Keeping enthusiasm for a piece

Jewelry Discussion
41

Helen,

I have found that $$ is often enough to get through a less than
perfect piece. Few pieces turn out perfect, paying the bills even
when selling at slightly discounted prices does work. It is not
mundane to finish and sell less than your best, and it keeps the crap
box less full.

Polish the hell out of it, people tend to love shiny baubles. One job
I had required about 10 approvals before a piece was finished, once I
figured out the shiny business (30% extra time on the bosses bill) I
did much better. And this was when dealing with trained professional
retail jewellers, not the public. Polishing really counts, dirty
business and you just might go and bead blast the thing afterwards,
but learn how to polish (and maybe even enjoy it, it’ll show.)

jeffD
Demand Designs
Analog/Digital Modelling & Goldsmithing
http://www.gmavt.net/~jdemand

42

I have found that if the inspiration leaves me, I have to set the
piece aside until it returns. If it doesn’t return, the piece just
sits. I guess that’s why I have some of my projects in my shop that
are over 20 years in the making :slight_smile: And then one day, the jewelry
God’s smile on me and the inspiration comes and the project gets
finished. Teddy

43 
To be honest, I don't think it is a plateau. I think it's
overload.

That is one of the classic symptoms of reaching a learning plateau,
feeling overloaded. Remember, you’re not just learning to make
jewelry, you are learning many other different skills at the same
time, even though they haven’t been the focus of your attention. You
are learning to prioritize jobs, forecast time required for each job,
organize your bench and your shop, balance materials with the
schedule you are trying to set, streamlining your production, on and
on. It is not just a fun hobby anymore, it’s become something of a
profession, even if you are doing mainly freebies. You have to answer
to someone beside yourself now.

Because it’s now more of a vocation than a vacation, the lack of
these other skills is presenting itself in a more and more obtrusive
manner, forcing you to learn them quickly, whether you want to or
not. For most of us, these kinds of skills can be much harder to
learn, mainly because they commonly aren’t viewed as skills to be
learned, but as distractions and duties that must be done. Even when
they are recognized as skills to be learned they are seldom
considered to be necessary for the accomplishment of the main
objective of making beautiful jewelry, so we think they don’t count
towards the load on the learning center of the mind. But they do, so
we subconsciously give them lower priorities. They also aren’t as
much fun and it’s much harder to make ourselves learn things we don’t
enjoy doing.

So, these secondary skills take a back seat in the learning process
until their requirement becomes overwhelming. Throw in some more
demanding pieces, a couple of anxious clients and a clock that
refuses to stand still, an external stressor or two, and snap. You
have reached the saturation point. Your brain says “Listen. I’m just
not going to learn anything new for a while, no matter how badly you
want me to. I have to digest all I’ve learned so far, so take a
break, will you please? If you don’t, I will force you to. The harder
you fight me, the harder I’m going to make it on you” Your brain then
forces you to slow down by making you feel totally overwhelmed and
disorganized and makes even the things you were doing so easily
before hard to do. You feel like you are going backwards. Most people
also temporarily lose some of their enthusiasm for what they are
learning. Sound familiar?

Overload, a flattening of the learning curve, a learning plateau,
whatever name you wish to call it, the cure is the same - accept it
for what it is, a human condition, and work through it. Just know
that in time as the wise man said, this too shall pass. The good news
is that when you come out on the other side, you’ll be learning even
faster than you did before.

If the psychology of the stages of learning doesn’t apply to your
situation and it is only a case of taking on more than you can
handle, then the solution is easy, even if it’s implementation is
not. You only have to learn to use one little word to solve the
entire problem.

No.

And that can be one of the hardest skills that you will ever have to
learn.

Dave

44 
leaving such pieces out on my bench top so that I can still see
them while I'm working on something else. That way, their
predicament is constantly entering my brain, causing me to have to
think about them in some way

or is it?

but I think I'd enjoy it much more and obviously be more productive
if I actually get some sort of system going

The issue of some philosophy of art and production is and has been
fun to dissect. Helen’s more immediate concern is also important,
and I know Helen isn’t alone in it.

