Jewelry School and How it Relates to AS

The whole week down in Virginia Beach was one of the best experiences for me as I've ever had. I learned a lot about myself and what I was capable of. I wasn't nervous about travelling alone for the first time, even paid for the plane ticket, but the journey to a place I had no idea of was sort of like back in college, just farther away. Instead of being a fifteen minute car ride away I was a plane trip. I just took the scale of it out of the equation. The layovers at the airport were boring because I had no one to talk to and had to take my two bags everywhere I went.

The hand work itself was sort of like learning anything else; in the beginning you're sort of crappy at it but through practice and repetition you can become a master. I like to approach it as I would when I think about how I learned to play video games when I was younger. I used to be poor at them and would try so hard. I then came back to the same games when I was older and was able to master them. The hand control is something that can be learned, in time. I have no doubt that my techniques will advance to above average quicker than most but the initial awkwardness I encountered will linger for a little while as I test things out. Messing up is expected and tolerable to a point; provided the ring you're working on isn't too expensive.

I am excited to think what I will be able to make when my confidence with the tools, those I had no previous experience with, (such as the flex shaft and assorted burs) reaches new levels. Learning to me, especially various hand skills, has always been something I enjoyed but initially struggled with. There is a sort of struggle that AS provides in terms of learning new things that is unmatched by anything else I've seen people have to deal with. I almost have to trick myself into knowing I can, while wiping away the fear that thinks I cannot, and sometimes there is a lot of doubt and anxiety that can build up. Once I do, then I'm fine.

I am a little nervous about making the trellis ring, though. You start of with a one foot wire and then shape three baskets for the stones and a whole shank assembly, by hand. Oh, yeah, I forgot to mention that the wire is a solid piece of platinum! (The picture above is what it looks like)

I am sure that my time in Nashville, come the end of January, will be one of the best times of my life. I am nervous about it even now. I think to myself, often, "Can I really do this'? I then take a step back, laugh, and realize that I learned so much in five days, imagine what I can do under Blaine's instruction with sixty. That thought alone keeps me on track and striving towards my goal of becoming a goldsmith. Is this trade for everyone? Certainly not. Is it for me? You know the answer to that one ;)

Questions of Comments about my time at jewelry school? Let me know.