there are at least two of us on the forum from Wyoming and we were fortunate enough to have classes there :- ) and even taught a few ourselves.
Sorry, not from Wyoming. I was just trying to think of a remote
western state that is unlikely to have a plethora of wax carving
classes. I know, sterotyping. : )
Elaine
Elaine Luther
Metalsmith, Certified PMC Instructor
http://www.CreativeTextureTools.com ™
Hard to Find Tools for Metal Clay
On the topic of classes, though... I tend to distrust classes because it takes a gifted (and rare) teacher to let people be themselves, artistically. Too often teachers are trying to make clones of themselves, in art.
Please consider that in Germany, if one learns to be a goldsmith,
there is a system that teaches one to have knowledge and skill, and
then one can use this knowledge and skill to become a traditional or
an “art” jeweler.
I wonder what the ratio of good jewelers to hack jewelers are in
Germany and America. What is the relationship between stifled
creativity and uneducated hack producing poor quality work? As a
retail jeweler, I see far too much poorly done work, traditional and
“art”, to think that a teacher would have as negative an effect as
profound as the poor quality of work that I see from untrained (self
taught) jewelers.
Some people can learn on their own, and some people have not a clue
of what good work should look like, and they were trained by some
other hack mentor. Some people do not have enough creativity to be
other than a clone, and that is not the fault of the teacher. So if
the trade-off is clone doing something the right way, and
self-taught doing it the wrong way, and the person who will suffer is
the customer, where are we? In some areas I am self taught, and some
areas I have learned from teachers. I would say that over the years
my customers have suffered more from the self taught me than the
schooled me. The “what they did not know that I did not know” hurt my
customer more than the “what they did not know that I did know”.
There is a relationship between freedom and responsibility, and
sometimes self taught does not have enough enough knowledge to
transmit into skill. How does one have responsibility for a job not
done well because they chose to self educate, and they do not know
their skill level is affected by lack of knowledge?
There is also the question, if my opinion is that teachers can
stifle creativity, and I express that and someone decides classes
are not for them, and they go about their way doing crappy artistic
work, what part do I play is that?
In my opinion, there are thousands of hack jewelers for every
creativity stifling teacher.
I was self taught for about 10 years, since then, about 30 classes
and workshops. Only by taking classes and workshops did I find out
how what I did not know was hurting me. We are trading something for
money, and I believe the quality of my product needs to be as good
as the money I receive, and I have never seen poor quality money.
There are standards for doctors, dentists, car repair technicians,
and plumbers. I believe that in these fields there are teachers, and
there are mentors. So rather than discouraging others from taking
classes, I would encourage others to find a mentor.
Richard Hart