I can make anything. Nobody including me can literally make
~anything~… I was just outside, thinking of Helen’s post, and I
looked around me -hmmmm - a tree with chocolate gold branches and
enameled leaves - Jade or individual enamel would be a Faberge thing,
a wide panel with enamel would be a Lalique thing. Hmmmm - FedEx in
high relief with yellow gold Fed and white gold Ex. Hmmmm a gold
parking meter - Hey, I could even make it a working meter! Look at
that texture, look at those lines - Hey, the Up/Down panel on the
elevator. It just gets worse the more you know, Helen. Or better,
depending on your point of view. An unending supply of ideas, good
and bad. And I also remember having the awakening Helen is describing
and her new-found empowerment. “I can swoop, I can soar, I’m
FREEEEEEE!” Wonderful, isn’t it? I mean that…

Filters. What’s going to pay, what’s going to score, or maybe what’s
most useful for your progress. Don’t think of unfinished work as
that, think of it as studies, to be finished later or not. It’s not
important, it’s just stuff. If you have a piece that’s 99% finished
and it lies there for 2 months, THEN you have a problem. If you
tinker with some concept and put it aside, you are doing what every
artist does - studies.

Personally I don’t think surrounding oneself with the reminders of
your (perceived) inadequacy is especially useful or conducive to
concentrating on the work at hand. My suggestion would be to put it
all away. We use these:

http://www.ottofrei.com/store/product.php?productid=8151

Pull out a job and work on THAT. If you’re making bezels then make
bezels for several jobs, solder several, etc. On some level you CAN
work on more than one job - on some level you can’t - one bezel at a
time, one solder at a time, one polish at a time…

These postings of Helen’s pretty much focus what she’s asking about,
I think. Her “problem” isn’t how to keep enthusiasm, it’s how to
CURB her enthusiasm. Kid in a candy store, and all that.

Just some thoughts - maybe they’re good for some, maybe all wrong
for some, just thoughts…

P.S. Jo-Ann here-- I had to ask John what the “junk” downstairs
is…Turns out to be this very interesting pendant he made over 30
years ago & his Mom passed onto me…I loved that handy work/rough
style…It has four panels with items you would place to New
Mexico–silver, turquoise, bear claw(was legally obtained) and
coral…No, it’s not great to wear as a pendant but it’s a neat
sculpture and fits with the Southwestern pieces in the “rumpus room”
aka family room…Surprisingly, if I had seen it for sale-I would
have bought it !!

Another man’s trash is… my treasure.

45 
Overload, a flattening of the learning curve, a learning plateau,
whatever name you wish to call it, the cure is the same - accept it
for what it is, a human condition, and work through it. Just know
that in time as the wise man said, this too shall pass.

Fear is another factor that can cause procrastination in finishing a
piece.

It is often subtle and subconscious. When a lot of work has been
completed on a lengthy and/or difficult piece, there is risk that
each additional step might not be successful, thus damaging or
destroying the successful work previously completed. It’s easy to set
a piece aside and imagine what the completed work will look like
instead of taking the risk of actually performing the work.
Recognizing the fear makes it easier to break through and finish the
piece [she says from experience.]

Jamie

46

Hi Folks…

That is one of the classic symptoms of reaching a learning
plateau, feeling overloaded. Remember, you're not just learning to
make jewelry, you are learning many other different skills at the
same time, even though they haven't been the focus of your
attention. You are learning to prioritize jobs, forecast time
required for each job, organize your bench and your shop, balance
materials with the schedule you are trying to set, streamlining
your production, on and on. It is not just a fun hobby anymore,
it's become something of a profession, even if you are doing mainly
freebies. You have to answer to someone beside yourself now.

David, that description of overload/plateau process is one of the
best I’ve ever seen…

Would apply not only to jewelry making, but fit almost any life
scenario one could think of…

Gary W. Bourbonais
L’Hermite Aromatique
A.J.P. (GIA)

47

Hi Dave,

That is one of the classic symptoms of reaching a learning
plateau, feeling overloaded.

Actually, I think you’ve completely hit the nail on the head! What
you say exactly describes how things are at the moment. It’s nice to
know that there will be light at the end of the tunnel.

