Hi John,
Helen for one is just as happy as a clam, it seems.
No, I’m not John. There’s too much that I want to learn how to do,
that at the moment I just can’t do. I want to climb that big
mountain you mentioned, so I’m neither happy nor complacent.
But there is soldering and then there's Soldering, there's setting
and then there's Setting. Most importantly, there's design and then
there's DESIGN - which is tied to skill and abilty and experience.
I’m aware of that, and if you’ll notice in my post, I did mention
about it being important that you know where your limits are with
regard to experience. Meaning not to take on jobs that are too
advanced for your skills, knowledge and experience. I know my limits
and work within them, but that does not mean that I NEED a teacher/
mentor to advance those limits. For sure I’d love a teacher, but
can’t afford one.
On the design front, there are folks who have a natural flair for
design right from the outset, and others who can be taught design
principles until they’re blue in the face, but will never design
anything which is aesthetically pleasing. You’ve either got it or
you haven’t, but time and experience will improve what you have, for
sure.
It's when a newbie gets all puffed up about having minor skills
that I get abit riled myself.
That’s a little unfair. It’s a major thing when you’re new and
soldering suddenly works properly for the first time. Maybe even you
got a bit puffed up when it first worked for you? Nobody is saying
that once you accomplish something like that, that it suddenly makes
you a jeweller.
I would dispute Helen's assertion that one can teach themselves to
be a doctor
I meant the theory of being a doctor, rather than the practical
stuff, but off course, like jewellery, it’s a practical subject.
However, with jewellery, the metal itself is a wonderful teacher if
you know how to listen to it. You can’t go practicing medicine on
people to learn how to be a doctor, and that was a bad example for me
to use, but you can practice and learn the craft of jewellery making
by working with metal. The metal responds in a certain way to
whatever input you give it - and if you’re savvy, you learn from
that.
There is soldering and then there is Soldering. It's not just more
of the same knowlege, it's in another league....
And that’s why I wouldn’t dream of attempting to solder on such an
expensive article unless I’d had at least a couple of decades
experience under my belt, and experience appropriate to enable me to
do that with confidence.
There is definately room for everyone, but don't argue with a Phd
about their field, either
I’m definitely NOT doing that.
You can't read enough books to come near my (and many other's)
experience,.
John, you completely misunderstood what I was trying to say. The
simple fact is, that you can’t read enough books to come near
ANYBODY’S experience - only EXPERIENCE will do that. And I’m talking
about reading books to learn the theory, and practicing by yourself
(if that’s the only route open to you) and taking the two or three
decades necessary to attain the same level of experience. It IS
entirely possible. I am constantly asked how on earth I manage to
make what I make, without anybody having taught me how to do it -
and I’m not puffed up by it, as to me it’s no great thing - but I can
honestly, hand on heart say that not a single person has ever shown
me how to do any of the things I’ve learned with regard to jewellery
making. Things that people have written on Orchid and things I’ve
read in books, and the metal itself have taught me what I know so
far, and will continue to teach me what I will know in the future
hopefully.
you can't get the experience if people don't give you the work, and
you won't get the work without the experience....The mountain is
HIGH...
This is not proving to be the case. In my experience, whatever field
of expertise I’ve decided to go into, virtually as soon as you enter
that field, people somehow see you as an expert and look to you for
the answers to their problems. Many years ago, I started a college
course to learn biology and chemstry prior to my degree. As soon as
I started college, I had people asking me about minor health
problems, because they assumed that I must be learning all about the
human body and its workings! Later on, I was at college doing a
degree in garden design (note, garden DESIGN, not gardening), and
many people would ask me about plants they had, which had some sort
of disease or pest. Then, surprise, surprise, when folks heard that I
was learning to make jewellery, I was inundated (and I mean
inundated) by people asking me to fix this and that, or make this and
that. So, people will give you the work, but you just have to learn
not to take it if your experience is not yet up to the mark. Last
week, my own newly engaged niece asked me to resize her platinum
engagement ring, because she didn’t want to send it away to its maker
(a fellow Orchid member) to be resized. I had to turn her down
gently, not because I wasn’t capable of doing it, but because I’m not
insured if things had gone wrong, such as a tiny flaw in one of the
stones meaning that it couldn’t take the heat, and one of the stones
breaking, for example. I explained that the person who made it, knows
how it was made, exactly the materials it was made from, etc, and
that as a result they would be more able to do the job, and that
(worst case scenario) if a stone did break, they would be in a
position to pop a new one in. Someone with a laser would have been in
a better position to do the job were it not going back to its maker.
So folks will give you the work - you just have to learn to say no
if you’re not quite there yet, and explain why. They’ll still offer
you work and each case has to be judged on its own merits as to
whether it’s within your capabilities. The same niece has asked me to
quote for making the wedding rings, as she really wants them made by
me. I will quote for work I am capable of doing.
I agree wholeheartedly with Jeff D who said “Who cares where and how
the skills were learned as long as they work”. That’s the crux of it.
My whole point in replying to Jerry’s post, was misunderstood. I
never said that it is possible to get to his standards in a short
amount of time - just that it is possible to get there without being
physically taught by another person - and it IS. I even said that it
will take me decades to get there, but I’ve no doubt that I can get
there, because I am pig-headed and determined to learn.
I’m afraid I don’t do putting people on pedestals. For me there are
no jewellery gods or godesses. There are many people (including many
Orchid members) who are VERY, VERY good at what they do, and I will
give them the respect they deserve, but I don’t agree with anybody
being puffed up about the skill levels they’ve achieved. Any of us
are capable of reaching those levels, or climbing that mountain, if
we are determined enough, and we don’t necessarily have to have a
teacher to get us there - just time and experience. I DO believe that
it takes time and experience and will never contest that.
Some people need to be taught as they don’t feel confident enough to
go find the for themselves, or put it into practice, and
that is fine. But it’s not the ONLY way. There are people in
existence, who reach higher levels of achievement by teaching
themselves, than those who have been taught by others in a given
field. You could take classes for years and years, and still not be
as good as another person who taught themselves - it is entirely
possible, and poor teachers do exist, as do poor students. Folks who
have been shown by others to do what they do, should NOT feel
undermined by others who have got there by a different route. It
doesn’t undermine their own achievements or skills in any way. I
don’t get what the fuss is about. It’s simply a different route -
same time scale, different route.
Sorry for the lengthy post.
Helen
UK
http://www.hillsgems.co.uk
http://helensgems.ganoksin.com/blogs/
