Master goldsmith qualifications

We have neurons ( we can call them motor neurons ) which fire
(become active) when we perform some movements. There is another
group of neurons which fire simultaneously with motor neurons.
What was discovered is that these neurons also fire when we observe
the same movement done by others. Therefore they were named mirror
neurons. Since mirror neurons are connected to motor neurons, we
can ( and do ) learn movements by watching others performing the
same movements. 

I was recently teaching a niece to use a jewelers saw. After her
initial attempts, as I demonstrated to help her refine her technique
to show her how to do curves and not break the blade, as I was
sawing I noticed her right hand was mimicking my hand motion.

She went through about 24 saw blades, and then she got it. I taught
her to listen to the sound the blade makes when she is doing it
right.

Totally amazing, she is a natural, she cut out several outline
shapes of a line of stuffed dolls called ugly dolls. She cut right on
the line and several people who are learning to make jewelry said she
was doing better than they could.

Awesome and inspiring!

Richard Hart G.G.
Denver, Co.

Most important skill is saying NO way. while this is an important
skill i have always prepared my self for the consequences of failure
then made the attempt. for it is better to fail at attempting
something great than to succeed at doing something mediocre or a a
winner is less afraid of losing than a loser is afraid of winning -
why is it that my posts are misedited jamming previous quotes into my
rebuttles ?

goo

Sometimes I think we Americans get too hung up on status, titles and
how much we earn. After having to explain a thousand times to my
students that there is no real way to go go take tests and become a
Master. In the martial arts, there is grade levels, and it usually
takes 3-4 years to become a Black Belt, and there 10 Degrees ( Dans)
after that. It becomes more mental as you advance up the higher
degrees. To me, that is a clear and defined grading system.

However, in the academic world, a MFA in jewelry/metals would be
considered a Master level jeweler/goldsmith. Also, there are various
national/state organizations that does rank skill levels, and you
need to prove how skilled you are in order to gain membership like
the Society of American Silversmiths ( I’m not going to even try
applying), League of NH Craftsmen, Society of North American
Goldsmiths and more. Since I am a long-term member of League of NH
Craftsmen, and a metals juror, also serving on the Standards
Committee, we do have rigorous standards that we have to apply when
we are considering new applicants. I can’t tell you how much we have
to split hairs in trying to apply the standard guidelines while
reviewing new work. We do require at least 2-5 years of experience
and a high level of skill. Most important, we also look for Spirit
of the Maker. We should be able to look at craft work and say, oh it
is so-so’s work and M’s work. I long ago was able to prove I was a
master craftperson and now help guide others. It does help greatly
if you are a juried member, for it shows you have been juried and
your work is of good standard, and makes it easier for New England
galleries to accept you. That’s a way to try to achieve Master level
designation.

Last but not least, you should be technically excellent and yet be
able to design well. After having done so much in metals, I am no
longer a jeweler, silversmith, flatware maker or welder, so I call
myself a Metalsmith, for it’s what I really do. You can have people
who are superb technicans but can’t design, and you can have great
designers who can’t even handle a pair of pliers, but not too many
who can do both. I’m grateful I can do both, but I do farm out some
techniques like casting or plating to other companies.

Joy

However, in the academic world, a MFA in jewelry/metals would be
considered a Master level jeweler/goldsmith. 

To whom ? I would assume those who achieve a MFA would have to make
an adjustment leaving the academic world for the real world. An
academic achievement with no achievement of any skill level needed to
actually become employed as a goldsmith.

The term jeweler can be applied to those who work at a jewelry store
and can read a price tag.

I have always been impressed by the ability of MFA graduates I have
interviewed to write a resume. Their skill level at writing the
resume far surpassed any ability in metalsmithing.

Richard Hart G.G.
Denver, Co.

Richard,

I am so glad you even take the time to do this. I just have seen so
many bench people who can’t take the time to be the instructor to
apprentices. Kudo’s to you.

Russ

Sometimes I think we Americans get too hung up on status, titles
and how much we earn. 