“If the psychology of the stages of learning doesn’t apply to your
situation”

I’m not so precious as to think that such things don’t apply to me.
We’re all subject to the psychology of whatever situation we find
ourselves or put ourselves in, and it’s really helpful to have
someone like yourself put it into words. You’re so right, that you
don’t take those other, less interesting things into account when
starting out on a venture like this. You sort of assume that all that
will fit into place - just like the business side of things which
scares the bejeebers out of me incidentally - but it doesn’t, you
have to take care of it.

Thank you so much for understanding exactly what my problem is, and
helping me to start thinking about how I can solve it. It is very
much appreciated.

Helen
UK
http://www.hillsgems.co.uk
http://helensgems.ganoksin.com/blogs/

48

Hello again

I’ve been following this thread and what strikes me is how different
we all are in the way we approach the making process. I think I’m in
line with Helen. I love the process and will try and try again and
again to solve a technical problem. My bench is my favourite place.
I love getting the mundane things right and perfecting or trying to
perfect a technique. I’ve been described as a ‘complete finisher’, a
’perfectionist’ and as ‘paying obsessive attention to detail’ at
various stages of my life and yet I have still lost interest in
pieces. I’m convinced this happens when I haven’t paid enough
attention to the design so when the thing comes together I just
don’t like it enough. Even so I will often finish the ugly thing and
put it away then may be come back to it and rework the design months
later. I do have more than one project on the go at once as this is
more economical with time… all the cutting at the same time then the
preparation for soldering and then all the soldering etc. etc. I
usually have about 5 - 10 pieces in hand. This is partly because it
is not economical to send less than 10 pieces for hallmarking at one
time and you don’t send finished pieces as they could be damaged in
the process and you wouldn’t send them with the stones already set.
We all work differently. We are all coming from a different
perspective. It’s too late in life for me to do an apprenticeship
with a commercial jeweller and really hone those making skills to
perfection but I love doing what I do and having the freedom to make
my own designs and explore and experiment with different techniques
and to make mistakes and not get the sack! And I love reading your
posts every day. It’s night time here in the UK. I guess most of you
guys are still working hard.

Have a great day.
Collette

49

Helen,

Same story here, except that Im a gemstone carver and Ive never
really looked at my put aside projects as a lack of enthusiasm. Ive
always kept 7- 30 carvings in various stages of finish for years.
Sometimes I start a design and once I really see it in real life I
decide its not what I imagined it to be and will put it down. Most of
the time though, its a matter of waiting patiently for inspiration to
blossom on any given piece. I guess you could say that I lack
inspiration or enthuesiasm while I wait for inspiration to arise, and
that makes logical sense, but even still, I dont see it that way. I
keep many projects going at once to maximize my potential for finding
inspiration at all times. It is a rare occasion when I sit down, look
through my projects, and fail to find one that strikes my fancy so to
speak.

Even still, there are many pieces that, in the short run, just never
made it to completion.

Lately I have been considering that perhaps my approach to creating
carvings is a bit flawed. Many times, Ill have the time and some
material, and a vague or undeveloped idea of what I want to see come
to life. Then Ill rush in, because i LOVE getting my hands on my
work, and get a little ways in and awww… what was I thinking? This
is horrible.

Im wondering if it would be better to first spend time meditating,
and visualizing the piece. Not just into the start of it, but all
the way through it. Perhaps I will draw it as well as I can (Ive
been practicing drawing far more than carving lately). Maybe Ill
start with a maquette and see how serious I am about this. After
all, Im working with material that is universally considered to be
the most valuable thing to be had. You are working with material
like this too. I find with drawings and maquettes that I run into
problems. Maybe the problems are related to my lack of experience
working with plaster, or with my drawing technique. Those are part
of it.

But the important part of it is in discovering the problems with the
design itself. I run into dead ends in the work up that I would hit
if I had rushed into working with my gem material first. Sometimes I
realize the design was crap. Sometimes I realize the idea was good
but the development and process was wrong. Ill take the good parts
and save them, or rework them. Then after all, when I finally
approach the real thing, its like cutting butter. The work is sweet.

I will work on approaching my art this way more and more. Its
difficult still. Even though I see how functional this new approach
is for me, its tedious… and controlled… and I want to PLAY!! Ugh.
Growing up is no fun, but at some point, you want to take things to
the next level, and you have to get it together to make that happen.

