Effort and Desire are no Match for Skill and Youtube Videos

I came across this in a piece I was reading  in a Jewelry Designers  blog the other day.

” I kept a few  rejects and unloved pieces for myself, some to wear and some to remind me that I didn’t actually know it all and some of my ideas are not as amazing as I first thought. A little reminder not to be too cocky and not to make the same mistakes again.”

I liked it as I did the same  and still have a few kicking about  here and there.

When I started making jewelry I had no idea  the use of texture and finish  to any given piece. I  had no idea  how to achieve the look I was going for, especially with my cup and ring marking drops.

 I  wanted them to look like they had just been dug from a site of archeological unimportance.

Living in Northumberland  (UK)  with a love of and being surrounded by stone circles , standing stones and the ancient carvings upon them I  decided to use up all my silver scraps to make/ create  a selection of little pendent pieces showing  cup and ring markings. Little heavy charms.  What I came up with was ok, sold well, quickly and I was very happy with my melted droplets hammered into rough thick and flat shapes. The markings were crudely shaped wire soldered to the surface. I thought they were glorious works of art but have to say  looking back they were just terrible. 

I didn’t know there was a difference  difference between aged and badly finished.

I was producing badly executed and badly finished work.

Oh I put a lot of work into each piece,I melted the silver scrap  and poured it into one of the many naturally occurring  shallow forms  in my garden path then began hammering the silver on the  step leading into my workshop, of course being self taught (by self taught I mean , I dived in and did it, )  I hadn’t read anything about the wonder that is annealing yet or the worth of a steel block.

 It might have been 50 times or more  effort expended  compared to  a well executed and well finished piece today.

Today I  oil my steel block and give thanks for it. I  polish with  papers and grit sheets  and look after my three hand files. They are all well used and it shows.  The difference in time alone between a totally hand made and hand finished piece compared to a hand made and machine finished piece way back when... I cant even fathom how I managed to do it.