Do you think “we Americans” are especially unique this way? I think
it is universal for ambitious people, regardless of their
nationality, to want status and reward for their effort and
accomplishments.

After having to explain a thousand times to my students that there
is no real way to go go take tests and become a Master. 

I think the fact that we rarely argue about who who uses the term
“master” to describe craftsmen is pretty good evidence that Americans
are not “hung up” about this, but are instead remarkably laid back,
tolerant and content to mind our own business. Use of the word
“artist” tends to stir up much more controversy.

But there are several real situations that make the term “master”
credible. An MFA degree, although it is not nearly the same as the
European standards, is a degree that the recipient has every legal
and ethical right to use. Beyond that, there are several shows and
exhibits that award “master” prizes, such as the 100 American
Craftsmen in Lockport, NY. or the Disney Festival of the Masters that
spins it that you are a “master” just to be accepted. Each of these
is chosen, acknowledged or awarded by somebody with some degree of
professional credentials. No, it is not like the European system or
the degrees earned in Asian martial arts. But “master craftsman” is a
term that Americans do use. We just don’t always agree why we should
use the term. Nobody here has an exclusive legal right to award, deny
or regulate the use of the term “master” like they do the titles
“Doctor”, “Sheriff” or “Notary Public”.

Marketing and self-esteem are the main reasons you would personally
want to use the term “master” yourself. If you are a very good
craftsman, but have for whatever reason never had the opportunity to
have been publicly announced a “master” by some credible third party,
as in the examples above, then what? It seems sort of illegitimate to
just start calling yourself a “master craftsman” but some people are
bold enough to say it anyway. I don’t judge them too harshly if they
do, but that is just my opinion. Without a universally recognized and
regulated standard, it really is just a matter of opinion.

Stephen Walker

Also, there are various national/state organizations that does rank
skill levels, and you need to prove how skilled you are in order to
gain membership like the Society of American Silversmiths ( I'm not
going to even try applying), League of NH Craftsmen, Society of
North American Goldsmiths 

That may be true for some of these, but the Society of North American
Goldsmiths (SNAG) has no such requirement. At one time, there was a
seperate membership level (I think it was called Professional level
membership) that required one to be juried in, but that was phased
out quite some years ago. Now, to join, you just need to pay your
dues…

Peter

However, in the academic world, a MFA in jewelry/metals would be
considered a Master level jeweler/goldsmith. 

Im sorry there is no way a MFA (or any other masters degree for that
matter) is a master of anything other than possibly the classes they
have taken. And certainly not a master metalsmith of any kind. They
have been busy learning how to be artists not mastering metal work.
Any flavor of bachelors degree makes you an educated beginner in your
field, a masters degree means you are a somewhat more educated
beginner. That is all.

James Binnion
James Binnion Metal Arts

Im sorry there is no way a MFA (or any other masters degree for
that matter) is a master of anything other than possibly the
classes they have taken. And certainly not a master metalsmith of
any kind. They have been busy learning how to be artists not
mastering metal work. Any flavor of bachelors degree makes you an
educated beginner in your field, a masters degree means you are a
somewhat more educated beginner. That is all. 

Lol, with a Masters, graduates expect and usually get large
salaries. In some cases this is justified, and in others, when
comparing to highly experienced non-graduates, totally unfair.

One of the things I think is unfair is the rate of pay an apprentice
gets in Australia… pretty much starvation wages. Is it like that
in the states?

Regards Charles A.

I have always been impressed by the ability of MFA graduates I
have interviewed to write a resume. Their skill level at writing
the resume far surpassed any ability in metalsmithing. 