So recently, something that happened with me and my many unfinished
designs that was unexpected was that I met a person who designs
womens jewelry.

Mainly she does necklaces, bracelets and earrings. We talked about
using selected pieces of my work as centerpieces for her work. She
wanted to see what I had but all I really had was a box of about 50
unfinished or abandoned carvings to show her. I told her they were
no good. She loved practically every last one of them. She saw in
them what I couldnt see. She could design around them because they
added a new light to her world. She picked outa dozen favorites and
insisted I finish them. I resisted at first, but in the end, I went
ahead and finished nearly all of them for her. Even thought I had no
idea about what she had in mind for her design around them, I was
energized by HER enthusiasm. And after all, I found that just
finishing these pieces was very satisfying despite my feeling like
the work was mediocre.

These are gemstones we’re working with. This is Precious Metal we’re
working with. Just about anything made of these wonderful materials,
becomes wonderful once its finished. We may not see it, but how is
that fact a fair measure of the value of our work?

So I guess what Im suggesting is… show your collection of
unfinished, uninspired work to other people! Let clients, friends
and family and other artists see them. Its almost inevitable that
someones will ask you to finish something THEY like. And its already
half way done. Let THAT be your enthusiasm.

:slight_smile: August Voss

50

Hear, hear, Andy! I too work on several pieces at a time. My thing
is, and continues to be working on overcoming the hurdle of
argentium! I sometimes think, forget it, I’m going back to regular
sterling. Although w/some of my jewelry, having something that won’t
tarnish is a real plus. I feel handicapped in the world of soldering
argentium, in particular the solder, I have rio’s solder, I don’t
know if there is better out there, or I’ve just got it all wrong, iit
doesn’t flow well and tends to puddle my piece underneath where the
solder chip was. What am I doing wrong? Cynthia?

Lisa Hawthorne
lisahawthorne.com

51 
there is risk that each additional step might not be successful,
thus damaging or destroying the successful work previously
completed.

I personally think that the best way to make a piece is to sit down
and make it reasonably straight through. I often have to put in a
couple of hours on something, and set it aside to do some priorities,
but then I do it again the next day. I lose my traqin of thought on
something, and working on it a month later makes it a patchwork
instead of a coherent design. Then you get redesigns, too, which can
be messy.

But this is a useful thought: John Updike (the author) died this
year, and Charlie Rose had an encore interview with him. Charlie
asked about the writing process, "So, you have a beginning and an end

  • do you have the middle before you sit down and write?" Updike
    looked at him and said, “The beginning and end, of course”. Of course
    meaning, “If you don’t have that, you don’t have a book at all…”
    The point being that we all, at times, say, “Well I’ll just head over
    yonder and it will all work out…” Which often times it doesn’t,
    actually, work out. Clarity of vision, a beginning and an end - you
    can connect the dots if you have those things…
52

In reading through this as a thread, I am thankful for persons such
as Dave Arens and Jay Whaley. I know Dave from the first Orchid
Dinner in Tucson, and that is a long time ago. I have seen exactly
what Dave is speaking about, in his shop, and own a few of his make
things easier" devices.

Jay, I came to know some 5 years ago at UCSD’s Crafts Center Jewelry
Program. What I did not originally know, was how many of the make
things easy items I used over and over, were Jay’s ideas, to do that
exactly, make things easy.

Necessity is the mother of inventions, and between these two
wonderful men, we have quite a few of these available for purchase
and use. I encourage both of them to please continue.

Helen, I do believe we all can relate to you, one way or another. I
personally put things aside for a time, and continue on later.

Hugs,
Terrie

53 
If the psychology of the stages of learning doesn't apply to your
situation

Gee, I’m sorry Helen for my clumsy wording. That does sound just a
little confrontational. What I meant was if the learning curve thing
doesn’t apply right now as opposed to not applying to you ever,
as is how it sounds. I guess that’s one of the problems with
communicating via only the written word.

It is very possible that a short-term learning stoppage would not be
causing your current conundrum and that’s what I was trying to imply.
It is entirely possible to take on more than you can do and get
overwhelmed even in the middle of a huge learning spurt. Almost ate
me alive in the early months of making the switch from the home shop
wholesale custom trade to a brick and mortar retail studio. There was
just too much jewelry and not enough Dave, and Dave hadn’t figured
out the delicate art of saying “no” yet.

