I have always been a creative person, starting when I was very young like many others - friendship bracelets, hair braiding, and drawing (poorly lol). I enjoyed crafting and had an entire space in the closet of my childhood bedroom for my arts and crafts supplies. When I left for college I had the thoughts that many are told growing up echoing through my head - “You can’t make a living off being an artist.” I donated all of my supplies and left that creative piece of my life behind for a long while, including through 2 degrees, internships, and my first job.
My first job was in healthcare and I worked with a lot of very serious, highly educated people. The type of people who read educational books in their free time for fun (no judgment, that’s just not me!). I had no desire to pursue a PhD or additional schooling, and just wanted to do my job well and be able to live my life outside of it, as well. One day I had a crafting day with my friends - my first in a while, and all of it came flooding back to me. I remembered how important creativity was to me growing up and how good it made me feel to work with my hands.
From then on, I was constantly brainstorming what I wanted to do creatively in my life. I dabbled in photography, embroidery, crocheting, and even gave a solid go at sun printing. Sun printing was my favorite of the batch, but something was still missing. It was around then that I started following a bunch of very inspiring metalsmiths on Instagram. I fell in love and thought they were all so badass and creative, and started obsessively researching.
I decided to enroll in a 3-month beginners class because metalsmithing isn’t cheap, and then decide after the class how I liked it, and if I wanted to invest in all of the tools. I started taking the class but the instructor just wasn’t open to creativity. We were given our exact projects and told we couldn’t deviate from them. I often finished early and was wandering around trying to figure out what to do with my spare time. So, I took the leap and invested in my own tools. I taught myself how to solder before it was covered in class and made my first, then second, then third rings on my own after lots of trial and error. I metalsmithed obsessively in my free time outside of work. One day my instructor asked to see one of my rings in class. I thought he would compliment it or perhaps give some constructive criticism, but instead he ripped it apart (with words not literally) in front of the entire rest of the class. I thought I was doing such a good job - taking the initiative to learn and move ahead of the class on my own, and yes my technique left something to be desired but I was proud of myself and he just tore me down in front of everyone.
That day I dropped the class and decided I could continue to learn and grow in metalsmithing on my own. Here I am over a year later, incredibly proud of my skills and how far I have come since then. I’ve vended at multiple art fairs, started my own website, sold items across the country and even to another country, and started to develop my own styles. Yes, I’ve made many mistakes and scrapped many pieces in the process, but it’s all part of the learning journey. Always remember what you’re worth and to take no sh*t!