Discipline and using method in designing jewelry

Jewelry Discussion
41 
I know it is inevitable--this discussion. But it seems to me that
there are as many definitions of art, as there are of "beauty" and
"love" as there are "artists" and self-described "lovers of art".
Could we all agree to this perhaps?

I would agree with Gary 100%, myself, I just don’t think that’s the
point here. Some seem to want to cling to some sense of mystery in
jewelry making, which simply doesn’t exist if you understand it. We
don’t need to define art, artists, beauty or art-loving to design
jewelry of any kind.

Quickly:

Benchies do not get to interpret without consulting the designer.

Yes, Jeff, your disagreement is true, in it’s place. I was referring
to more casual designs. like making a floral top or a three stone
ring or wilder things, too. And I’m talking about nuance, not
interpretation. Just exactly the wire size and length, just exactly
the angles, just exactly how the curves curve. All of those things
add up to a different piece.

In a word, it’s called “the hand”. One hand will make a different
piece than another hand. There are times when extreme precision and
exactitude are called for, yes, and there’s times when it’s not.

Somebody wrote me offlist and said I should fly - Yeah, I used to be
a bird flailing in the wind. Now I’m an L-1011. There’s flying, and
then there’s flying first class.

Whether you are making bezel rings for flea markets or putting
plastic resins into Nepalese mined niobium/tantalum alloys painted
with vitrified sea salt, what you are doing, at bottom, is bringing
order out of chaos. Even if you think of your work as chaotic, you
are still doing it. Not only are there methods and strategies for
doing just that, but there are whole universities that teach it -
design. Knowing more is always better - flailing around wildly is
fine, if that’s all you know how to do. If you maybe don’t
understand progressions, you are still using them every time you
make a tapered shape or element. I would just submit that it’s
better to do it intellegently and willfully than just to poke around
in the dark.

42 
suppose your task is to design a pot de chambre. No matter how
beautiful you make it! No matter if you use gold and platinum and
set the whole thing with the rarest If you put the
handle inside it, nobody would ever use it for intended purpose
and regardless of the artistry and efforts expended, the design
will be flawed. Please observe that such an "innovation" would
score very high on creativity scale.

Then the pot de chambre would be considered as art because it would
fit a definition that is sed to define art but the question is not a
comparison of art and design the question is about the mechanics and
the disciplines and methods one might use in design. goo

43 
If my customer or instructor in my case hands me 10 diamonds and
asks me to design a piece for him/her. I ask a series of pertinent
questions about the person who will wear the piece including
profession, colour choices (influence metal), shapes they are drawn
to (square, circle, triangle), lifestyle and whatever else I feel
will help me to design a piece of art. I do not then go have a bath
and wait for inspiration to strike. I pull out my sketchbook, write
down the words/info I obtained about the client and begin with
simple shapes and sketch and sketch and sketch until I am thrilled
with the piece

OMG i am so thrilled !!! A person who gets busy and works !! YES its
is about asking question setting up guidelines, parameters,
brainstorming, and most of all i think design and art go together in
a ballet of problem solving to achieve the goal of beautifull
jewelry !

goo
columbusdiamondring.com

44 
No we can't. To define beauty as "all in the eye of the beholder"
is to destroy it. Beauty of an object or a living being is in
ability to function, or to serve a specific function. Nature
designs things with an eye to maximum functionality, and when
nature succeeds, we admire it. That is the core of understanding of
what beauty its. Artists are in effect are researches in the
subject of the function, and they conduct it by studying and
imitating Nature, and sometimes even add a thing or two, in order
to correct Nature imperfections.

Now I know you are arguing for the sake of argument.

Beauty is in the eye of the beholder, we’re different, our tastes
are different. Whether I find something beautiful or not will not
effect the way you feel/think about that object.

For example I find ballerina rings hideous, I haven’t found one that
I like at all. I like Steampunk jewellery, others think it is pulpy
trash. Different tastes different perceptions.

It takes all types to make the world go around. You may like what
you have made, but when you hand it over to the customer, and they
have “that” look…

The problem with using nature as having intelligence (or
pseudo-intelligence) in any debate is that it opens a whole can of
worms that just lead to very heated arguments. So I wont pursue that.
As to imperfections in nature chaos theory sort of changes the ball
park.

Understanding what beauty is, again it’s very subjective. What you
see as beauty I may not.