Would apply not only to jewelry making, but fit almost any life
scenario one could think of.....

Thanks for the kind words Gary. I wish I could take credit, but it’s
just core curriculum stuff for instructor pilots. I learned it in
aviation, but you’re right, it applies to anyone learning anything at
an accelerated rate, especially so when there are deadlines looming
and you really need to know it, like right now. That’s when it hits
the hardest. Very useful stuff to know when you are instructing
people at the bench.

It also explains what we called in college the “mid-term funk”. So
if anyone has kids in college and their grades dip a bit mid-term,
cut them some slack. At least until the bar tab shows up on your
credit card statement.

Dave

54

A few additional thoughts on the ebb and flow of this enthusiasm
thread…

Some have mentioned a starting point or initial idea which was
pursued until other ideas took over, and then the direction or design
was changed mid-piece. Sometimes this has good results, but more
often than not the changes are not as good as the original idea if
left intact. The reason for this being that quite frequently less
thought and planning are given to the change in trajectory than was
applied to the original idea, prior to changing course.

I have a suggestion I give to my students in this regard and it is
based on many many years of my own studio practice, and an in depth
thoughtful analysis of what worked to the greatest overall benefit
and why.

As we undertake a design or creative process there will inevitably be
other ideas which arise as we work with the material. A disciplined
approach, and a beneficial one, is to remain true to the original
idea and accomplish it as intended. After the intended item is
completed contemplate it and allow for any additional ideas or
departures to percolate and develop based on the realization of the
original intent. Make notes and studies and follow up with separate
plans for deviations or derivitive works afterwards, with proper
intent and purpose, rather than interrupting the original work.

This approach has a twofold benefit. First and foremost is the
discipline and follow through in executing the original plan and
accomplishing the goal that was started towards at the onset. Second,
is the value of having the original item intact and completed from
which to make a valuable assessment of where it might be improved,
extended, refined, or realigned into other similar or derivitive
directions.

Abandoning a project becasue the original intent was tampered with,
watered down, diminshed, or misdirected, and enthusiasm waned and
interest was lost, seldom offers more than a feeling of
discouragement or dissappointment.

This is not to say that some insight in small changes which will
improve the item might not be allowable as the work goes forward on
the original intent, but I find that faithfully completing the 1.0
version and then undertaking the modified or improved 1.1 version is
a very practical and productive strategy.

Of course indiviual mileage may vary, and individual temperament may
or may not be conducive to the application of this approach.

Michael David Sturlin
http://michaelsturlinstudio.ganoksin.com/blogs/

55

As long as we’re talking about writers. The Bay Area novelist Annie
Lamott said, in an interview on NPR, that she gives herself
permission to write total crap-- whatever comes into her mind-- on
the page the first time through. From this she edits and re-edits and
then edits from there.

Some work, like commissions or custom work are, indeed, a straight
through,scripted process. Repair work definitely needs a strategy.
But, for me, artwork happens differently and is often initiated from
play and only very rarely evolves from renderings…

Different types of work require different approaches and points of
entry, even in the mind-- and studio-- of one artist.

As always, I remain suspicious of absolutes. The older I get, the
less I see the world in blacks and whites. Clean bench is the only
way… Straight through is the only path… Art is…

Sometimes I think that it’s more a fear of starting than it is a
fear of finishing…

There’s more than one way to skin a cat.
Andy

56

Hello Helen,

I’m late in responding, but it’s been a frustrating several weeks.
More on that at the end, if you’re interested.

I always have at least three active pieces going at the same time.
While something is pickling, I can work on something else. There are
usually several things piling up on the soldering brick, so that’s
another process where multiple pieces occur.

Personally, making multiples grows boring, so working on several
pieces keeps thing fresh for me.

