Last Friday evening I took a class on the basics of tension settings. It is one of those techniques whose mystery I had yet to solve. As you can imagine I was very excited about taking another class. It turns out it was just what I needed to sit back down at my bench and create for the sheer joy of creating. Well almost. What I should have said was it was an opportunity to sit at my bench and practice what I learned. As with most new things I often end up with a few "fails". I prefer to think of them as opportunities to swear learn.
After the silver is shaped and work hardened you need a bur to create a seat for the stone. Sounds easy and it may be for some. However, I found this the biggest challenge. I had difficulty aiming the drill to the exact spot I had marked, and preventing the bur from running away on me. To be fair to myself I had forgotten my Optivisor and so my eyesight was challenged by such precise work. After many attempts and filing away the mistakes Kelly Allanson, our instructor, came to my rescue and helped me finish the ring. I managed to create the seat on one side of the ring and then Kelly matched it on the other side. I was tickled with the result and couldn't wait to try it in the comfort of my home at my bench with my tools and of course my Optivisor.
As already mentioned there were some fails during the first few attempts. Not one to be discouraged by that I kept on trying. I eventually made a small ring of which I was proud but I knew I wanted to make more. I needed to practice maintaining control of the bur on the silver. So using a piece of 14 gauge copper (what I had available) I practiced with the hart bur again and again until I felt like I understood what I was doing wrong. But that bit of insight didn't happen while practicing with the bur.
I was supposed to be teaching the gypsy setting to someone yesterday but due to a mix up in communication it didn't happen. Instead of being upset thinking my time was wasted setting everything up I admitted to myself that I was actually pleased it didn't take place. I'm always anxious when I agree to teach this technique because I'm not entirely confident that I could translate the knowledge in my head into good instructions for the student. So there I was sitting with all the tools I needed to just sit and figure that out. So I practiced and 16 settings later I finally figured out what I had been doing wrong with the bur for the tension setting. I love how that works. I also figured out how I would teach the gypsy setting as well. I felt more confident in passing on the information. It's not even something that I've perfected but I feel that I know enough to teach the skills I do have so that someone can practice until they find their grove with the technique. Of course I always disclose that I'm not the expert.
The whole point of this post, the moral of the story, is that practice doesn't always make perfect but it does teach you many ways of how not to do something. Which eventually leads the path to perfect...or so I've heard.
P.S. I'm taking another class this weekend to learn more about "Surface Techniques". Same wonderful instructor!
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