Dear Andy
Thank God you embrace “reality” with your students.
i was lucky enough to have a watchmaker and Jeweler for an uncle, my
dad was a welder and the grandfathers were iron workers. I ended up
in a university metals program and wondered what exactly were the
students being prepared for…well roundedness I guess. I am not
gods gift to metalsmithing, I still know 60 year old metalsmiths who
will tell you that they have not figured it all out. Here I am 20
years latter, after doing over 200 of those high end craft shows, I
teach, have done the gallery thing, the custom shop thing, and the
scratch your head and wonder if your making any money thing. i think
that for myself and all others in the family of metalsmiths it’s like
walking a labyrinth where getting lost is all in the name of
enlightenment.
as to your questions:
pay scale…I think that most students can expect $10-15 an hour to
start at the bottom, polishing, cleaning castings, simple repairs
etc. most of the job shops and jewelry stores will give a new
employee a bench test to see what they know how to do. most will
want to train you to do it there way. if you can get $15-25 an hour
working for a store or job shop, you are doing pretty good. most of
these places do it as piece work. if you are good at one particular
thing, like setting or repair, you can do well for yourself working
your specialty groove. One thing to keep in mind is that no one
needs a 20 something know it all who is too good to polish or do a
repair, a new employee is there for at least a year just to prove
ones self. The “new guy” may be the subject of a 'trial by fire’
situation, very entertaining for the older metalsmiths. I would love
to see a post on job shop piratical jokes, including diamond magnets,
and rings cast in solder that need “sizing”…
anyhow I thing that piecework if fair for the most part, a new
person can work beside a real live jeweler, asking questions, doing
some dirty work and getting paid to learn. it also keeps the employer
from playing the part of the slave driver. My old boss would say to
me, the same as I would put it to my assistants…here is a task, it
pays this much, take it or leave it. the more you do a job like this,
the more you will make an hour.
currently I charge about $65 an hour to work for a customer, and $35
an hour to work for a store. sometimes I can make well over $100 an
hour setting stones or doing a repair or custom job. but look at it
this way, it did not take me an hour to do it. it took me 15 years to
figure out how to do it in an hour.
as far as benefits are concerned, good luck. i have never been
offered benefits. those that I know that do get benefits work for a
very low hourly wage. I pay for my own, $5000 deductible, payable
quarterly, i can get better insurance for more money but the money I
save I invest in case I need hospital care.
i think the real thing that is needed is a situation where a senior
metalsmith needs alittle help, is understanding, and willing to work
with someone. in our world it seems like there are allot of
metalsmiths. The fact is, this is a dying craft and it is hard to
find a shop that has a well rounded maker who will share knowledge
and stress.
my final thought is that anyone who is going off to graduate school
should have to spend at least 6 months in a professional job shop or
studio. Remember the last line in the BEATLES’ “Helter
Skelter”…I GOT BLISTERS ON MY FINGERS!!!
Wayne Werner
Baltimojo md…home to creative sufferer Edgar Allen Poe