[Jewelry making - Article 00813] - Re: [Orchid] Ethics of Learning & Teaching

[John Donivan]

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>     My only worry is about the current teachers of my trade. At some
>     colleges over here in the UK, we seem to have a lot of jewellery
>     teachers who have never worked in a workshop environment, they
>     have gone from being a student to being a qualified teacher without
>     leaving the college environment 

    Although it's not about ethics exactly, James' story says a lot
    about the state of jewelry making in today's world. I've said it
    many times, and I know James would agree - making jewelry is about
    craftsmanship and skill. That means that we don't make jewelry with
    our brains (per se), but with our hands, and it is trained hands
    that do the work. Of course it's not so simple that we could say,
    "More school won't make you a better jeweler", because likely it
    will. It is a truth that more time paying dues at the bench WILL
    make one a better jeweler, though. 

    What this really means is that skill conquers all, though knowlege
    is a factor in that, too. Many people seem to be looking for a magic
    bullet that will make them a jeweler, without putting in the work.
    Tricks, tips, preset settings, stock metal, prefab. If you dap up a
    disk of silver, solder it on a base and stick a band of stock silver
    on it with some oh-so-artistic texture on it all, you've made the 25
    millionth copy of that design. When you substitute mokume or
    titanium for the silver dome, well, you have instant drama - a magic
    bullet. You can sell it till the sun goes down, put your kids
    through college, all of which is great stuff. But does that make you
    a better craftsman? 

    There are many of us here who could tell the same story, but
    speaking for myself, I know all about torches, all about files, all
    about saws, all about hammers, and all about lots of other stuff,
    too. I mean that I am skilled and know it in my hands - that's not
    ego, it's just ability. What that gives me and others like me is
    freedom. I decided to take up enameling, so I did. I read a couple
    of books (Oppi's, for one) that told me the guts of it -
    temperature, procedure, policy, and I started enameling. I already
    know about metal and oxides and bending and heating and cleaning and
    grinding and polishing, because I have a base of skills. I did the
    same with mokume - I just sat down and did it - I already know how
    to stick metal together, how to grind and punch and roll it. That
    isn't to say that we don't learn from others because that never
    stops. The point being that you can take an engraving class but you
    won't be an engraver till after 1000 hours or so of cutting. Taking a
    class in mokume will be useful and fascinating, but after you make a
    sheet of it, what do you do then? 

    The bottom line is that the magic bullet is right in front of your
    face. File a few thousand ring castings and you'll be expert with a
    file. Saw a few miles of sawpiercing and ditto - set 10 or 15
    thousand stones and you'll start to get good at it. Plus you'll know
    all about what is a good setting and a bad one, and you'll get up
    close and personal with lots of metal and jewelry. It doesn't really
    matter what Noel or anybody teaches in a class, because that's not
    what jewelers are made of anyway. They're made of skill that can
    only be gained by experience, and there's really no shortcuts. 

http://www.donivanandmaggiora.com
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