5.19.2025 I Want to Know, Where Does the Time Go?

Engraving Bench at ACC

I can't believe how quickly the spring semester (or a whole year since our daughter's PhD graduation) flew by. 

I've been taking classes at ACC for 18 months - engraving was my fourth class. I finished last week, and in just a couple more I'll be starting summer school.

I've said it before, but it bears repeating - I have always loved jewelry - and learning about the craft behind it enhances that feeling.

I have very early memories of watching my Mom choose her jewelry when she and my Dad were going out, or in the mornings when she was getting dressed for work.  

I started buying my own (silver, but real jewelry - not cheap, plated stuff) in my early teens with my babysitting money.  I've kept it, too.  My daughter has several of my silver rings, I still have some really old earrings, including silver and turquoise ones from the same shop as the rings, the small gold piercing studs from my first holes fifty years ago, and of course the things that belonged to my Mom*.

Now, about this past semester...I think engraving might be the most challenging class I've taken so far (I said that about stone setting, too) - but this was all new - including the tools.

I'd never held a graver until January of this year, and certainly didn't imagine that I'd be able to create engraved pieces by May...but I did!

Both of these pieces were done with a square graver on titanium, and then heated to create the patina (color).  My plan is to make then into pendants, eventually.

That said, I would never claim to be an engraver. I've taken one class and even becoming proficient takes years...skilled, that takes a lot longer.

In addition to teaching us about the tools - including how to sharpen the gravers - and techniques, our instructor, Chelsee Sandaker, introduced to one or two master engravers every week. It was interesting to me that some engravers are also fabricators (they make jewelry, too), others are not, and people engrave all sorts of things that are not jewelry!

I confess, that not only am I following a whole bunch of new folks, I've added A LOT of engraved jewelry to my wish list!  Like every class I take, engraving has enhanced my appreciation for what it means both to create and own jewelry.

Next month, I'm excited to be learning another new skill and making things in class again. I'll be back at ACC starting the first week of June, taking advanced enameling with my wonderful friend and teacher, De. 

*While looking for something else, I came across this enameled pendant that belonged to my Mom. It was one she wore a lot.  I'm sure she bought it at an art show or on vacation - I don't remember its origin - just that it was a favorite piece.  It has a pair of matching stud earrings, but I'm not a studs person, so I'm thinking about creating my own pair to go with it in class this summer.

Stay tuned for updates. Until next time.

01.23.2025 Do Not Let them Steal Your Joy

This is precisely the time when artists go to work.
There is no time for despair, no place for self-pity, no need for silence, no room for fear.
We speak, we write, we do language.
That is how civilizations heal.
I know the world is bruised and bleeding, and though it is important not to ignore its pain, 
it is also critical to refuse to succumb to its malevolence.

-- Toni Morrison

Engraving bench at ACC

Three days into this new, hate filled administration in the White House, I went back to the jewelry department at ACC to start my metal engraving class. I left that first session feeling better than I have in weeks.  No amount of medication can match the surge of serotonin that comes from seeing my people and sitting at the bench.

When I got home, sitting at my kitchen table eating lunch, I remembered Toni Morrison's quote (above) about the importance of art...so I looked it up, again.

Our world is certainly bruised and bleeding. The people at the helm of our federal government are evil and full of darkness; but Ms. Morrison implores us to go to work, to create, to bring joy and light into our lives and into the world.

Being part of a creative community - engaging with fellow metalsmiths - is like plugging into a big battery. The world at large was no better at noon, when I came out of that first class, than it was when I first went in; but I was better. It was in that moment I realized how important it will be for each of us to have the things, even small things, that bring us light and hope as we find our way through what will be a very difficult and troubled time.

These oligarchs, these white men with more money than they can ever hope to spend, who can buy anything have no joy...and they want to steal ours.  

We will not let them.

Photo credit: Viasomatic

Part of the work, to protect and take care of those around us, is to take care of ourselves.  

I certainly don't have answers, but I do have suggestions.

Find a creative outlet - I love my classes, but I know not everyone has the same interests - or resources. Still, you can find something that speaks to you and that provides you with an escape from avalanche of headlines.

Put down the phone. Step away from the computer. Take a walk outside, try a new recipe, get a sketch pad or a coloring book...as long as you are doing it for yourself, and it brings a smile to your face.

My grandmother's engraved signet ring

Engage with your community - I hope you have folks who support and energize you in your local orbit, but not everyone does. As I said in a previous post, I'm not ready to give up on social media because it represents real and meaningful connections to people despite the virtual space. 

Try not become overwhelmed - my grandmother liked to say "no one eats an apple in one bite". Do what you can do, for yourself and for others, and know that it is enough.

The writer and activist, Rebecca Solnit, posted this recently...

You don't need to be the whole wall against fascism yourself;
you can just be a brick and if you can't be a brick,
you can be a dab of mortar
because there are millions of people ready to be bricks if they believe bricks are enough
or mortar if they get that just being mortar holds it all together.

Hold on to your joy, do not let them steal it, and know that we will get through this together.

Until next time.