Thinking about a few recent threads, I would like to offer these
thoughts:
Earning degrees does not make any of us either an artist or the last
word on jewelry. I have gone to university. I have degrees. Waving
those degrees in the air does not make me a better jeweler or a
better person. Nor does any degree guarantee that I will end up any
more sensible than someone who has never made it past the first
grade. A degree will not gain any more insight into what the human
heart finds beautiful than being given a set of instructions on how
to get to the moon will actually get you there.
The beauty we create comes from our passion, from our intellect, but
overall from our hearts. Degrees might make us technically
proficient, but all of that training is no assurance that our work
will be either beautiful or sublime. That elusive element that pulls
at our souls when we look on something beautiful is not found in any
classroom. Jewelry has never been technique alone.
One can go to school for the rest of your life, earn degree after
degree and still miss the point. The main point here online being
that everyone on Orchid values input, expertise, polite discourse,
the exchange of ideas, techniques, sources, even differences of
opinion. It is amazing how diverse we are. Proffering those opinions
without rudeness, dismissiveness or bullying is always preferred and
should be a given. I believe it is far too easy to shake a fist
while hiding behind a computer screen. Respect is earned by treating
others respectfully.
PS: I personally feel that a sense of humor is often a welcome
addition.
What do you think? Other than teaching you technique and history,
which is obvious, Has your degree or education rendered you
cognizant of what makes beautiful jewelry where you were not before?
Or did you have a refined sensibility to begin with? Do you HAVE TO
have a specific type of jewelry education? Or can life, personal
experience and drive ultimately provide the same skills at the same
level?
I always have to remind myself that what is beautiful to me may not
be all that wonderful to anyone else.
Lisa, (The nights have gone crisp and cool, the leaves are turning,
the sun is drifting farther away. Harvest time is gone. Winter is
peeking around the corner.) Topanga, CA USA