What will be the best metal to fulfill it ? Obviously metal which
does not interact with the environment and does not change it's
appearance over time. Such metals are gold and platinum.

What is the best metal, depends. Lot of stainless steel and titanium
jewellery being sold over here, polishes nicely and depending on the
alloy can be very durable and lasting.

Gemstones are very functional components of jewellery, but again
Nature screws up. Most of gemstones contain flaws. We correct
these mistakes and improving gemstones functionality by shaping and
polishing them.

I wouldn’t say “very functional”, gemstones don’t have much of a
function at all (except for watch mechanisms, and industrial
diamonds). Gemstones are pretty and sometimes sparkly, just what we
primates are drawn to :wink:

Saying all of the above I’m not perfect and I realise that my view
is not the “full stop”.

Regards Charles A.

45

Beautiful Jewellery is in the Eye of the Beholder

I think it would be nice if people could stay on topic and talk
about how they go about designing jewelry

Sorry about that, how about I change the thread title :wink:

The problem is that because this is an open forum and everyone has a
different mind, the topics will meander a tad.

…

Leonid stated that “To define beauty as “all in the eye of the
beholder” is to destroy it.”, which can be interpreted as “beauty is
a fixed concept”. I don’t believe this and believe everyone has their
own perception of what beauty is. Customers also have their own
perceptions of what beauty is, and as jewellers we should listen
carefully to what the customer wants.

If you are doing jewellery for jewellery’s sake, as Leonid is, the
customer is not as important as his own perceptions :- “For me, the
most important is what I think of my work”

The working jeweller that relies on sales would consider the
customers opinion above his own… if he wants to make sales.

Regards Charles A.

46 
but the question is not a comparison of art and design the question
is about the mechanics and the disciplines and methods one might
use in design. goo

If I was not clear before, my apologies.

Define the function and let the function guide you. Quick example:

The task is to design wedding band. Function to signify marriage.

Conditions - to be warn every day, comfortable, permanent,
unobtrusive.

Metal - gold or platinum, depends on social status. In some circles
it is a sign of bad taste to wear white jewellery during the day. No
other metal would satisfy condition of permanency. Also platinum may
be too heavy for constant wear.

Shape - round. Any other shape may indicate non-traditional
marriage.

Decorations - none. Engravings, chasing, texturing and similar
techniques would not be permanent. Additions of stones may be
symbolic of non-traditionallity, existence of pre-marital agreement,
and etc.

That leaves us with nothing but a plain gold band. ( process of
distillation of main idea ) So the question arises - where is the
design?

In this case I would work with finding the width of the band to be
in harmony with the owners hand (three questions: too much, too
little, just right ). Ones width is known - determine the optimum
height. Find the shape of the curve to go with the width and the
height and we done.

I can hear the question. But it would look almost the same like any
other stock wedding band. The answer lies in “almost”. Some get it
and some do not. Some designers choose a path of adding stuff to the
design, just for the sake of been different, to give a “designer
flare”. That is what I call hackery.

Leonid Surpin

47 
You're quite correct art is subjective. One man's art is another
man's sewage elbow ;-)

Or another man’s urinal:

Elliot Nesterman

48 
I would agree with Gary 100%, myself, I just don't think that's
the point here. Some seem to want to cling to some sense of mystery
in jewelry making, which simply doesn't exist if you understand it.
We don't need to define art, artists, beauty or art-loving to
design jewelry of any kind.

I’m sort of getting there thanks John.

I find this discussion has really rattled my cage, blown out the
cobwebs etc.

I’m thinking it’s time to compartmentalise my brain into three
sections Jeweller/Artist/Craftsman.

Definitely more confused than before this thread started.

Regards Charles A.

49 
You're quite correct art is subjective. One man's art is another
man's sewage elbow ;-)

I quoted Charles just because it’s catchy… This thread has legs,
but I personally think they are very useful legs. I think that
there’s a fundamental problem/disconnect at work, which is why the
word “art” keeps getting raised. If it’s art, then there’s mystery
and we all love mystery.

Well, sure, at least on some level everything is art - I see no
point in going there again. Both Goo and I have pointed out that
this thread (read the title) is about jewelry design. But (again,
with all due respect) I think that some people just don’t get it,
and certainly some people are spectators, not makers. Of course we
makers need to retain some aura of mystery, lest we be compared to
plumbers.