Re: frustrating weeks - A water line split overnight and the
resulting flood “drained” down through the floor air vents. Then the
water distributed itself through the lower level. By the time I woke
up and discovered the mess, the ceilings were soaked, walls were wet
and the carpeting was a soggy mess. Our efforts to vacuum up the
water were rather pointless and Service Master had to come and use
their serious equipment. In that process, ceilings and walls were
torn out, holes drilled into the walls and the carpeting was hauled
away. Then, it took about a month for the insurance people to come to
agreement on the restoration costs. During this time, my bench was
pretty unreachable and all I could do was make knitted chains and
earrings.

Sooo, talk about thing piling up on the bench - when my dungeon is
cleared out and I can solder, there will be lots to do.

There is a bright spot (at least I’m approaching this experience as
having some good results) - the “cottege cheese” ceilings are gone,
the walls are repainted, and I’m getting an expanded studio area that
is actually attractive!

Judy in Kansas, where spring is hesitant to return after the genuine
hard freeze a couple days ago. It’s doubtful if there will be any
tree fruit, darnit.

57 
a vague or undeveloped idea of what I want to see come to life.
Then Ill rush in,

I suspect that August’s excellent post speaks for more than one
person here on Orchid.

I’ve had in mind to do this, this is a good spot, I guess. “How it’s
supposed to work” or something.

Here:
http://www.donivanandmaggiora.com/ourwork/jdport/boxesandsimila

And also the bottom article here:
http://johndonivan.ganoksin.com/blogs/

Shows a work that I had in mind to make for ten or twelve years. It
took a year to make - that’s not back-burner time, it’s plugging away
at it. It probably has around 3,000 parts and certainly 25,000
operations in it.

Whether anybody likes it isn’t the point, it’s a fine example of
perseverance.

I was about to start something else when I thought, “One day I need
to make that - WAIT -let’s make that today!!” So, I pulled the
trigger and green-lighted it. What did I do next? Absolutely nothing

  • for a solid month, absolutely nothing. I thought about it - each
    and every detail.

What makes a stamp, what is needed for ink and stamping, how rubber
letters could be made conveniently (vulcanize on a photoetched
plate…) Materials, size, scale. More importantly, I came up with
a back-story to give it some interest - I thought about a huge,
inefficient factory making one little piece, finally I settled on
elves and human history. That’s important because it determines the
look-and-feel of it all. It’s earthy because of that back story.

Understand that by now I have the whole piece in my mind, and I have
yet to pick up metal or stone. Then I get into it, but you couldn’t
tell by looking. I stepped back around 100 steps and started into it

  • making Mokume stock, cutting stone shapes for the tumbler, making
    a pile of materials Gathering. Always with the eyes on the
    prize, and always in keeping with the vision. The vision is locked,
    by now - there’s no changing it. Details, of course - the vision,
    no. It’s only after a couple of months work that anybody outside
    could begin to see things gel into something coherent. Before that
    was just juggling bits and pieces of things.

Pat Kuleto is a well known restauranteur in the States - what’s less
known is that he’s a bettter know restaurant designer. In an
interview he said something that I never grasped till then: “First
thing you do is make your menu.” THEN you work on the rest of it.
Makes a lot of sense when you put your priorities in front.

58 
Fear is another factor that can cause procrastination in finishing
a piece. It is often subtle and subconscious. When a lot of work has
been completed on a lengthy and/or difficult piece, there is risk
that each additional step might not be successful, thus damaging or
destroying the successful work previously completed. It's easy to
set a piece aside and imagine what the completed work will look
like instead of taking the risk of actually performing the work.
Recognizing the fear makes it easier to break through and finish
the piece [she says from experience.]

That is exactly how I feel when I am making very complicated piece!
What helps me is to imagine the worst case scenario if I go ahead and
screw up. Usually it is not that bad (and I can also develop a plan
B). That puts me (instead of my fear) back in control and helps me go
ahead.

Olga

59

Speaking of keeping enthusiasm for a piece, I inquired about how to
set an oval cabachon into a four prong setting in early January
after hitting a point in the project that was beyond my expertise.
Well, I finally finished the ring and delivered it to my client, an
acquaintance from about 20 years ago whose path crossed mine while I
was in jewelry school. So she knew my skill level before asking me to
do the project. But, bless her heart she entrusted her mom’s oval
cabachon to me for a new setting anyway. Long story short, the
Stuller setting I bought was for a similar sized oval faceted stone,
which sat higher in the setting than where I wanted the cab to go. So
there the project stopped until I could figure out how to get the
setting to accommodate the stone.

