In the beginning I melted some things 🔥 A lot of things actually 😂 A lot of silvery things 💍 And I broke some lovely (& expensive) stones (whom I still think about to this day)!

I mentioned in one of my earlier posts that the metalsmith whom I briefly apprenticed with would take the torch away from me when I’d get the silver cherry red 🍒 He was being kind in the way he didn’t want me to destroy the hours of work & materials I’d invested, but I’m the type of student who learns well through trial and error. If there’s a melting point, I need to walk all the way through it to be able to recognize when I’ve reach that moment of no return. Unfortunately, that meant I needed to make mistakes in order to form a visual journey with my flame and metal.

I’m happy to say, I melt waaaay less silver these days, so my skills have definitely improved. But the value of learning through unintentional destruction (in this scenario, at least) is invaluable to me.

✨Take a breath.

✨Walk away.

✨Reassess.

✨Come back.

✨Try again.

You can’t get better at something unless you first suck at it, or at least, you’re always starting with the base skills of a student. Someone may be able to pick up a torch for the first time and successfully solder a piece of jewelry to completion using only a bit of written or oral instructions, but there are always skills to be learned & improved upon.

I personally can’t live my life comparing myself, or my skills, to those who are fully competent. That’s a recipe for unhappiness, for sure. I’ll be honest, I go there on occasion. But then I look back at where I’ve come from, and then look at something lovely I’ve made, and relish in a moment of pride….then maybe I melt something to keep myself humble 😜🔥🌋

I don’t call myself self taught, in any way. I’ve had some amazing teachers, read a lot of articles and metalsmithing handbooks, & watched a lot of instructional videos. But the moments when I really learned those permanent lessons that stuck with me, were during trial and error.

I wanna know, which of your skills were learned through #trialanderror ?

#marchmeetthemaker2023 #metalsmithing