This August I asked myself, “what do you want to do when you grow up?’ I was about to turn sixty and had finally recovered from a series of surgeries. I decided upon jewelry designer and silversmith.  No, not out of the blue!  I apprenticed with a master jeweler in the 1970’s, but put the art in my life aside to marry, have kids and run a business. The kids are grown, business long sold, and now it’s my turn, an artist I am!

Here is where the story gets funny, sort of. I was so excited to be able to afford to have some of my work cast that I forgot the golden rule that isn’t only for data, garbage in-garbage out.  I didn’t take the time to file out every little dimple or tool mark out of the piece. I had a bad case of magical thinking, the casting people are pro’s so of course my piece will come out perfect. Not!  So guess what? I got to spend hours on each earring filing not only the mold mung (that’s what I call the normal flaws that come out of the mold) but also every single mark I left on the original. The good news is I got all the sorely needed filing  practice I could ever want! Lesson learned. I have lots of those to go, no doubt, but I’m finding that patience is probably the most important skill for me to practice as a silversmith.

Helpful hints are greatly appreciated.