Part of the Artistic Process

Happy New Year! I hope your 2017 is off to a peaceful and productive start!

The holiday season is an ideal time to reflect, dream and plan for the year ahead. This is when all my sketch books get reviewed, and all my ideas, notes and inspirations get a chance to become a new collection. I ponder how I can serve you better in the coming year, which designs to retire, and which really connected with you, my wonderful community of VIPs.

Many of you know that before launching my jewelry career, I was a Broadway actress in New York City. Recently I was asked by a young acting student getting ready to move to NYC, “What made you have a successful career?” This got me thinking…

To succeed you have to be willing to fail frequently and in spectacular fashion. But as I was taught from a young age, I never looked at my failures as failures, I looked at them as lessons. I looked at “failures” as gifts on the road to success & success as a journey not the destination.

For me, a successful journey is finding a way to find joy in all the lessons along the way, finding the places of gratitude, the connections to people, the shared experiences. In my experience, you never get to the end of success. I don't know about you but I just move the goal post every time I get close to the finish line. Who wants to be done learning & growing?

So to this young artist I say – prepare to approach both your failures and your successes as opportunities to learn and thrive. Your failures can be equally as rewarding as your successes if you approach them with the right mindset. The process, not the outcome, is where you find true meaning as an artist, and if you are lucky enough to have VIPs like mine, you have the great reward of sharing your creation and happiness with others.

Thank you to all who have been part of this awesome artistic journey. It’s been a great ride so far and I’m so looking forward to the next adventure!

Do you have any favorite Jewel of Havana pieces or collections? Are there any collections you would be sad to see retired? Are there any stones you would like to see added or wish we carried? Let me know your thoughts in the comment section below.  I’d love to invite you to be a part of the artistic process! 

With Gratitude! ANA

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