There is often a good deal of misunderstanding as to what art school
degrees mean. The key is that the measured and degreed quality is not
one’s technical ability in the craft. Rather, it’s supposed to be a
measure of training and competance in “art”, defined at least in
part by the ability to innovate and create. In a metals program, for
example, a BFA degree would signify that the holder has completed
“professional training”. But this means training in creative
thinking and the making of “art”, with the medium of metal being
only the means to that end. The designation, if any, of a metals
concentration signifies only that this is the chosen medium. It does
not signify any particular skill level,or even training in metals.
Remember that it is an Art school degree, training people for
careers as artists. It’s not a trade scool or technical school. In
general, in academic degrees, a bachelors degree certifies that the
holder has Recieved and completed a course in professional training.
It doesn’t say so much about actual competence. The masters degree
is given upon demonstration of professional competence, meanng
you’ve shown that the training you got actually penetrated your
thick skull and you can do what you were taught. Then a doctorate
degree is given upon demonstrating that you can do creative research,
adding something to the field’s body of knwledge. The reason that in
the US there is generally no PhD in the fine arts or crafts is that
creatve research, ie doing your own creative art work, is at the
core of even the basic bachelors level training, so that if you’ve
demonstrated professional competence for a masters degree, then by
definition, you’ve already shown you can do and have done creative
research (your own art work). An MFA is a small step sbove an MA in
requireing something vaguely remeniscent of the doctoral
dissertation in the form of a graduate exhibition. In all these
cases, however, the degrees refer to training in the practice of
being an artist and making art work. The emphasis is on creativity
and originality, on expression and thought behind the work, NOT on
any technical skill in one’s medium. It is assumed and sort of
required that the artist will attain whatever level of skill is
needed to effectively create what they are making, but in the area
of metals (or any other artistic medium an artist may choose to work
in) this does not at all imply that the person has any of the skills
required to work in the jewelry industry as a jeweler. It’s not that
art school training is a flop a training jewelers, it’s that ther
are NOT training jewelers. They are training creatve artists, who
may have chosen to create their work in metal or any other medium.
It is hoped that once the core training in creativity and
originality are solid, that the artists will be able to pick up
whatever technical skills they may require, as they need them. It’s
the exact opposite of the classic European model, where often,
technical skill is taught first, and the assumption is made that
with sufficient mastery of the craft, originality and creativity, if
required at all (maybe not for someone intending to work in the
industry where others may be doing the design work) will
automatically develop as needed…

Peter Rowe Hunt-n-peck one finger typed on this here not so great for
typing IPad… Sorry for spelling and typos…

Marketing and self-esteem are the main reasons you would
personally want to use the term "master" yourself. 

I said something similar on another list, and it ruffled a lot of
feathers.

Regards Charles A.

Their skill level at writing the resume far surpassed any ability
in metalsmithing. 

I’m glad Jim and Richard jumped on the MFA thing - I thought of it
but I’d probably be the bad guy - again… If all it took was a
shingle, we’d all be president.

Years ago I saw a guy on TV demonstrating a wood lathe for some
reason - we’re talking 40 years ago - He just picked up a chisel and
when brwiiiiing and the work was done. He turned a table leg with a
free-floating ring on the turning and just went “thwack” and there
was a wooden ring on his turning, in about 15 seconds. He was a
master turner from a long career of turning wood every day for who
knows how long - that’s why he was there, on TV. Not just confidence
and ability but an inhuman skill with the machine.

The master silversmiths in this world are working at Oneida and
Tiffany, the master goldsmiths are working a Van Cleef and Oscar
Heyman. Not all, but those are the best of the best. My ~American~
definition of master.

Some people just don’t know what they don’t know.

However, in the academic world, a MFA in jewelry/metals would be
considered a Master level jeweler/goldsmith. 

in my world “master level” requires in the order of 10+ years of
heavy production in many aspects of jewelry making: metalwork,
waxwork possibly too, repairs, working all the ins and outs of stone
vs metal, possible plating, polishing or whatever niches you might
inhabit, i have seen some damn masterful contemporary wire bending
work lately with and without stones, i acheived mastery in carving
only after 5 years of heavy production and making from ideas and
drawings- models that work. Now i am at 30 years only cause i started
apprenticing in jewelry carving very late in life, at 30, yea i’m
gonna be 60 soon, don’t know how that snuck up on me, wood
jewelry, but i love wax, dave

