[Jewelry making - Article 00173] - Re: [Orchid] Process versus Production

[Ken Gastineau]

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Brian:

    I do alot of production work and have done so for over 20 years. I
    think that "process" is a good way to describe exactly what jewelry
    making is all about. Most visitors to our shop are amazed at the many
    processes that we take metal through to become jewelry.  I do some
    unique one off pieces to discover ideas that can be translated into
    the production process. It seems that I have a process for being
    creative and a process for developing production work. Once I refine
    the process for a unique idea, I could never recoup the cost from
    that one piece. Instead the cost of development is deferred to the
    profit I make from my production work. 

    Production work in and of itself is an "art". Having a threshold of
    quality and profitability is always a challenge and I find that the
    process and procedures involved are always open to improvement and
    change. I have lost my shirt more than once when I misunderstood the
    processes I was using or was careless. So I have even had to develop
    processes for processing. 

    I carefully draw the line between new experimental work and "bread &
    butter" production work. I don't usually try processes and procedures
    I am not sure of for a production run of any size until I have
    completed several rounds with smaller batches. 

    In order to have continued interest in what we produce I must always
    be experimenting and coming up with new ideas. In order to make a
    living producing these works I have to depend on proven ideas,
    techniques and processes. Truly, success lies in the balance between
    the two. 

Ken Gastineau
Gastineau Studio
Berea, Kentucky

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