And I think that in order to understand it we must look to the
misnomer “Art Jewelry”. I’m of the opinion that the label simply
comes from jewelry programs in art schools, but that’s just me. And
of course, there are those who love the label and the beret and
perhaps they even sip absinthe of an evening. Last time the
art/craft fiasco was debated here, somebody posted some really fine
work from Alaska that was iconic native imagery. Yes, there is
certainly jewelry that is undeniably art. Southestern native
American jewelry is the same but alas, doesn’t qualify for the title
because it’s ethnic (oops!).

Do me a favor - go to Google and search images for “art jewelry”.
Don’t go to some certain person who is doing something
extraordinary, just do the search. What you will find is plain old
every day jewelry design with amoniker attached. Yes, some is
plastic or orange or strange, but that’s neither new nor
extraordinary. Much or most of it is very contemporary and some is
even fresh. None of it, that I saw just now, is any more art than any
other jewelry that anybody else has made over the centuries. If you
want art jewelry, go back to Google and search for Rene Lalique.

This isn’t bashing- jewelry is jewelry. It’s not all good but on
some level it IS all good. It’s just that saying, “I don’t know,
it’s my ART. It just comes to me” in some ways means you/they don’t
really know what you’re doing. The study of design - the topic of
this thread - is well defined, known and knowable. It’s not any way
to lead people to some given destination, it’s just a toolbox of
ways to work and get to your own.

You can keep the mystery for the customers, but you’ll be better, and
do better work if you know what you are doing and why. Think about it

  • I’m a jeweler but I don’t know how or why or what?!?!? It’s all
    just a mystery to me… Would you trust your children to that? If
    jewelry is art, then all jewelry is art. You can say that yours is
    art and mine is not, but you won’t come to my house… It’s just
    not that complicated. That’s not to say that it’s easy or doesn’t
    take study and work, but it’s not complicated.
50 
Some designers choose a path of adding stuff to the design, just
for the sake of been different, to give a "designer flare". That is
what I call hackery.

Less is more :slight_smile:

I agree, adding elements just because you can isn’t always a good
thing.

Regards Charles A.

51 
Customers also have their own perceptions of what beauty is, and as
jewellers we should listen carefully to what the customer wants.

The red thread tied around all this arguments that goldsmith somehow
must slavishly follow all client’s wishes, is an indication of a
degree of insecurity about his/her own abilities. By allowing client
to take control of the process, a goldsmith creates an excuse for the
anticipated failure. And when it does happens, then goldsmith can
blame everything on the client.

A client does not know what she wants, except that she wants to own a
beautiful piece of jewellery. The rest is up to goldsmith. The ship
sails to the Land of Ownership Bliss with only one captain on board,
and that captain is me. A client can come along for the ride, or
stay ashore and cry her eyes out at the lost opportunity. That is how
it works. That is how it always worked. Trump wrote an excellent book
“The Art of the Deal”. Judging from comments on this subject, it has
to be a mandatory reading in jewellery schools.

When we need a medical intervention, do we go to a doctor and start
telling him/her “you are going to do the following.”, or we describe
the problem and let him develop a solution based on his/her training
and expertise.

When we go to a restaurant, do we go in the kitchen and start
dictating to the chef how to prepare our dinner, or we rely on
his/her experience.

Goldsmith/client relationship is a complicated subject, but in a
nutshell the dynamics are not much different than in any sales
scenario. One can never close, unless one has complete control over
the situation. One will never have control, unless there is a trust
has been developed between the parties. A trust can never be built,
unless a seller can demonstrate that he deserves it. Product
knowledge and overall mastery of the subject are significant
components in this equation.

Frankly, it has been a revelation for me. I was alway wondered why
there are so much bellyaching about prices of metals, slow business,
and etc. I guess the mystery is solved.

Leonid Surpin

52

Right you are Gustavo Hoefs, sketch sketch. Once I took a jewelry
designing class, the teacher had vegetables, fruits and diversified
rocks. She instructed us to pick one item, and then design a piece
of jewelry from that piece, shape.

Well everyone was a little stumped at first, then we all picked, I
picked an onion cause I like their shape, and started to sketch,
sketch, earrings, pendants, rings, etc. all in the shape of onions.
The professor looked at all our stuff after about an hour, and
couldn’t believe I had two pages full of designs. Obviously some
were pretty silly, but to this day I make onion earrings, of course
they don’t look like real onions, just their beautiful shape is
incorporated. So I agree with Gustovo Hoefs, sketch, sketch, sketch
then pick one or two of the most pleasing to you and or your
customer.

