Just wanted to affirm my own love of art, whether it is painting,
drawing, doodling, designing, sculpture, jewelry, yes I apprenticed
in a NYC Sweatshop for 10 yrs. under a great Russian granite carver,
the greatest experience of my life, by the way and hustled the city
afterwards, growing into an incredible carver, doing freelance
design, model making and production runs, for the fashion industry,
though one of my favorites being street sales (a NY. state tax
vendor # is all you need), and large jazz festivals around the
country(the music really takes the edge off the hard sell routine,
it soothes). I strongly advise any apprentice to get into the
history of our world in the areas of Art (2d), Sculpture, and
Architecture and Crafts (jewelry, furniture, smithing, ceramics,
knotwork), 12BC to the turn of the century, it’s one of the most
important things that you can do for yourself to study ancient
Chinese (bronzes), 19th Cent. painting, 3rd world crafts,
early1900’s architecture and industrial design, take your pick,
there are many more. Buy books on these arts and meditate on the
contents (pictures), take college courses on it, mushrooms, etc.
Don’t lock yourself into the money, slave game, splurge your mind! dp
Hi dp and others;
What an incredible background. And I applaud your advise
wholeheartedly about the need for an apprentice to work for a well
rounded background in the arts as well as in his discipline. I’ve
had trade people scoff at my art degrees, and art people critisize my
penchant for disciplined technique, which I learned from decades in
the trade. I wouldn’t part with either aspect of my background.
Time was when a jeweler was expected to take the route dp writes
about. It was the standard, not the exception.
David L. Huffman