practice, practice, practice!
Like so many things in life you can't just be a pro at something after your first lesson, or second, or third. I was reminded of this when I took up the craft of Sourdough bread baking. After one beginner's luck success I faced multiple failures of hard lumps of floured bricks destined for the trash. I almost gave up but after much persistence and a curiosity for the process (like feeding the starter) that pushed me to discover something new with each loaf I can say I have a humble understanding of the process that I can finally make a semi decent loaf of bread (to Bryan's delight!)
Why do I share this?
Because smithing is like this but even on a grander scale. It always surprises me when someone becomes a student of smithing with the expectation that they are going to make that thing that they saw on etsy or youtube right out of the gate.
It doesn't work like that.
Pick up a violin and play Tchaikovsky.
Or pick up a scalpel and operate on someone.
Or let your children go to school where the teacher has no education.
Boston marathon without training?
Hopefully you get the idea.
I see this more often than I would like to admit. Again and again I will get someone who may enter one of my classes with delusions of grandeur not realizing that holding a torch a couple of times does not yet make you a silversmith. Granted, I pride myself on stuffing in a whole lot of learning in my classes but when it comes right down to it there is no substitute for practice. The more mistakes you make the more you learn. That is why I offer Open Studio.
You can't become Joshua Bell overnight.
And just by shear will you can not just manifest what is in your head if you haven’t first mastered simple soldering.
The other thing that amazes me is when someone is determined not to recognize the laws of physics. There are some things you just can’t bend to your will. Or if a mistake is made (like completely melting something) I may get the question from the student, “What do I do?”
Maybe it is because we are so used to that “undo” key stroke on our computers. LOL. But many times there is a point of no return. You have to start again.
So, my advice to students of this craft is:
- Be kind to yourself.
- Understand that learning is a process.
- Practice what you have learned and get comfortable with it before jumping to the next thing.
- It takes a time commitment to learn and understand something.
- You are not going to replicate something that is advanced if you are still a beginner.
- Enjoy the discovery instead of getting frustrated that you can’t jump to the destination.
- Celebrate the small successes, cherish the items that you make that you love.
- Laugh at the failures. They are the friends on your journey.
- Lean in. Take that design the went “pear shaped” and rethink it. It may be your best thing yet.
- Don’t give up. In my experience most people cross a special threashold that they can point to when it all became easier and fun.
My hope is that every step that you take in your smithing journey will reveal something new and encourage you as you see progress.