See that big ass number? Its actually up to $1,453 at this point. My shop rent is about $150 a week and, sadly, its climbed up this high because of circumstances I cannot exactly help: A lag in my product selling, fatigue/depression (having fibromyalgia and SAD [seasonal affective disorder] due to it being Summer has kicked my ass. I’ve already gone on nightshift and I’m getting three times as much done, though!) keeping me from doing as much as I want and more has really kicked me ass. The result is me ending up here deep in the red.
However, I am not asking anyone to help me pay this enormous sum! I’m asking help getting the materials to make the glass to do it myself
As folks know I am a rare, legendary pokemon in my industry: a Black glassblower. A Black female queer one at that. So there’s some pressure on me to make it and a good bit of it is self imposed. I’d like to be the person who, somewhere down the line, takes on some other Black folk and train them as my apprentice. And then we’ll really be out here.
Cant do that if I’m out on my ass with no place to hook my torch up.
If I can get the materials to pay half of this off (which will be close to $1k by the middle of june) I’ll be more comfortable and so will the guys who run the shop I work at. I’m far from the only person who’s incurred this much debt in rent but all the others who have make and sell much higher value pieces. My price range would make it very, very difficult
So I’m hoping here to get about $600. 100% of it is going to go to materials: 8 pieces Schott tubing [scientific glass], about 5 different colors of frit [finely ground pigmented glass], at least $30 in rod [I use Import/Chinese rod since it doesnt exactly go ON the glass I sell. I wont sell product made of imported materials] and as much second quality/odds rod as I can grab onto.
I want to make a $2,500 order. It’ll be distributed by three different venues to ensure at least 80% of it sells. But I need the materials to do it.