Hello,
I am a newby to the jewellery making business and I recently had an
enquiry to make a spray of silver flowers for a wedding gown. The
customer wanted a spray of flowers including an orchid. My training
has only been a few courses at college so I was a little daunted at
this challenge. A friend of mine who is a member of Ganoksin told me
about James Miller who has some photos on an Orchid Gallery, my
friend also had an email address for James and after looking at his
flower photos I plucked up the courage to email him for advice. He
answered my email immediately and offered to answer any questions
that I might ask about making full relief flowers in silver. We
exchanged quite a few emails and sketches, but I found it hard to
understand all of his instructions, so I asked if I could meet up
with him and show him my efforts.
James asked where my workshop was and when I told him that I was in
West Sussex he told me that he had a customer that he regularly
visited in West Sussex, and that he would contact me the next time
he was due to visit the area and perhaps we could meet then. Well
after a couple of days I got an email and James told me his
customer’s address and that we could meet there if I wanted too. I am
sure that James just wanted to make sure I was not a time waster or
perhaps a criminal, so I met him in Petworth and showed him my
efforts. After a cup of coffee at a restaurant James followed me to
my workshop and spent the next six hours showing me his methods of
making flowers. I learnt more in that six hours than months at
college. James has a talent that is hard to describe, he makes the
forming of metals with a hammer and a block of wood look simple, he
showed me how to make texture hammers also. I was a bit embarassed at
the time he spent with me, all for the cost of a few cups of coffee.
Thank you Ganoksin for showing his work and giving me a new online
teacher.
I have ordered his book on Amazon and I am looking forward to getting
it and seeing more of the work of a fine goldsmith. Many thanks to
James Miller.
The Work of a Master Goldsmith: A Unique Collection (Hardcover)
by James Miller
Regards
Jackie Milleson from Petworth, West Sussex