John,
I understand you are not singling me out for a lecture. Lord only
knows that I’m the resident shlemiel for this group, and I’m sorry
for wearing my heart on my sleeve about it… I realize that because
of it, my enthusiam and my curiosity are probably my only redeeming
qualities.
I am indeed at a loss as to where to go next, but I’m trying very
hard to not let that stop me.
John, I lived in Gallup between 2005 and 2010 and have even visted
Albuquerque several times. It is in Gallup where I began learning the
rudiments of silversmithing through asking a lot of questions from
Dine’ store owners, Ed from IGS and Lyndon Tsosie are THE BEST.
In the last couple years I developed some confidence on a tabletop
CNC milling machine. I’ve actually learned to tram and shim and vise
and plates sufficiently well that I can make engravings fit for
roadside attractions, even if they aren’t to Leonid’s level by light
years, and I can carve wood and metal for toys and things…
“Black Velvet, If You Please!”. I’m hoping maybe road art can
subsidize my jewelry lessons… Check out A House Full Of Craft for
my first saleable engraving, at least the original artist I
reproduced it from thought it good enough.
The weather’s very very cold, freezing during the day, no wind chill
thank gawd, so I’ve been reworking my cabbed stones indoors using my
cabbing wheels as sandpaper, using the sharpie exercise.
I’m so scared of messing up my small stock of silver, about three
ounces of pure ingots.
I want to use it where it counts, where it can do the most good. I
hear tell so much that I have to have a rolling mill to make regular
silver shapes, but then I hear others tell me just to learn to forge
by hand and no worry so much, and I’m not sure really what I want to
do. I wish I know of some way I could use my CNC to get thesame the
effect as a rolling mill… a fly cutter can level plate all right
but I discovered it wastes one heck of a lot of silver.
I’ve got my electric melter from years back, and an unused graphite
sleeve, and a digital scale from Christmas, so I can make sterling in
theory. I’ve got Borax powder, and Sparex powder, and haven’t used
them yet.
I’m also overwhelmed by the sheer magnificence of other people’s
art… I know I can’t possibly approach it even if I spent a lifetime
at it, and sometimes I don’t see how I can find my own niche
completely by myself.
The only reason I’m doing investing so much energy and personal
allowance in this, is because I would otherwise be sitting at home
doing nothing and being stone cold bored. I NEED to make things just
to stay calm… and I WANT to become good enough that people will
notice what I can do, and I DON’T WANT to make stuff that only I can
enjoy. It’s other people who decide what’s worthwhile to do, and I
want the remaining years of my life to be spent doing things which
other people will value.
So I’m sorry if I come off across like a whiner. I’m alone, I need
friends, I need mentors, and if it weren’t for the membership in
Ganoskin I would have given up long since.
Andrew Jonathan Fine