I would say that if you are considering an apprenticeship in any of
the following fields; goldsmith, setter, jewelry design, store
ownership, stone cutter, etc., think again! These fields of the
working class hold nothing unique, artistic, or exceptional, unless
you make it that way. You might as well be a stockbroker, a window
dresser, a salesperson, marketer, fashion designer, burger king,
manager, company executive ,etc. You will be no different than any
of them, only there to try to figure out how to make money by
satisfying someone, anyone, who might hopefully, buy your product,
and cater to their every wish, to make it happen, whether you like
it or not. Utilizing such common buisness tools as, sacrificing
quality and hiding the fact; buying low from the 3rd world and
selling high, because our market will allow it; mass producing junk
that sells; comprimising your morals by corralling the 3rd world
peoples, with unscrupulous bosses and american money, and taking
their product for pennies on the dollar,“so they can eat”! And also
have them rip apart the earth, to get at what we need! 80% of the
people here, especially with stores, will attest to these
statements; and all who make their living from these “jewelry
trades”, no longer find any synonymity between “art” and jewelry, so
take your place on the bottom of the food chain, so to speak, you
are not in control, it’s all buisness.
dp
Dave? What a dismal opinion. I only hope that eighty percent of
Orchidians do not share in your opinion of our trade. Maybe you
should consider another trade if you are that unhappy, disillusioned
and in general dark. If you feel you are "compromising your morals"
HELLO, is someone holding a gun to your head forcing you to
compromise your morals? I am sorry but I will never “attest to these
statements.” I like what I do. There are good things about it and bad
things about it but last time I checked they called that living. I
can’t solve all the problems of the world. What job can I or you do
without in some way affecting the world we live in. I am the Working
Class as were most artists that have worked and scraped to make a
living most of which apprenticed under someone. Renoir painted vases
with mundane scenes for the masses before moving up. Celini swept
floors and apprenticed. Michelangelo apprenticed mixing paints. Do
you think it sets you apart from the rest of the Working Class
because you are an artist? All great artists were part of the Working
Class. What set them apart was they made great art. There were and
are hundreds of thousands maybe millions of artists that served as
apprentices and worked and slaved and took from the earth, all their
lives and never made great art. Most will never be noticed like the
window dresser or the stockbroker. Some of the greatest never
received recognition until they were long gone from this world but
that is art. The economics of the world have not changed
dramatically. People still barter and sell the way they have for
eons. People are hired to do boring dirty tasks all around the world
including in America they are payed money its called commerce. What
is great about American money and America in general is you are free
to jump ship and find another Working Class job OR maybe win the
lotto and become a non Working Class slob. Regards J Morley Coyote
Ridge Studio