Identity crisis... What am I?

Jewelry Discussion
21 
"Silversmithing" is the working of silver in its traditional
format, being hollowware & such, and "Goldsmithing" is the working
of gold in its tradtional format, which is jewelry, personal
adornments

I guess it depends on the time. In 19th century silver clusters set
with diamonds and backed with gold were very popular, so I am not
sure that definition of goldsmith works in this case.

When I started training, I started with goldsmith techniques which
were making jewellery, regardless of metal, which did not contained
Jewellery with gemstones was covered by the different set
of techniques.

Craftsmen who were specializing in jewellery with gemstones were
called mounters, and setters were always a breed apart. Engraving was
a specialized discipline and belong to the silversmithing camp.

Silversmith and goldsmith also differ in a significant way. Raising
is pure silversmith technique. If you were raising gold chalices, you
were still a silversmith. Technique of stitching (raising metal with
a graver to hold things for soldering) purely silversmithing
technique. Overlapping joints - common in silversmithing, but never
to be found in goldsmithing, and so on.

In today shops, such separations are very rare if at all.

Leonid Surpin

22

‘Know yourself’…The hardest thing to do is smell your own aroma!

The mould is there for those who wish to be moulded and great merit
to those who are well moulded. There is also great merit in forging
your own mould.

Whether it is an old favourite or something new and irresistable you
will find a following as long as you are faithful to your following.

A rose by any other name smells as sweet…some are drawn by the
scent and others by the name.

I’m with Jo, make a name for your scent and please don’t let anyone
stop you! The scent comes first. The name of the scent comes second.

Alastair

23

“Metal Manipulator” …

Jo, I think I might switch to that one, I like it! Of course, “Metal
Goddess” is good too. :wink:

Lisa
Designs by Lisa Gallagher

24

Dear Renate, Michele and others,

I agree with Roger, once people find out that you have learned to
solder precious metal, you will be considered a jeweler. When you
meet someone in the trade, they will distinguish between 'artist’
and ‘bench’ (meaning formal training, certification and possible
apprenticeship).

I sweated over ‘what should I be’ for several decades before
deciding that it’s okay for me to be 4 or 5 things. Now that I am in
my early 50’s, I really don’t mind answering that question in a
run-on sentence. Each endeavor is an essential component to who I am.
And just because I have been obsessed with enameling for the last 2
years doesn’t negate my ability to fabricate what I am enameling,
fuse and solder silver, or stitch up an interesting piece of
beadwork. The artisan lampworked glass pieces I own are,
comparatively, more expensive than my best loose stones (no
diamonds).

Ultimately, today YOU get to decide who you are and present it to
the world in any way you wish. Proudly. Because every single one of
us, reading and writing on this site, is an artist. Someone that can
make something beautiful in the 3rd dimension. So many never find
that. Aren’t we lucky?!

All the best,
Nanette
Art Jeweler, Metalsmith, Enamelist, Corporate Bookkeeper, Math tutor,
Mom, Wife and keeper of the home

25

Ranate,

I’d echo most of the respondents and not worry about the label. In
the immortal words of Popeye, The Sailor Man. “I am what I am and
that’s all that I am”. Just do what you do best and let the
statisticians worry about categories.

Mike DeBurgh, GJG
Henderson, NV

26

I am not what I eat because what I eat becomes me, not the other way
around, so much. I haven’t begun to resemble broccoli yet, despite
consuming mass quantities. I tend not to think of myself as a
fake-sausage pattie, tomato salad, or can o’ beans (wry nod to Tom
Robbins’ book ‘Skinny Legs and All’ ).

Identity Non-Crisis: What I Am:

Work-wise I have been a jewelry modelmaker, designer, and smith, with
side helpings of sculpture, photography, and now a taste for sacred
geometry, and by necessity, handyman. Oh, and then there’s the
diemaking thing I have as my main gig. Plus the music. Not counting
the big huge picture wherein my identity dissipates and is absorbed
by The All, for matters of this world and current topic, I’ll settle
for labelling myself an artistic soul with a knack for improvisation
and the capacity for precision and problem solving. I’m a guy who
likes to make stuff even if it isn’t easy to make. If I had ever
actually studied seriously, I might be Renaissance Man, but merely
doing a little bit of everything, albeit well, does not make one a
world-changing, historically notable person. But I am an artiste (^8

Dar

27

A goldsmith who worked for me for over 25 years often refered to
herself asan Auric Pyro technician.

