Hello Ganoksin Members;
I have been involved in the arts all my life, mostly photography and
oil painting and drawing. About a year ago the Arts Center I was
employed at had massive financial difficulties and my position
ceased to exist overnight. For the last couple of years I had been
gravitating to metal arts and jewelry in particular. I have amassed
a considerable amount of equipment for jewelry making, mostly
mid-quality and much of it used, but I have all the basics which
would also include casting (vacuum casting, etc). I have been
teaching myself using books of course and this Ganoksin archive,
which as many of you know is a real “godsend” to people like me.
I live in mid-coast Maine in the town of Camden situated between
Rockland and Rockport. There is a renowned jewelry school in Portland
Maine, but alas at 49 years old with my family here I can’t just pull
up stakes go away for a few years whilst I learn the craft. For me
the ideal situation would be some sort of apprenticeship. I would
like to know the best way to approach jewelers with their own shops
to persuade them to give me a shot at working for them. I have been
working the last five or six years designing and maintaining
websites. I have experience in all sorts of computer technologies,
databases, etc. I also have a lot of customer services experiences as
well. I have a lot to offer, and I also learn VERY quickly. I would
be happy to work for a jeweler using my technology skills to their
advantage for a very small wage, (perhaps even minimum wage?) in
return for learning/apprenticing to gain goldsmith/silversmith
knowledge.
What are your thoughts on this? Is something like this possible? Am I
crazy? I just have this real hunger to learn the craft and to do it
in the real world. Any advice, insight, help you could give me would
be VERY appreciated.
Kind Regards,
Rick Harwood