Setting an oval cabachon in a 4 prong setting

For the Stuller setting - make bearing cuts like an "L" - flat
bottom, straight up sides, just to fit the stone tight. Insert
stone, push prongs (adjust height), eat cake.

What I ended up doing eventually was closest to John’s suggestion
above. The next problem was that the ends of the cabachon protruded
beyond the setting. So I had to think about that for a few days. Then
the light bulb went on (I think it was more divine intervention)

that I should take the leaf-shaped prongs from her mom’s original
setting and solder them on the ends to protect the stone. Problem
solved and I was able to use part of her mom’s old ring in the new
design, which gave it more sentimental value.

A few of you asked to see a picture of the ring when it was finished
so I have posted a blog about it in the Ganoksin blogs.

http://lynnwhite.ganoksin.com/blogs/2009/04/09/

But before I end, for those of you who lose enthusiasm while working
on a piece, and maybe need a little moral support, rather than
technical advice, I started a new blog a few weeks ago, called
Lynn’s

Artist Motivation Blog. (http://lynnwhitejewelry.blogspot.com) My
latest blog going up today is about, you guessed it, my prong set
cabachon ring, but with more of a patience and perseverance bent to
it (I worked on the ring off and on for almost a year).

By the way, John, I didn’t end up eating any cake, but I had some of
my mother’s yummy chocolate chip cookies while visiting Green Bay to
deliver the ring. The night before, hubby and I opened a heavenly
Seghesio 2000 Home Ranch Zinfandel. And had prime rib and scallops
last Saturday. All that celebrating resulted in a 1 lb. gain at my
WW weigh-in yesterday. (It was worth it.)

Lynn White
www.lynnwhitejewelry.com

60

Hi Andy -

As long as we're talking about writers... novelist Annie Lamott
said...that she gives herself permission to write total crap-- from
this she edits and re-edits and then edits from there... Sometimes
I think that it's more a fear of starting than it is a fear of
finishing....

As a writer myself as well as a jewellery artist (UK spelling!), I
was thinking about all these parallels and similarities when Helen
first posted her question, but didn’t want to bring writing up at the
time. But as Annie Lamott is saying in your quote, in all these
disciplines you have to suspend your inner critic long enough to get
something down on the page (or started at the bench). It’s a matter
of finding what works for you in order to overcome resistance, which
is basically fear and self-doubt and all the other bugbears of
creativity.

In writing, it’s the fear of the blank page. As they say, writing is
rewriting. Having allowed yourself to get a rough draft down any old
how (knowing that no one’s going to see it or judge you for it or
laugh at you…), you then have the business of honing and polishing
and cutting and shaping and rewriting until something halfway decent
emerges that may or may not be what you thought you had in mind at
the start.

Just like jewellery-making. The initial concept has to go through so
many phases when it bears little resemblance to the hoped-for
outcome, that it’s difficult not to lose heart, or start to doubt
yourself enough so you stop. In other words, you get in your own way
and stop yourself finishing - self-sabotage. All forms of what - in
writing terms - are basically resistance - which is based on fear
(of failure, of the end result disappointing you, or whatever, or not
being good enough after all at what you want to do). The thing I find
that helps with writing, that I try to carry through to (originally)
art, and (now) jewellery-making, is that as long as you keep going,
keep pushing through, you can always (9 times out of ten) make
something better. It’s just a matter of turning up at the page
(writing jargon) or turning up at the bench.

Both teeth-grittingly difficult at times, but if you don’t give
yourself a choice - say, start at 8.30 am or 9.00 or whatever and set
yourself a target to get through that day - you cut out half the
hassle. And then you get to feel good about yourself later - at least
I did what I said I’d do! Yay! Go me! - and can rest on your laurels
until the next morning, when the struggle begins again… Also, if
something goes wrong or doesn’t turn out right you can always learn
from it. Everything is a learning experience, and a chance to get
better and do better next time… At least, that’s the general idea.

And of course don’t forget to be kind to yourself now and then…

And this is a far longer post than I meant! But just my two-cents
(or two pence) worth…

Sally
(UK)