Call yourself what you wish, you may achieve the title Master
Goldsmith via education, but I think gaining that title from your
fellow trade workers is worth more. As I wrote before, here in the
UK The Goldsmith’s Company sets their levels of trade training titles
and achievements, running this way, an apprentice, a journeyman and
then finally a master. Titles that have to be earned at the bench,
not totally via education. I am afraid to say that in my experience
as a workshop manager in my past at two of the largest London
goldsmith companies, the students that I had in my workshops that
had been trained at college before entering the trade, had skills
that were far behind those who had trained at the bench as an
apprentice in our workshops. Here in the UK we have a system in our
craft colleges that means that many of the students become the next
generation of teachers, without ever experiencing working in a trade
workshop at the bench, where skills and tips from experienced, time
served craftsmen may be passed on. Peace, good health and a happy
new year to all Orchidians.

James Miller FIPG
Master Goldsmith

However, in the academic world, a MFA in jewelry/metals would be
considered a Master level jeweler/goldsmith. 

That is certainly amusing, but it’s quite far from being accurate.
That MFA degree might be a beginning, but doubtful it indicates much
more than entry level skill in the professional realm of
goldsmithing.

The body of work and accomplishment at the bench in the real world is
what denotes mastery, not an academic credential.

MDS

I am afraid to say that in my experience as a workshop manager in
my past at two of the largest London goldsmith companies, the
students that I had in my workshops that had been trained at
college before entering the trade, had skills that were far behind
those who had trained at the bench 

Getting away from seemingly pounding on the MFA comment - for me
it’s not pounding, it’s “Open your eyes and look around you.”

The machine - it’s all about the machine. So many school taught
people go to school, earn whatever degree they earn, and disappear
into the back bedroom thinking they have all they need. Maybe they
do, maybe they don’t - usually they don’t, but aside from the
profound loneliness of that, there are other factors at work. The
machine…

I got my first jewelry job making turquoise and silver in
Albuquerque. I started as a polisher and worked up to more
interesting work. I was immensely talented, which isn’t me talking,
it’s that the owners saw my potential and gave me free reign to
explore whatever caught my fancy. After a time I could make anything
I wanted with any of the materials at hand. The materials at hand
were 1,000 ounces of silver a week, hundreds of pounds of turquoise,
jet, coral, mother of pearl and all manner of other stones.

I had control of three 24 inch diamond saws, three tens and a half
dozen six inch saws. Two vertical sanders, six grinding stations,
tumbling… After awhile we got an ultrasonic drill, too.
That’s not including the metals side - the torches, benches and
tooling - or the casting shop which was somebody else’s baby, but we
collaborated frequently. I had all of that behind me to realize any
creative vision that I had, and after a time I had a crew to help me,
too.

AND there was a sales force behind it to sell the products we made,
and they moved like nobody’s business. Very little of it sat around
for a whole week. AND there was the collaboration, learning, sharing
of knowlege and being on a creative team in general that is
invaluable. Then there was the machine shop…

That was my first three-four years of jewelry making… That
experience pales in comparison to what the people in the major
houses are doing - Tiffany’s sells a million platinum wedding bands
a year, which they make. And they are doing special pieces and
designs for production each and every day. Some people there count
diamonds, some people sit down and fabricate million dollar
necklaces, which are you?

I know, I know, “But that’s production jewelry!” Well, what are you
doing? Are you producing jewelry or are you just sitting around
~thinking~ about producing jewelry? It’s a big world out there - get
out and grab some.

However, in the academic world, a MFA in jewelry/metals would be
considered a Master level jeweler/goldsmith.

That is certainly amusing, but it's quite far from being accurate.
That MFA degree might be a beginning, but doubtful it indicates
much more than entry level skill in the professional realm of
goldsmithing. 