John Winters

28 
i think you should stop worrying and think about what you do that
is positive and think positivly about yourself make everything you
touch beautifull and leave it better than you found it. you are
most likely all of what you said rolled into one, dont limit
yourself

This is a great topic. Personally I consider myself to be an
“ornamental metalsmith” making everything from “fine jewelry to
house jewelry”. I consider the other titles to be to limiting. My
drive is Process oriented… once I learn a process I take it to the
next level by learning to use it on as many different metals as I
can. And in a variety of scales. I know many like to specialize…
but this has been the approach that has worked for me.

Bill Roberts

29

Dearest Orchideans

What a wealth of response to my “identity crisis” question. I am
overwhelmed by the plethora of answers and they are all part of the
answer in all their diversity.

I loved all the replies… from the practical to the estoteric via
the totally creative. Would you believe… I am none the wiser on
the matter of my “proper” title… but I have learnt that it doesn’t
matter at all. The conundrum has just become another part of my
creativity and helps to give me freedom to be what I am and what I
do.

What a wonderful bunch of people you are.

Many thanks and lots of love

Renate
(creator of lovely wearable things made of sterling silver and other
stuff)

30

Sure, everybody needs to feel some sort of identity, but I think
doing is preferable to being, more fun.

31 
learned that my correct title was goldsmith because I make silver
jewelry

Just back from frolicking in the mountains for three days…

Personally, I don’t much care what people call themselves until it
impacts me - what you tell me you are, whether personal or
professional. But the words you say are communication, too

“Everybody wants to go to heaven but nobody wants to die…”
Doesn’t that word, “Goldsmith” just have such a nice ring to it?
Now, I’m a goldsmith - have been for 35 years, now. Not only do I
work in gold, I also know how to make it get up and dance. I’m also
a jeweler - I “jewel” things, and I work with “jewels”. To some
degree it’s true that the lines are foggy or non-existent - most
people don’t actually care much what labels are used.

If you walk into a gold shop and call yourself a goldsmith, though
you have never worked in gold, they are going to laugh you out of the
place, though - ditto with jeweler. Words have meaning, words always
have meaning.

Take the above quote and turn it into everyday life: “I’m a
firefighter, I bake bread for a living”. I’m a race-car driver - I do
people’s taxes". Wouldn’t the world be a fine place if we could all
call ourselves astronauts without ever having to go to all the
trouble of blasting into space? None of it means much until it does.
You can call yourself a goldsmith all day long, and nobody much will
care. That is until you do it to a real goldsmith.

I’m a goldsmith. I “smith” gold. You can tell me you are the same,
though you have never actually worked in gold, but - well, that will
be a short conversation… Such a nice ring to that word…

32

I was given the nickname “The Wicked Wench of Wax” years ago. But
now that I have added a Belt Sander, Sanding Mandrels, and a Sand
Blaster to my product line I am also “The Abrasive Bitch!” Too funny!

Have a great day, and if any of you are at JCK Vegas, please stop by
Rio Grande’s booth and say ‘Hi!’

Kate Wolf in Portland, Maine, hosting wicked good workshops by the bay.
www.katewolfdesigns.com www.wolftools.com www.wolfwax.com

33 
Personally I consider myself to be an "ornamental metalsmith"
making everything from "fine jewelry to house jewelry".

That makes me think of a “decorative non-functional teapot,” I
picture you standing there, like a statue, in your leather apron,
hammer in hand, just an ornamental metalsmith.

Elaine
http://www.CreativeTextureTools.com

34

You’ve asked the same question I’ve wondered about. I too have been
told that a goldsmith makes smaller, jewelry sized items, whether
made of gold or not, and a silversmith makes larger items, such as
bowls and vases.

I’ve been learning to work in copper, brass, and silver - soldering,
hammering and piercing. I originally learned beading and enjoy
combining beads with wire and metal. And I hope my creations are or
will eventually be considered artistic. So as well as the titles you
mentioned, there are also beader, crafter, hobbyist (but I recently
started selling my work), metal worker, metal smith, jewelry artist
and studio artist as possible titles. My current favorite is Jewelry
Artist because it sounds most like what I am striving to do and
would seem to encompass many materials and methods and omit non
makers from the definition. But is it arrogant of me to give myself
this title, especially as I am still learning?

