Reflections on 2020
By Jennah Litecky Yost
2020 has been one of the most challenging years of our personal and professional lives.
When the year began, our business was on a path to have our most successful year since we started FireSmith Copper seven years ago. When it became clear that COVID-19 would prevent our lineup of art shows and events from happening, we had to change everything. We struggled with the cancellation of our shows, the loss of our income, and the uncertainty of our future.
Instead of focusing on our problems, we persevered.
We completely changed our business structure and planned the future week by week. The cancellations of the shows also gave us more time to work in the studio. We completed some of our best work this year. Extra time in the studio gave us the opportunity to work very large and spend more time on each piece. This year we created new designs, such as "Mountain Home" and our "Inward Journey" series.
More time in the studio opened up possibilities for large and unique commissions.
Here are our favorite commissions from 2020:
The donor wall for the White Bird Dental Clinic in Eugene: We used a special machine to cut out birds to replicate their logo for the names of the donors. The artwork influenced our new "Earthworks" Series.
Our first set of 3 matching tables: We crafted a coffee table and two end tables with our "Tide Pools" design on the surface.
Our largest Triptych: The centerpiece was six feet tall. This commission also included a backsplash we made with tempered glass, a new technique we are excited to implement.
A piece for the lobby of Mourning Hope, a grieving center in Nebraska: We made the piece from their logo, a sun. This commission inspired a whole new series of designs, including our "Sonoran Sun" Series.
A piece made from our largest single sheet of copper: We had to special order the copper and alter our burn room to accommodate such a large copper sheet.
These projects are just the beginning of all the wonderful work our patrons commissioned this year. With the new freedom we have experienced in the studio, we are very excited for the future of FireSmith Copper.
Our biggest accomplishment in 2020 was creating our online shop and revamping our website.
When our first shows were cancelled this year, we were unsure of the future. Still, we were determined to keep our business afloat. We decided the best response to these changes was to move our business online and create an e-commerce shop. This shop would sell our artwork and be available to everyone, not just the people who could make it to events in the past. We worked with Helen Wurthmann of Wurthmann Digital Marketing to completely redo our website and create the shop.
After months of working together, we finally launched our new site in May of 2020. Our shop has become very successful in 2020 and we are thrilled with the result.
Thank you to everyone who has supported us in 2020.
Times are hard, but we are so thankful that our business continues to grow. We never could have done it without our friends, family, patrons, and customers who love, buy, and share our art. Whether you commissioned a piece or shared one of our posts on social media, we are lucky to have you in the FireSmith Family.
We hope 2021 will be a better year for everyone. Stay safe and healthy until then!