The misconception is that an MFA stands for “master of fine art”,
not a master of the craft or skill of making jewelry. One gets an MFA
with the designation of one’s media, such as “metals/jewelry”, or
whatever a given school calls it, but this is understood to still be
a fine arts degree, with that media being noted as the area in which
you create your artwork. The degree recognizes creative original work
in the field of artists working in that media, as well as assuming
general technical proficiency sufficient to be able to produce the
work the artist wishes to do. In this last, lies the principal
distinction that confuses those in the jewelry industry. To jewelers
and traditionalists, a masters degree should mean total technical
mastery of the field. To the academic, the mastery of over one’s own
creative efforts, such that one has mastered and demonstrated the
ability to produce original creative artwork in a professional
manner.

This may seem similar, but it’s actually fundamentally different. To
the tradition, the whole or most of the field is considered within
the scope of a “master jeweler”, while within the academic degree,
the scope of the field, and the technical requirements to be met, are
defined by the artists own desired and needed skills, as defined by
his or her own direction of work. It’s quite possible to fully meet
the ideals and requirements to earn and qualify for and receive the
academic MFA degree while still having few of the skills one would
expect within the trade of someone calling themselves a master
jeweler. Likewise, it’s equally possible (and quite common) for a
technical master of the craft, a respected jeweler at the top of his
or her profession both in skills and reputation and even respect and
recognition for their jewelry work, to nevertheless not really meet
the expected requirements for creative original artistry that an MFA
expects.

The difference is easily demonstrated just by the nature of this
thread. Plenty have essentially laughed at or denigrated the MFA
degree as being somehow meaningless, perhaps being good as a fine
start at the beginner level. In other words, a complete
misunderstanding of what the degree actually means and is awarded
for. One also sees it within the ranks of the fine artists who may
go to a jewelry trade show, for example, and look at all the
wonderfully made pieces of fine jewelry, and come away with the
opinion that nothing there is especially creative. All is derivative
or copying what has already been done by others, and that there is
little if any real original thinking and artistic exploration going
on.

To their credit, some such artists will also recognize that those
people working within the trade also must take into account the needs
of the commercial market and the needs of what it takes to survive
in this market, thus making it unlikely for work that stretches the
boundaries too much, to be successful. While this then may explain to
those artists why the work may seem limited, those people may not
fully appreciate the degree to which SOME of those trade jewelers and
designers may also be capable of innovating and creating
artistically, even if the commercial work doesn’t show it.

The other side of the coin is easily seen when many typical trade
jewelers and designers see the sorts of work the academic metals
community and art world in general, appreciates and values. What gets
seen are deficiencies in skills, or the use of incomprehensible
materials and designs that make what some commercially oriented
jewelers will quickly dismiss as meaningless, valueless junk. This
then is every bit as elitist an attitude as that of the artists who
dismiss the fine commercial work as not sufficiently creative. In
both cases, it’s an inability to appreciate what the other side is
trying to achieve, and why.

Consider the two opposing likely views of the jewelry created in the
30s and 40s by sculptor Alexander Calder. Most of it, almost all, was
done in cheap materials, sometimes silver and a few times gold, but
just as often, material as cheap as coat hanger wire, or not much
better. Skills involved usually were pretty much defined by whacking
the stuff with a crude hammer, bending with pliers, and otherwise
working with what a skilled trade jewelry might consider to be about
what one might expect of a third grade child, angry at the wire and
taking out frustration with that hammer just to see what it would do
and how lout it might sound. While most of that body of work does
indeed function well as jewelry, which probably exceeds our
hypothetical third grader’s attempts, it nevertheless does so in a
relatively crude and direct manner, with no regard at all for the
usual niceties of finish and skill the trade demands.

Those familiar with Calder’s work as a sculptor, or even those
simply able to view the work from the perspective of what the work
itself was trying to convey, might find that lack of technique to be
deliberate, and essential to the character of the work, which itself
was exploring avenues of design rarely seen in western jewelry (but
often seen in primitive cultures). To these eyes, the work is fine
art jewelry at a high level.