Mary Partlan,
White Branch Designs

35 
Just back from frolicking in the mountains for three days...... If
you walk into a gold shop and call yourself a goldsmith, though you
have never worked in gold, they are going to laugh you out of the
place, though - ditto with jeweler. Words have meaning, words
always have meaning.

Ah John Donivan… you are getting to the crux of the matter. I
guess to me words do mean something. I must say calling myself a
goldsmith doesn’t sit right. Maybe the term silversmith (wanting to
keep descriptions short) does fit me sometimes since I also make
boxes and other things (I have a small castle on a shelf in my shop).
These are however just using jewellery making skills on a larger
scale. I might stop correcting people when they call me a
silversmith. Language changes anyway and maybe it needs to here.

Think I’ll probably just keep saying I’m “a jeweller who makes
things mainly out of silver”. Who cares!! So long as people continue
to look at my work and say it’s lovely, then I’m happy.

Oh to frolic in some mountains… we don’t have any around here.

Cheers, Renate

36 
I must say calling myself a goldsmith doesn't sit right. Maybe the
term silversmith (wanting to keep descriptions short) does fit me
sometimes since I also make boxes and other things (I have a small
castle on a shelf in my shop). These are however just using
jewellery making skills on a larger scale. I might stop correcting
people when they call me a silversmith. Language changes anyway and
maybe it needs to here.

There is more than self-identity going on here. You want to call
yourself something that your customers will understand. Your
business name should be a positive marketing tool. If you put the
word “silversmith” in your company name, or as a sub title, is that
going to work for you? Or will it hold you back if you want to start
working in gold or platinum or some other material? It is OK to call
yourself different things in different situations. You might be a
craftsman or an artisan in a sales situation but describe yourself
as a manufacturer when you are talking to the bank or to suppliers.
At industry trade shows I have seen some of the suppliers not take
self described “artists” very seriously. Presumably this is because
they are perceived as being dabblers. Likewise, if you use industry
jargon in your marketing, it is likely to fall on deaf ears. Yes,
words mean things. But they also mean different things to different
people. Use the words that will get you what you want.

37

Mary,

It is often difficult to describe what we do to others. Is a person
who makes “jewelry” using plastics and cadcam a jewelry artist
because it does not contain metal? Is everything you make
ornamentation for the body? Are you only an artist if you are
prolific and make objects all the time? Does being obsessive about
one area of what we do as artists define us as to who we are or put
us in a box that is easy to label for others?

This thread goes to a broader question. What is an artist? For me,
the title of “artist” means I engender passion in everything I do, be
it photography, jewelry making, sculpture, attending Burning Man,
writing, teaching, designing or cooking. How I communicate this
passion is what others call “artistic.” It’s just a label. I don’t
care actually, this is how I live.

To honor beauty in your surroundings, to study and research nature
or abstract concepts, creates a connection from you to your subject.
One can appreciate art, but not be an artist. I love music, but when
I sing, my cats leave the room for the hideous noise that I make.

One can love to read, but that doesn’t make them a writer.

What is an artist? For me, it is one who understands rules and then
breaks them in a creative and new way. As an artist has the ability
to choose and manipulate ideas and manifest them to their fruition.
It is about communication and the ability to communicate your idea in
your voice. One does not “learn” to be an artist, one is born an
artist.

I aspire to be an eternal student because I learn something new
every day and from these teachings, I express my voice.

Watch this. The video clip is from BBC America.

A DIFFERENT DRUMBEAT 

Zakir Hussain has been called the world's finest tabla player.
He started playing the 300-year-old Indian drums at the tender
age of three. But being a maestro runs in the family, as he
followed in the footsteps of his late father Ustad Alla Rakha. 

http://tinyurl.com/lxm7ek

Karen Christians
Cleverwerx

38

Elaine, I think an ornamental metalsmith would look great in my
garden - I wonder where I can get one? :slight_smile:

I’m so enjoying this thread - I think we’ve all encountered
difficulties in finding the right appellation, especially when
dealing with the lay public. One of the terms that most recently
appealed to me, from datamancer.com, was “contraptor” - one who makes
contraptions.