Sigi Eurich

53

Dick Stromberg, Thank you for your concise description about the
process of making art. Your definition comes very close to my
thoughts and to my experience through practice. If you don’t mind I
would like to save your post for future reference for when I have to
communicate this process to others. I am happy to find others with
thoughts that I agree with on this difficult subject.

David Luck

54

I’ve been reading this thread with interest, especially since I am
beginning to incorporate some basic design principles into the
silversmithing classes I teach. I’d be interested to hear how others
use the 5 principles* of design (balance, proportion, rhythm, focus
or emphasis, and unity) and the 7 elements* of design (point, line,
form (2-dimension) and shape (3-dimension) and space, movement,
color, pattern, and texture) to create not only well-designed
pieces, but to also create a “platform” (my term) design on which you
can vary one or more of the design elements to create a series in
which each individual piece stands on its own, but the entire series
is cohesive. I think this approach supports the original intent of
the thread: discipline and using method.

Looking forward to informative responses.

Emie Stewart

55 
A hack is satisfied with everything. A hack is so much in love
with himself that everything is a masterpiece, no refinements is
required. Some designers choose a path of adding stuff to the
design, just for the sake of been different, to give a "designer
flare". That is what I call hackery.

So which is it actually? Is a hack someone that’s satisfied with
everything they make, seeing no need to improve or modernize their
techniques or add anything creative, or is a hack someone that feels
a need to expand their skills and add unnecessary details just for
the sake of creativity? I’m left wondering which parts of my work
are hackery and which are not. I guess by these definitions,
everything I do that isn’t a fabricated anniversary band (that I’m
not 100% pleased with) or a ballerina ring (that shows room for
refinement) is hack jewelry, and even those would be highly suspect
if I don’t use only traditional, old and proven techniques and
tooling, which is completely at odds with seeing the need for
improvement and refinement. These two definitions really leave me
scratching my head.

Like just about every professional that has weighed in on this, I
make jewelry to order. I don’t necessarily make what I like, I make
what the customer wants. In doing so, I’ll use whatever tools and
techniques I have available to get the job done right in the shortest
amount of time and for the least amount of cash as possible. Much of
my work includes both fabricated and cast components, I hate
findings. But you know what? Some people really do want their diamond
set in a peg head. Should I tell them no, using one makes me a hack?
If someone wants inlaid rose gold flowers on their platinum wedding
band, should I tell them no, that adding unnecessary detail to a
functional wedding band just for the sake of being different is
hackery? I’m sorry, but, Huh? Say again?

Converting a customer’s thoughts and ideas into jewelry in my
opinion is an art form of its very own. It takes a long time to build
all of the skills necessary to be able to accurately assess their
desires, commit them to a 2D sketch and then engineer it into a 3
dimensional, wearable, functional and highly treasured personal
adornment and get it right (in the customer’s opinion) the first
time, every time. People will pay big money to someone that can do
this. It requires an incredibly wide array of skills and
self-discipline to pull it off day after day. People that do this
rarely get the opportunity to say “I’m just not in the mood” or “I
don’t feel like it today, come back in a month when I feel more
creative”. If doing this type of work makes me a hack, call me a
hack. I’ve been called worse.

All things considered though and given all of the contradicting
definitions of a “hack” in this thread, I think I’d rather be a hack
than a one-trick pony.

Dave Phelps

56

umm, leonid - your post was erroneous:

Michelangelo comes to mind right away. After all when he started
work on Sisteen Chapel, he was so frustrated of not been able "to
see", that he was considering to run away.

michelangelo was frustrated because he wanted to start sculpting pope
julius ll’s tomb statues, but the pope, having wound up with a lot of
holes in the sistine chapel ceiling from a repair job, coerced
michaelangelo into painting the ceiling to cover up the holes before
allowing him to start on the statues. michaelangelo got the last
laugh because julius died before his statues were finished - and
michaelangelo got to include some of his least-favorite people as
lost souls in his painting.

i don’t see ‘frustration’ as having any part in art/design. as you
work your way through a design, be it 2 or 3 dimensional, when you
reach an element that isn’t, or doesn’t look, do-able you should let
your mind jump over it, so it automatically seeks another approach,
and finding one, continues to your goal - at least a creative brain
will do that if allowed - or why were are all those unused gray
cells stuffed in there - to keep your ears from caving in?

