Nicole Hanna Jewelry
  • Home
  • Blog
  • Gallery
  • Learn To Wire Wrap
    • Woven Bezel Workshop
    • PDF Tutorials
    • Video Tutorials
  • Shop
    • SIGNATURE COLLECTION
    • GODDESS COLLECTION
    • PDF Tutorials

Expanding Your Toolbox: Adding to Your Skill Set

7/18/2016

2 Comments

 
In the post Wire Wrapping IS "Real" Jewelry, I suggested that it's entirely unnecessary to expand your skill set to reach any social expectations, nor to justify the work you do, or the job title you give yourself. That "your work is worth something no matter what it entails beyond the heart you invest in it" and that you don't owe the world any investment into classes or tutorials or new tools in order to call yourself a jeweler or artist or photographer, or whatever your poison may be. And I say this because I truly believe a single skill, any single skill (in this case, wire wrapping) can provide an endless array of possibilities from which to draw and evoke in our work. I stand by this belief and I'll say it often. A film photographer can never touch a digital camera and still produce new, amazing images every single day. A painter can only use acrylics their entire lives and entrance us with their imagination. And that's really what it's all about, right? The power of our own creativity and imagination.

So why expand your skill set at all? Why add more tools to your tool box? I imagine there might never be any reason at all beyond an endless curiosity.
I've been (slowly) learning to solder and fold form metal. Can these skills be utilized in my wire wrapping? Of course. Does it enhance my work? Not necessarily. New skills and tools do not equal better work. Just different work.

So, for me, learning a new skill is less about improving my work (ie, becoming a "real" jeweler, as perceived by large subset of society) and more about a joy of discovery. Naturally, I can continue to discover new designs in wire wrapping, new ways to
Picture
utilize wire to express my creative goals. I never need to learn soldering or fold forming or cold connections. But, they are cool and I have an insatiable desire to learn, to always be learning, to never know all of anything.
"Live as if you were to die tomorrow.
Learn as if you were to live forever."
~ Mahatma Gandhi


It is not about how that skill can increase sales or improve my business or get me noticed or validate my work to society. For me, it's about nothing beyond what the journey with it can teach me.... teach me about myself and my art and my self-expression. If you learn a new skill, learn it for you. Grow from it. Enjoy it. But know that you don't owe it to anyone to do so. That it does not make you a better artist or jeweler or photographer or writer. It just makes you a different one. And what you do with that newness, my friend, is a whole other story.
2 Comments
bahaqueen
7/25/2016 10:31:08 am

I enjoyed this post. I agree it is not necessary to expand in majority of cases...but to expand your creativity, incorporating it into your existing skills. I love the pieces you are creating with sheet metal and the like. Enjoy the journey Nicole.

Reply
Michelle Gilliam
2/19/2021 01:34:28 pm

I am so confused as to what to get to connect jump rings or add flare. I read that I don’t need a soldering gun and then have also read that I need a torch. One one or the other do both?

Reply

Your comment will be posted after it is approved.


Leave a Reply.

    Enjoy my content?

    Categories

    All
    Articles
    Blog
    Contests
    Giveaways
    Reviews
    Tutorials

    Archives

    February 2023
    April 2022
    January 2022
    July 2021
    November 2020
    September 2020
    July 2020
    June 2020
    May 2020
    August 2019
    May 2019
    April 2019
    February 2019
    January 2019
    October 2018
    September 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    December 2015
    October 2015
    August 2015
    July 2015
    June 2015
    April 2015
    March 2015


    Follow Me!


    Search My Site!


    Feed your creative spirit! Shop now!

    Picture

Check out my private Facebook group for live chats, giveaways and more! CLICK HERE!
FAQ
Contact
​
Gift Cards
NEWSLETTER
Jewelry Care
Privacy Policy
Permissions & Copyright
​Returns & Exchanges
​Shipping Policy
  • Home
  • Blog
  • Gallery
  • Learn To Wire Wrap
    • Woven Bezel Workshop
    • PDF Tutorials
    • Video Tutorials
  • Shop
    • SIGNATURE COLLECTION
    • GODDESS COLLECTION
    • PDF Tutorials