Dave's soldering accuracy

Jewelry Discussion
1

Hey Dave: I have to admit that some days soldering even
something you’d think was simple goes wrong. Just about
everything I make is something new and weird and figuring out
soldering is always the tough part. We idiots who work in silver
sure must be earning a special place in heaven as silver work is
definitely harder and more time consuming than gold. But I don’t
think you or I can afford the stuff. I’ve done some work in gold
from melting down old rings I’ve collected and would love to work
in only gold, no more firescale and easy polishing.

I have to admit that subscribing to Orchid over the past year
has taught me alot but also discouraged about any idea I ever had
of making a living at it. Dave, if you’re not pulling in a good
amount of bucks on a regular basis from jewelry, don’t be in a
hurry to go “pro.” All those posts about how difficult it is to
do shows and what a rip-off galleries are to jewelry artists just
outright depressed me and I’m having trouble building up any
enthusiasm to go out in the garage anymore and do new work. Not
to mention that trying to afford all the tools one needs is never
ending. We’ve had a really poor summer as far as income is
concerned and I was hoping to afford a set of 90 degree setting
burs so I could set a few faceted stones I have, but no way. I
can make $900 doing a cd album for a record company in about 8-10
hours, but sometimes one of my jewelry pieces takes 15 hours and
won’t sell off the website for $650. I haven’t sold one thing off
the website this summer except for one guy who tried to defraud
me out of one piece. Being a nite owl rules out doing shows fer
sure.

Dave, I know you live in Charlotte and hell, there HAS to be
resources for learning from someone out there. I mean, isn’t
there some jewelry artist who you worship thats local that you
could buddy up to and ask questions? Look at me, I’m the one
who’s isolated here in a small Southern Oregon town with no
schools and the only real pro jewelry artists here do work that
is so far above anything I do . We only have one small jewelry
supply shop here and its not much more than a bead shop with a
small selection of tools. They don’t even sell burs. You live in
a big city and probably have a good supply store there and they
might even know someone who could teach you a few tricks. Seeing
a technique rather than reading about it sure makes a difference.
Those videos I bought and then sold were a real eye opener. Dave

http://www.opendoor.com/stephensdesign/crystalguy.html
Crystalguy Art Jewelry, Magical Art Jewelry for the Enlightened Mind
Kickass Websites for the Corporate World
http://www.opendoor.com/stephensdesign

2 
Being a nite owl rules out doing shows fer sure.

I can sure identify with this statement. Being a night person is
allright when hours can be arranged to suit. I recently read
that if night people force themselves to get up and get going,
they are effectively jet lagging themselves. I have trouble with
tours etc (guess who has a husband that loves to trave) and now I
understand why.

Dave, I know you live in Charlotte and hell, there HAS to be
resources for learning from someone out there. I mean, isn't
there some jewelry artist who you worship thats local that you
could buddy up to and ask questions? Look at me, I'm the one
who's isolated here in a small Southern Oregon town with no
schools and the only real pro jewelry artists here do work that
is so far above anything I do . We only have one small jewelry
supply shop here and its not much more than a bead shop with a
small selection of tools. They don't even sell burs. You live in
a big city and probably have a good supply store there and they
might even know someone who could teach you a few tricks. Seeing
a technique rather than reading about it sure makes a difference.
Those videos I bought and then sold were a real eye opener. Dave

I too live in a small town in the middle of nowhere. I drive
eighty miles one way to teach in Indianapolis. I tell my students
to use catalogs. There is one rock shop that I have found there,
a bead shop, and places like Micheals.Although I had a lot of
college classes in metals, I have also taken workshops and buy
every new book that I find. It’s called self education.No, you
can’t jump right in and know everything or buy everything. I
spent years assembling a studio. As far a motivation goes, if
you’re not selling things or otherwise moving stock out of your
hands, it is hard to get geared up to make more. The next few
months before Christmas are good times to sell at small bazaars
etc.If your town has social sororities and other organized groups
of women, check to see if they would like to schedule a meeting
in your home and studio for a “private showing.” before the
holidays. Once you have made a few presentations, people may be
calling you. Good luck.

Marilyn Smith