[Jewelry making - Article 00067] - Re: [Orchid] Self taught Vs Formal training

[John Donivan]

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>     Everyone on the list has many reasons to obtain or not obtain a
>     formal education. Everyone's different. Everyone's motivations are
>     different. 

    Somebody asks one of today's teenagers what they want to be, and they
    say "I want to be a CEO." Here's how to solder: Get two pieces, apply
    flux, place solder, apply heat, done. Here's how to set a diamond:
    notch prongs, insert stone, push prongs, finish, done. Polish: apply
    compound, polish piece, done. Anything else? The skills involved in
    making jewelry are not especially difficult in themselves. There are
    many of them, though, and when put together they give you a "toolbox"
    that you can use. I think what we're dealing with here sometimes is
    fear - fear of doing something "wrong", like there's a "right". Sure,
    things need to be soldered securely, straight, there's good and bad
    polish - mostly mechanical stuff. What happens, though, is that one
    gains confidence in their skills, and learns to depend on the
    toolbox. If you know how to engrave, you know how to carve wood. If
    you know how to fit something, you can set, do inlay, all manner of
    things. Knowing how to do something is way different than being able
    to do it. I've done a little enameling, and I can tell you all about
    enameling techniques. But I'm just not very good at it, really.
    That's the skill part, and the experience and practice part. The best
    school, as always, is life. You'll meet one person and they'll say,
    "I do prongs like this - hmmmm!" Another will say, Try this file - I
    solder like this. Me - I have no third hand, I have no soldering
    jigs, I don't use the benchmate and don't want one. I have no need
    for them. How many times have I heard, "What's the secret? We want
    'Bench Tips', we want tricks." But the secret is that there is no
    secret. Jewelry is not made by tricks, it's made by skill. It's just
    lots of hard work, and you start at the bottom and work your way up. 

http://www.donivanandmaggiora.com


 
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