ONLINE EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW: Jeanne Petrosky: Paper Artist
by Noelle Backer

Jeanne Petrosky

Jeanne Petrosky was introduced to paper making in 1987 and was immediately hooked. She has been building a full-time business selling her one-of-a-kind, three-dimensional handmade paper sculpture through residential and corporate commissions. Her work has earned her nearly 20 merit awards in just over 10 years. In this one-on-one interview, Petrosky reveals how she reaches her customers and her plans for the future of her business and her Web site.

TCR: How did you first get involved in paper making?

JP: I have a fine art and craft background. I took classes in painting, drawing, sculpture, printmaking, glass, jewelry (metal), pottery and weaving. But I just didn't connect with any of those. I thought I had wanted to be a weaving major -- I loved texture, but when I actually did my first weaving, it was very time-consuming, and I thought, "I can't do this! It takes too long!" So, I left school because they wanted everyone to declare a major, and I didn't know what I wanted to do. Instead I went into advertising to make a living.

It was good because it gave me some time to figure out what I wanted or actually didn't want. I met a woman at a party who made paper, and she brought down her vats and showed me how to make pulp. I immediately connected with it -- it's that thing that happens to you, when you just know. That was in May of '87.

TCR: When and where did you first start selling your work?

JP: I went to a local art show in a high school gym in September of '87, and people bought the work. That's a real confidence booster. Then people started telling me about craft shows and other shows. When you stand next to someone at a show [all] day for a weekend, they're bound to tell you about other shows! It was great that way.

TCR: What are your primary sales venues?

JP: I have a couple of galleries that sell my work, and I do three retail shows a year: The Philadelphia Furniture and Furnishings Show, the Rittenhouse Square Fine Arts Festival [in Philadelphia], and Long's Park Craft Show in Lancaster, Pa.

I also do about four or five local art shows a year, where you deliver your work, and you don't have to set up a whole booth. The ones I do consistently are: Yellow Springs Art Show in Chester Springs, Pa., and the Immaculata College Art Show in Immaculata, Pa.

What I have planned is to get more galleries and to work with architects and designers. I've applied to the ACC [American Craft Council] Baltimore winter show for 2001. I do one-of-a-kind work, so I need to get into galleries that sell upper-end, one-of-a-kind work.

TCR: Who is your typical customer?

JP: Generally people in their 30s to 60s. They seem to be have the need and the income; I think when people are younger, they don't have the money to spend on art because their priorities are different; and the upper ages have run out of room and are downsizing.

TCR: How did you get your first corporate commission?

JP: I don't remember. But, generally, what has happened is that a designer sees my work at a show, or one of the people in a company sees my work and tells the decision-making people in the company about me. What I've found is that I need to get in with more designers. They know who's who, and who's doing what.

TCR: How do you plan to access more designers?

JP: I do meet designers at shows, and I have a packet ready for them. I have some names from other artists and from another designer, and I will send them an introductory letter, slides of my work and a list of some of the corporate commissions I've done. It is basically cold-calling, so I expect to be [in need of] a lot of persistence.

I know there are associations of designers in Philadelphia -- like ASID (American Society of Interior Designers http://www.ASID.org); I need to do my homework and find out where their (and other organizations') watering hole is!

I am going to hold an open studio in November and invite designers, and just see who comes.

TCR: Did you make any mistakes while working on corporate commissions that helped you in later commissions?

JP: I don't believe in mistakes -- only setbacks! I really have been so fortunate -- all of [my corporate commissions] have gone so smoothly. I think they've gone smoothly because I've worked with designers who can communicate. That's what I'm paying the designers for -- to sell my work.

I also always go to the building or the site [to see the environment my work will be in], so there's less room for miscommunication.

TCR: When did you launch your Web site?

JP: This year. It was up and running for the Philadelphia Furniture and Furnishings Show in mid-May.

TCR: Has your Web site affected your business?

JP: Of course -- not positively yet, but not negatively either! I had nine pieces on the site, and I did sell one. I'm doing a new body of work that sold very well at my last show that I think has more marketability than the work I have had up [on the site]. So, I think that might make a difference.

I will use the site as a marketing tool rather than a selling tool. I'll tell people I do commissions, that I teach classes at my studio, I'll list the galleries that sell my work, and tell people to contact me. Having the Web site gives me some validation -- people seem to want to know that you're on there.

I have also gotten e-mail addresses from customers, [which enables continued contact]. So, it hasn't given me specific results yet, but overall, I think it's a really good thing.

FOR MORE INFORMATION

J.P. Design Jeanne Petrosky Box 386 St. Peters, PA 19470-0386 E-mail: jp@jeannepetrosky.com Web site: www.jeannepetrosky.com

TCR: What do you see as your biggest challenge as a paper artist?

JP: Mostly people are curious about how long [the paper] will last. They are used to the wood pulp used in newspapers, so I need to educate them a bit about the cotton fibers and "last fast" pigments, and museum-quality framing. Once you assure them [they can] treat it like any other good piece of art, they seem at ease.

I've been wanting to do my paperwork unframed, and my goal is to have paper be seen as valuable on its own -- unframed. If people see something unframed, they think it's not as valuable. And, they think because it's paper, it will deteriorate -- but it won't.

The wonderful thing about paper is its flexibility. I know 20 or 30 paper makers, and we all treat the medium very differently. It takes on your personality.

DETAILS

TCR: Do you have health insurance? JP: Yes. I get it through a women's group -- NAFE (National Association of Female Executives). http://www.nafe.com TCR: What other resources have been helpful to your career? JP: I have belonged to the Pennsylvania Guild of Craftsmen (http://www.pennsylvaniacrafts.com) for 13 years; the American Craft Council (http://www.craftcouncil.org), and the Rosen Group (I took a course [at the Craft Business Institute]). (http://www.americancraft.com)

Noelle Backer is senior editor of The Crafts Report.

SEPTEMBER 2000: TABLE OF CONTENTS