Open studio is a great way to get some practice in, and for me it is fun to see my students improve, collaborate, and just have fun.
But it is still my studio and my creative home, and so even though I share it, I do have a few rules.
Most of them are common sense, like taking care of the tools and cleaning up after yourself. Stuff like drill bits and sawblades get broken and that is ok, it is part of the general use of the studio.
But one rule that may not be so clear, even though you find it here, and I explain it in your first open studio, somehow people forget or miss it.
It is about the silver resources.
Most studios don’t have resources on hand for purchase. Typically you get your own from a supplier. But I know how nice it is to have access to different gauges in case you get an inspiration while in the studio. This means I share my silver.
What it doesn’t mean is I pay for your scrap.
I know that may sound snarky. But due to the price of silver you understand.
When using silver sheet everybody generates a certain amount of their own scrap. It could be from cutting discs, or other shapes, or melting, but there are always some scraps.
I buy my silver in 6x12” sheets. When you cut from my stock please always cut a strip from the sheet using the bench shear, and then you can cut a square from this using your hand shear (and then put the remaining square back). This ensures there are no unusable pinched edges (scrap) left for me to try to use. And please do not cut triangles or circles and put scrap back for me to find. You pay for your own scrap.