BOTH VIEWS ARE CORRECT, even though they directly conflict with each
other. The reason is simply that each is looking at the work from a
completely different perspective, evaluating it based on needs and
requirements of two totally different worlds. Jewelry is one of those
artistic mediums that straddles two such disparate worlds, and the
result is confusion, when “citizens” of one world attempt to view the
work from the other side, by their own standards, rather than trying
to understand it from the other perspective. (Shades of the ART vs
CRAFT debates…)

It may also help to review briefly, just what the academic degree
designations are intended to represent. A bachelors degree indicates
only that one has completed a course of training in a field. It
doesn’t go so far as to suggest actual competence, only that the
student has taken and somehow managed to pass the courses. They’ve
been given the knowledge. Whether they yet are any good at putting it
to use is another matter. A bachelors degree then, is “professional
training”.

The Masters degree is that next step, indicating that the student
has indeed demonstrated the ability to competently practice and use
that training. It’s a degree that indicates “professional
competency”.

A PhD is the final step. For this, the student not only has to
demonstrate competence, but also the ability to do original research,
thus contributing new and knowledge to expand and add to
the field.

In the sciences, or much of the rest of academia and it’s degrees,
these distinctions are clear enough. A BS in chemistry shows you
passed the exams. An MA or MS in chemistry would suggest you could
work as a competent staff chemist somewhere. The PhD in chemistry
would tell people you’re capable of envisioning, designing, and doing
new research, and publishing it, and all the rest of that jazz.

Within the fine arts, however, there’s a glitch. Fundamental to the
whole nature of art is the creation of individual new creative work.
Thus, to reach the masters level in the fine arts, simple
“professional competency” requires that an individual has
demonstrated that they are capable of doing their own original and
uniquely creative art work, getting it shown or published, etc. This
is professional competency in the arts, the definition of a masters
level degree, but it duplicates as well, the distinction of original
research needed for a doctorate degree in other fields not literally
defined by creativity. Thus there is no need, in most cases, for a
doctorate degree and it’s separate distinction, as within the fine
arts, it’s already indicated by the masters degree. To help make this
distinction, within the fine arts, there are two levels of masters
degrees possible, the simple MA, or MS, and the MFA. The latter
generally requires more work (and often an extra year of study,) such
as a research project or usually, a solo (or similar in scope, if as
part of a graduate school group exhibition) show/exhibition of one’s
work.

Now, with all that said, recall again, that the skill being measured
for all these fine arts degrees, from the aptly named BS degree to
the MFA, is skill in what the art world values, ie creativity, unique
personal input producing new creative artworks. In ALL cases, while
the technical skills needed will be taught, and may even be
emphasized in individual courses (especially at the bachelors
level), it remains an ART degree recognizing artistic training,
creative thinking, and merit, and is specifically NOT a trade degree
or certification of trade skills.

it is simply unfortunate that the use of common language, such as
“Masters” Degree vs “Master jeweler”, is confusing. The two meanings
are completely different. And indeed, the meanings may vary a lot
even within each meaning, depending on where the degree or training
was earned. Neither of those different interpretations has exactly
the same meaning both here in the U.S., and in Europe, since both
trade training and academic training is not the same, or even
intended to be the same, on both continents.

So then when Mr. Starling calls an MFA amusing and inaccurate, or
any of the other similar statements made by others along these lines
(or by a long line of trade employers or art school graduates
frustrated by the mismatched skill sets and needs), he’s simply
demonstrating a misunderstanding of what these degrees are supposed
to convey.

It’s about like saying that someone’s degree in civil engineering
was a joke and inaccurate because it completely did not prepare
someone for the job in civilian political organizing. “Civil” and
“civilian” are similar, but in this case, have totally different
meanings.

What is also just as unfortunate as the misunderstandings of trade
people of what art school is about, are the similarly unreasonable
expectations, often conveyed by the schools themselves, that students
may be holding as to their own level of technical training preparing
them for the trade.