We all know what we mean, but boy, can people get confused:

Non-jeweler: “So, what is it you do?”

Me: “Well, I’m a jeweler…”

NJ: “Oh! I just love diamonds!”

Me: “Actually, I don’t really work with diamonds. I’m more of a
jewelry artist.”

NJ: “So, you like, make paintings with jewelry or something?”

Me: “Well, no, I make jewelry that’s more like small sculpture. I’m
an art jeweler.”

NJ: “You mean it’s just art? You can’t wear it?”

Me: “Oh, no, you can wear it - small wearable art is really what a
goldsmith makes.”

NJ: “Oh, you’re a goldsmith! I have this 14K chain…can you repair
it?”

Me: “Erm…I don’t actually work with gold…”

NJ: “Like, whatev.” (rolls eyes and walks away)

Good luck, all!

Jessee Smith
Cincinnati, OH
www.silverspotstudio.com

39

I have a double identity crisis. Not only and I a jeweler (or
whatever), but I also do enameling. Now try to explain that to the
general public. But even worse than trying to explain it to the
public, try to find a show that has an enamel category. No problem
with my enameled jewelry. I apply in the jewelry category. But with
my large scale wall enamels I have a real problem.

I phoned a gallery once to make an appointment to show them my wall
enamels

The gallery director was totally unfamiliar with enamels. I tried to
explain what they were, and said they were vitreous enamel on
copper. The word vitreous threw her, so I explained that it was glass
on metal. “Oh,” she said, " too bad you put the glass on metal.
People like to hang glass in the window, so they can see through it,
I don’t think people would want to hang glass on the wall."

However, she was gracious enough to set up an appointment to see
them, loved them, and from then on featured them in the gallery.

So what am I? I am a person who just enjoys hours in the studio
creating things, working with metal, working with a hot kiln, or a
torch, and is fortunate enough that people like what I make well
enough to buy them, so that I can get more tools, and supplies for my
already cluttered studio, and can make more things.

Alma Rands

40 
I guess to me words do mean something. I must say calling myself a
goldsmith doesn't sit right.

Yes, Renate, they do… There’s no reason to pound away on the
topic - many people have said some very humorous and creative
things… There is a much larger issue of perspective that’s
related, though.

There is a jewelry industry. There has been a jewelry industry for
hundreds of years. I notice that some academic/art school types seem
to want to pretend they are “outside” of it - objections to the
“industry” part, I suspect. But they, and all of us, are right in
the middle of it. All of us, without exception, buy and sell metals,
stones, chains, beads, findings, tools and equipment and supplies.
What you do with them is of no matter - you are part of it. That
industry has words that are understood to mean something to
everybody involved - when you say “chocolate” in the kitchen, nobody
thinks you mean garlic.

To quote James Miller:

As to another posting I call myself a Goldsmith, because that is
what is written on my apprenticeship indentures and on my freedom
papers from the Worshipful Company of Goldsmiths, London.

When I was a member and officer of the IJWU (local #12), the
classification on my union card was “Jeweler”. I can’t recite the
definition of it, now, but I can assure you that it WAS defined in
the bylaws.

In other words, in both cases, we don’t call ourselves those things
because we fancy the title, the INDUSTRY calls us those things
because we earned them - even more so in James’ case than my own.

Related to this all is a pretty dangerous misconception - that being
that since you know how to work silver you therefore know how to
work gold. That is simply, utterly, completely untrue. Yes, you can
work gold ~as silver~, and yes, in that case you are goldsmithing.
But you are not Capital-G Goldsmithing, which works gold as gold and
is an entirely different animal altogether. People who think that
goldsmithing is sheet metal and wire work, like 90% of silver jewelry
is, just have no conception… It’s actually sculpture…

Anyway… Perspective. Check out Oscar Heyman’s new website, it’s
pretty cool. There you will see goldsmithing at it’s best. Van Cleef
and Arpels also has some fine archival pieces on their newest site.
www.raymondyard.com is interesting… There are thousands of us…
Actual goldsmiths actually working in gold. What a concept.