this Daily
Gold dust breathe in
breathe out
Hardworking hand strike strike
Honing my craft
making her work
having the space to create
listening to NPR's modulated tones
other's stories being told
Flame strike shhckt shhckt
solder flows
a perfect glowing line
Into the pickle tszzz
the torch pops off
SILENCE
My craft is typically a solitary one. Just the maker and their bench. Often I don't even turn on music. Work time is my time to soak in silence, problem solve for a new design or "just make something". For almost every instructor I trained under, I remember a good one liner. That one was Jon Havener's. It is solid advice, don't stop making. It might have taken a while to sink in, but I get it now.
Other artists insist that it's okay to make something bad. Sometimes the fear of failure or imperfection holds us back. That's also another typical trait of a metalsmith. We can be perfectionists. Not necessarily in our personal lives, because the Lord knows that's not true of me. Definitely comes with the territory of making tiny things.
Lately, I have been learning from a new Master Metalsmith, Susan Mahlstedt. So far, her best advice came when I showed her the seam on the first ring that I was about to solder for her. She chuckled, "You'll never get it to go with that huge gap there." Puzzled I held it up to the light. Hmm, I could see about .5mm worth of light shining through. Maybe the width of a few hairs. Gotcha, perfect seams...check.
She was right, I was being too sloppy and now my ring making is much improved. Her standards are on point and her work is amazing. I have worked with many more metalsmiths, but let's save those for another day. For now you can look these two up.
The program I paid the most attention to today was": How I Built This
It inspires me to make something of My Something. I mean how many trained master metalsmiths do you know? I feel safe in calling it an uncommon profession.
Speaking of which, I have been making my own work as well. I'm just excited about my side hustle job and I worked today. In order to be a working Artist, many people must spin many plates! This is a glimpse at a new series of work that I have just completed the 8th edition of:
breathe out
Hardworking hand strike strike
Honing my craft
making her work
having the space to create
listening to NPR's modulated tones
other's stories being told
Flame strike shhckt shhckt
solder flows
a perfect glowing line
Into the pickle tszzz
the torch pops off
SILENCE
My craft is typically a solitary one. Just the maker and their bench. Often I don't even turn on music. Work time is my time to soak in silence, problem solve for a new design or "just make something". For almost every instructor I trained under, I remember a good one liner. That one was Jon Havener's. It is solid advice, don't stop making. It might have taken a while to sink in, but I get it now.
Other artists insist that it's okay to make something bad. Sometimes the fear of failure or imperfection holds us back. That's also another typical trait of a metalsmith. We can be perfectionists. Not necessarily in our personal lives, because the Lord knows that's not true of me. Definitely comes with the territory of making tiny things.
Lately, I have been learning from a new Master Metalsmith, Susan Mahlstedt. So far, her best advice came when I showed her the seam on the first ring that I was about to solder for her. She chuckled, "You'll never get it to go with that huge gap there." Puzzled I held it up to the light. Hmm, I could see about .5mm worth of light shining through. Maybe the width of a few hairs. Gotcha, perfect seams...check.
She was right, I was being too sloppy and now my ring making is much improved. Her standards are on point and her work is amazing. I have worked with many more metalsmiths, but let's save those for another day. For now you can look these two up.
The program I paid the most attention to today was": How I Built This
It inspires me to make something of My Something. I mean how many trained master metalsmiths do you know? I feel safe in calling it an uncommon profession.
Speaking of which, I have been making my own work as well. I'm just excited about my side hustle job and I worked today. In order to be a working Artist, many people must spin many plates! This is a glimpse at a new series of work that I have just completed the 8th edition of:
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| One Word Prayer Wheel 1st ed. 2017 |
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| On Display: editions 1-4 |
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