During the two weeks since my first post I have met with my mentor, continued doing my own research, and reflected on what I’ve learned. If there was one word to describe my first experience with my mentor, the word would be extraordinary. I went there expecting to mostly learn and listen on the first day, but instead, I jumped right into it.
Mme. Toure got me started making a simple bracelet out of copper. With her type of jewelry making you heat the metal (copper, silver, etc) and then you cool it, hammer it to the right thickness, and design it before shaping it to the right size (diameter of a finger or wrist). The idea of the first session was to get a base understanding of how a bracelet can be made so I got started on a far from perfect bracelet so I could get used to how to hammer, heat, pick up safely, cool, design, and shape jewelry. Being a perfectionist, I was a bit frustrated with the fact that I didn’t have the time to make it perfect, but Mme. Toure wanted to teach me the overall scope of things before I learned the fine details. At first, it was confusing because I had to turn a thick copper piece into a thin and flat bracelet, but with some demonstration and tweaking I ended up doing great. Next week I will shape the bracelet to the right size, do some touch-ups, and then soldering the two ends together. I can’t wait till my next meeting where I can continue learning how to make jewelry.
Above are some pictures I took and it shows some tools used: hammers, mallets, rawhide mallet, engravers, wire cutters, a wrist shaper, soldering tools, a blowtorch, and several other tools I haven’t used yet. The first picture also shows the bracelet I started on, and although it might not look very impressive I was very proud of the fact I did that much in one session. I learned so much and can’t wait to further this project even more.
I also did some research on how soldering works, watched a Ted Talk made by a jewelry designer and watched some YouTube videos on making jewelry which helped expand my knowledge and prepare me for my next meeting with my mentor.
https://www.youtube.com/user/jtvjewelschool
As for my mentor, I got to know her better during the meeting and we also talked about her views on jewelry making. My mentor was taught jewelry making by friend of hers when she was younger in a very similar mentoring environment. From there she has continued making jewelry because she enjoys it so much and she even sells some of her jewelry she makes. I asked her if she considered herself an “expert” at jewelry making and she said no and told me that even after years of making jewelry and improving her skill, there is always so much more to learn. When she was learning how to make jewelry she saw the skill that it took and the beauty that came out of it and she enjoyed learning how to make jewelry so much that she has continued making jewelry to this day. So far, in only one session I think I’ve learned so much, but I still have so much more to learn. I learned about how to heat and cool metals, what metals are good to work with (copper and silver for beginners), how to stamp words into jewelry, and how to actually start shaping the metal. The skills and wisdom will continue to build off each other with each session, and I think doing outside research will also help out a lot.
In my development as a mentor, which has barely started, I think I learned one extremely valuable lesson. I went into the session expecting to listen and learn, and I did do that, but I also did so much more. When someone is learning how to do something, sometimes the best thing is to just get them started right away. Mme. Toure didn’t waste a second, she got me started right away and taught me what I needed to know as it was happening. Never in a million years did I expect to get started working so quickly, but it helped me a ton and I learned so much. If I ever mentored someone, I think I would take that same approach, because sometimes you need to run before you can walk.
Next time I will continue working, and I can’t wait.