects Functional Art and Design (SOFA), Art Palm Beach and the Int. Art and Design Fair in New York, and at select galleries specializing in contemporary crafts and design. Educated as a jewelry artist in Holland, Germany, Israel and Norway, Charon has taught and lectured extensively worldwide. The educational branch of Charon Kransen Arts also includes the distribution of books and exhibition catalogs on all aspects of jewelry, metal and design. What you’ll learn in this episode: <ul> <li>Why there was an explosion in the Netherlands of new jewelry styles using unconventional materials.</li> <li>Why education is the key to promoting an appreciation of contemporary jewelry.</li> <li>What qualities Charon looks for in new artists.</li> <li>Why avant-garde artists often end up making commercially appealing pieces out of necessity.</li> <li>How to evaluate and determine if you should acquire a piece of art jewelry.</li> </ul> Additional resources: <ul> <li>Website: <a href="http://www.charonkransenarts.com/" rel="noopener nofollow" target="_blank">www.charonkransenarts.com</a></li> </ul>