As well, the inadequacies of the academic programs for teaching
trade level skills is easily understood with a little math. For most
college students, they take metals courses only for the sophomore
junior and senior years. Often, there is only one metals class being
taken per semester, or at most, two. 3 credits equals usually two
days a week, sometimes three, for two or three hours at a time.
Generally six to eight hours a week in the studio, though extra time
is often spent outside of class. But if you figure three academic
years, (what’s that now, about 32 weeks a year unless you add a
summer semester), at somewhere between six and maybe ten or more
hours per week, you end up with a number of total hours considerably
less than a single year at a full time job. This of course is only
the single subject of metals studio courses, and doesn’t consider all
the other stuff the average college curriculum requires. It’s no
wonder that this type of training cannot compete with or compare to
the traditional European trade apprenticeship, or even a typical
European or even U.S. trade school program which will usually be
nothing but the jewelry training, much more intensive and focused on
just this one thing.

And then the masters degree. Well, consider that for the most part,
these degrees are independent, self directed study. Faculty will
assign projects and require work and all the rest, but it’s often
student defined, and the projects will often be of the sort that are
intended to stimulate creative thinking, not anything that requires
learning technical skill. There are many exceptions of course, but
often, this is the general flavor of grad school training. I can tell
you that it’s intense, highly focused, and anything but easy on the
students. But it is NOT, in general, technical training.

I can tell you that the two years I spent working with Stanley
Lechtzin, Vicki Sedman, and other faculty at Tyler school of art,
earning my own MFA, were two of the most intense and rewarding years
of my life. I’ve not worked harder on anything before, or since (and
that’s not because I’ve not worked pretty intensely on things or jobs
before or since grad school). I can tell you it cost me a lot of
money to do, yet was some of the best spent money in my life. I’d do
it again in a second if I had to make those same decisions (to go to
grad school) again, even knowing that the MFA never did quite result
in the teaching job I’d hoped it would lead to. So what did it get
me? It did NOT, for the most part, make me a much better or highly
skilled metalsmith or jeweler. Frankly, I was already pretty skilled
before going to grad school, having spent ten years in the trade
before going back to school, and being in my mid 30s at the time, I
was no longer even remotely a beginner in metals. My work in school
changed radically, and I taught myself new things and methods, and
lots more. Little if any of that would transfer back to work in the
trade. yet I value it much more highly than the trade school type
training (such as GIA stone setting classes, and much more) that I’ve
also had. Even more than changing my work, those two years changed
ME, expanding my world and view of myself, and clarifying for me
questions about what, and why, I do what I do. I learned as much, if
not more, about myself as I did about metals, and that’s saying
something, as I learned a lot about my own work in metals too.

So Michael and others making similar statements, when you call an
MFA an amusing but misleading degree, I can only conclude that you’ve
not yourself been through a grad school program, because apparently,
you have no idea what they really entail or what they are. I’m not
criticizing you or attacking you or in any way attempting to diminish
you, your fine work, your excellent skills, or anything else. I’m
simply saying that while I understand where your (and others)
statement comes from, with all due respect sir, I feel that you’re
mistaken as to the nature of that degree.

Peter W. Rowe
Seattle
BS art education, metals concentration, 1970, university of Wisconsin
G.G. 1979
M.F.A., Tyler school of art, 1989

One of the things I think is unfair is the rate of pay an
apprentice gets in Australia... pretty much starvation wages. Is it
like that in the states? 

Pretty much. Some companies are better than others. But heck. low
wages are not limited in this business to just beginners. And this
economy hasn’t helped things much…

Peter

Lovely essay Peter, thanks.

Elaine

A wonderful defense of the MFA and a insightful contrast of how a
goldsmith might view art metal work and how a metal artist might
view it.

And that is all well and good but I still will stand by my statement
that a Masters degree in anything just means you are a somewhat
better educated beginner than someone holding a Bachelors degree. I
have worked with EE and Physics Masters graduates as well as MFA
graduates. None of them come out of school as a master in any form of
the word with the possible exception of how to navigate the college
or university system. So while they are well educated they are
typically rank amateurs in their professional skills possibly
depending on the program they went through they may have some narrow
specialized skills that are quite well developed. But whether they
are engineers or teachers or artists they are still beginners as a
professional. There are rare exceptions to this but in general I
think my statement holds true.

James Binnion
James Binnion Metal Arts