when i first started actualizing my designs and encountered a
‘boomp’ (as peter sellers would say), instead of letting it be a stop
sign i found myself treating each one as a ‘design element’ -
finishing with a better result.

frankly, when i read some of the on-and-on-and-on etc posts that do
not share a new perspective or technique or suggestion but bewail a
‘stop sign’ or ‘can’t’ or ‘if only’, it explains to me why so many of
the designs i see are cookie-cutter-same-old-same-old.

wake up people and drag yourselves up to a second level of creativity
instead of mistaking a stop sign for the finish line - being content
to settle for ‘well, it looks okay - i guess’ when you could get
those gray cells to pay rent by expanding your perspective with new
ideas. good luck - ive whining shifts your life into neutral, spins
your wheels and gives you an excuse to give up.

57 
A client does not know what she wants, except that she wants to
own a beautiful piece of jewellery. The rest is up to goldsmith.

I am in 100% agreement. The customer does not know or understand all
the options involved in creating a piece of jewelry, design wise or
how it will be made. Sometimes I explain what I will do or how I will
do it, and then I do not do what I said I would do.

When a piece is finished and my customer says, “perfect!” it does
not matter what changes I made or how I accomplished making the
piece. Twenty one years of custom design and not one customer has
been unhappy with what I have made for them.

If I believe I understand what the goal is, the customer has no input
as to how I accomplish the job. That is what the skill and knowledge
I have gained is for, and what my customer does not have and what
they trust and rely on me for.

My job is to make what they want better than they could have
imagined it.

Richard Hart G.G.
Denver, Co.

58

I just make pretty stuff that I like and that I know is well crafted
and engineered to last. No principles or elements. I’ve been doing it
pretty much all of my adult life. Folks pay me money to do it.

As the great Duke Ellington said, “If it sounds good, it is good.”

Jo Haemer
timothywgreen.com

59 
And I think that in order to understand it we must look to the
misnomer "Art Jewelry". I'm of the opinion that the label simply
comes from jewelry programs in art schools, but that's just me.
And of course, there are those who love the label and the beret and
perhaps they even sip absinthe of an evening.

Just to stir the pot, I would like to reference the work of Harold
O’Connor, Marianne Hunter, Andy Cooperman, Michael Zobel and Marne
Ryan, (I am sure I can mention more…) and ask the question, how
does discipline and method relate to the work of those individuals,
and how is it the same or different for someone whose “Art Jewelry”
is making traditional mountings for diamonds and colored gems?

In my opinion, the artists I mentioned are not only technicians at
the craft, but they are artists in that their work is based on
design that is quite separate from the necessity of the technical
aspect of using designs that conform to basic requirements for a
wedding ring or engagement ring, or a pair of earrings. Form follows
function for wedding and engagements ring, and for earrings. There
are people who think it important to make all the parts by
fabrication, and that separates them from people who assemble store
bought parts.

The artists I mentioned cannot buy store bought parts for their
work. What is made is dependent on discipline and method as that is
the only way those objects come into being, the work is rendered
into being solely by discipline and method as it is design driven. In
my mind, form does not follow function. What I mean by that, is that
the artists I mentioned make recognizable wearable objects, however,
if I see an engagement ring setting on a table, I am less likely to
pay attention to it as I would a piece by one of the artists I
mentioned. To me, one is art, one is not.

Can’t find my beret, no absinthe, just beer.

P.S., There are whole lot more people who are interchangeable as
far as building wedding and engagement rings.

People like the artists I mentioned, not so much. Specific skill
sets developed with discipline, which is the method by which those
artists convey their design concepts. As articulate as I can be
about something I find hard to articulate.

Richard Hart G.G.
Denver, Co.

60 
When we need a medical intervention, do we go to a doctor and
start telling him/her "you are going to do the following.", or we
describe the problem and let him develop a solution based on
his/her training and expertise. 

When we go to a restaurant, do we go in the kitchen and start
dictating to the chef how to prepare our dinner, or we rely on
his/her experience.

When we go to the doctor for pneumonia, we would be shocked to be
treated for hair loss, and when we order a steak medium rare, we
don’t tolerate being served chicken, or even well-done steak.

The client does know what she wants, just not how it should be made.
If this is your attitude, I find it hard to believe you could
possibly earn a living.

Noel