May.22.2007
12:41 pm
by Libby
Learning By Practice
and practice, and practice…
Metalworking is hard. It takes lots and lots of practice. Polymer clay is a stroll in the park by comparison. lol Actually, polymer clay is deceptively easy. It’s much harder to produce finely finished work. It’s the old adage “the devil’s in the details. But, I was talking about metalworking. New skills that don’t come easily to me at all. I took a metalworking class last fall and a simple soldering class at Ravensdale. I could spend a lifetime studying and practicing metalworking skills and still be a beginner. It’s slow. It takes lots and lots of practice. It’s humbling, I tell you. And every piece of handmade silver jewelry I own is worth much, much more than I paid for it.
I’ve been laughing at myself too. The last few days I have spent in the studio, I’ve worked for several hours and frankly, I have very little to show for it. My soldering skills are not improving. I have been alternating working on silver with making my little 1-inch squares of polymer. Painting and stamping clay is a nice balance to the difficult process of working with metal.
Why am I even doing this? Well, I have wanted to make silver jewelry since I was fourteen. I was encouraged to take lots of classes at a local craft center: batik, drawing, pottery, silkscreening. But my mother wouldn’t let me take the jewelrymaking class. She didn’t like the idea of my using a torch, I think. So I am learning some basic metals skills because I have wanted to do this for a long time.
Plus, I simply like the look of silver with polymer clay, and, although it’s a challenge, I think it’s worth it.
Filed in metalworking, polymer clay |
Libby,
I took my first metalworking class on May 12 and loved it and felt very at ease with the materials and process. Next step for me is to take the bezels class and get more soldering experience.
What I (still) need practice on is clay. I’m tired of wasting it, making things that aren’t *quite* right, but at the same time I know that the transition period between rank beginner and (insert preferred name of stage here) can be long and I can expect to see a lot of clay go by the wayside. I guess the biggest question is what do I do with all the failures. I can only keep so much in my ‘way back when’ box, lol.
BTW - pics of my two projects from class are in my Flickr if you are interested.
Wow, you really finished a couple of things the first class. I’m impressed. They’re both great! (the earrings remind me of how much I covet a rolling mill) The project we did in my first class was a box pendant. It took weeks to finish. ugh http://www.libzoid.net/gallery/Metalwork/Beanclose
As for being frustrated with polymer, don’t be so hard on yourself. I generally throw away the real failures. My work improved the most when I started concentrating on one technique at a time. Now if I could just get back to that. lol
Good luck on your future metal classes!
I am so impressed with your attacking this so studiously — I keep struggling with the Kuskin techniques — the glue and the bezels and all the rest — I really like the direction you’re going! regards, nt
Thanks Nancy. I am having fun, but it’s slow going. I am enjoying working it into a personal style.