[Jewelry making - Article 00134] - Re: [Orchid] Metalsmith's Exhibition in Print

[Noel]

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>              ...passed over in favor of thesis projects. 

    I have no quibble with the sentiment of this statement. I do,
    however, have a caveat. 

    As some of you may recall, on account of my various pleas for help at
    the time (the "flashy tea" thread), I had a teapot piece at SOFA last
    year (this year's will just not get done in time) with Mobilia
    Gallery. I don't remember the exact circumstances, but I think I was
    hovering near my piece at SOFA listening for comments. An admirer
    commented that she wished she could take time out to make pieces like
    that! I stepped up and introduced myself, and she was visibly
    startled. She explained that she was sure the piece was a youngster's
    thesis project. (I am no youngster, and I didn't go to school for
    jewelry, have no advanced degrees.) 

    The point of this anecdote is that one should not be too quick to
    dismiss something (I could actually stop there) as a thesis project.
    It takes a lot of time and energy to make a really ambitious piece,
    but getting a degree is not the only reason to do it. They are good
    attention- and award-getters for sure, but mostly, the ones I manage
    to find the inspiration to make are what feed my soul the best. They
    demand the most from the eclectic combination of skills and
    thought-patterns that are uniquely mine, and are the fullest
    expression of the reasons I do what I do. I cannot abide the thought
    that my most heart-felt work might be disregarded as the
    dilitant-ish output of a self-important product of the academic
    system, as though no one who depended on the income from their work
    could afford the indulgence of sinking so many resources into such a
    project. I'm sure I'm far from the only one for whom it is not
    indulgence, but spiritual necessity. 

    By the way, this is in *no way* intended to imply anything about the
    attitudes of the writer of the above quote, or any specific
    individual, and is not intended as an attack on anyone, just a
    pent-up rant, and maybe food for thought. 

--Noel

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