Deborah
“EWI has empowered me to think of myself as a success. Success does not translate into a certain amount of money made. I have learned to sell myself better and to get my art out into the community.”
December 2010 — Debbie Schran, a gifted and dedicated artist at heart, is following her dream of creating art. Like many of us who find it difficult to make a living solely on our creative talents, we typically work “a day job” in the corporate world to support ourselves. Debbie is no exception. Although she earned a Bachelor’s degree in Art Education with a concentration in painting and printmaking, she worked in healthcare finance for 30 years, earning a Master’s Degree in Administration-Healthcare.
I can personally relate to her situation, or what I call the Double Life Syndrome. In my one life, I work as a federal contractor to be able to pay my bills. There’s little to no creative outlet in this world. In my “other life”, when not at my day job, I fulfill my creative desires with writing, marketing and photography projects. The two worlds seldom intertwine so it’s very much like living a double life.
As a serious artist and entrepreneur, driven by her passion, Debbie has been resilient, despite the odds, and is determined to move forward and not look back. She has not wavered from art, her true love, over the years. Her involvement in art continued even with a full-time job, in the form of painting, creating hand made crafts and taking classes to refine her craft.
Her path has been one of continual transformation, as evidenced by her current concentration as a fused glass artist. Debbie admits it has not always been easy to juggle a full-time profession and remain devoted to her art. But at the end of the day, the payoff is often worth the sacrifices. “Working very hard at my day job often left me tired, emotionally drained but financially stable. When working with glass, my emotional spirits would lift. I would experience delight when opening my kiln and learning more about my craft.”
By the time Debbie had her first encounter with EWI in 2006, she had already been participating in art shows for several months. At a local outdoor art show in Maryland, Marga approached her and introduced herself and the mission of EWI. After reading about entrepreneur training on EWI’s website, Debbie realized she could benefit by learning more about the business side of art. She was already very proficient at using the kiln to create colorful eye catching fused glass pieces so it made sense to enroll in EWI’s program to acquire the knowledge of how to market and sell her work.
She would soon find an engaging mentor in Marga and as well as support and camaraderie with other emerging artists. Debbie also worked with EWI to create a design that symbolized EWI’s efforts. As she worked with small glass pieces and moved them in different directions, one curvy piece caught her eye and she came up with a shape that resembled a curvy lady. From this experimentation, the Curvy Lady collection was created.
Debbie notes how her training with EWI has dramatically increased her skill set and helped her to see her art as a business. This realization is not always a seamless transition for artists. Early on, artists and entrepreneurs are more inclined to perceive their creations as a hobby or creative outlet, rather than a business that can earn a profit. “EWI has empowered me to think of my self as a success. Success does not translate into a certain amount of money made. I have learned to sell my self better, and to get my art out into the community.”
Debbie’s business, Be Fused Hot Glass, is a collection of pendants, illumination, functional pieces, jewelry sets, and various glass art objects. She equally enjoys all styles of working with fused glass, which can be viewed at www.befusedhotglass.com. Debbie first learned about fused glass when she happened to stop at a glass museum while on vacation in New Jersey. Amazing jewelry was on display and she fell in love with all the colors, layers, transparency, and effects of glass.
She knows that her skill level continues to grow but insists she’s still a work in progress. “I am still on my journey to find my niche in the art buying community. I have learned that the right niche is a moving target and has changed over the last few years. EWI placed importance on finding the right niche and that is certainly true.” The current economic conditions and high cost of materials have made selling her work and forecasting sales revenue very unpredictable. There are some shows where she sells a lot of her work and others where sales are very slow. She also faces challenges of determining which pieces will have the most appeal, how to set prices considered affordable by potential customers, and how much time and effort to put into the process.
When I first met Debbie at one of her shows in Virginia, her husband was helping her, as he has many times before, with the elaborate and time consuming system of setting up the display and packing up afterwards. The support and influences in Debbie’s life have been contributors to her success. Her mother was an avid amateur oil painter and played the piano. Her sister, now deceased, also gravitated to music. Debbie’s husband, daughter and son are not as drawn to the arts, but have an appreciation for what she does.
As a long time resident of Maryland, Debbie continues to exhibit her work at various local galleries, shops and art shows. She was also featured in the September 2009 edition of Elan Magazine as the Glass Goddess. Her memberships with the National Capital Art Glass Guild, the Maryland Federation of Artists, and the Carroll County Arts Council, keep her connected to the art community.
She also participates in juried glass shows and plans to continue focusing on her art career, working full time as an artist. By doing so, it will be possible to fuse the two lives she used to live (health care finance by day and part-time artist) into one: that of creating art and her own destiny. Visit her website to see the schedule of her upcoming shows.
Glasswork by Deborah Schran
Written by Paula Margus
Paula incorporates her professional career in quality assurance into many aspects of her life. She is continually identifying improvement opportunities with whatever she encounters. Paula enjoys working with immigrant artists to tell their stories and portray their work through writing and photography. She is very passionate about travel, learning about other cultures, cuisine, music, theatre, art, and animals. She currently resides in Falls Church, VA with two felines who take great pleasure in outsmarting her with their exceptional ingenuity.