Testing projects

I just see a tv show (Nova on PBS, to be exact) on rereating an ancient Egyptian chariot.  I like documentaries on experimental archaeology.  I like the process people go through to recreate old things.  I find it akin to my creative process, especially in jewelry making.

I still have much to learn in jewelry making.  At the same time, it is about connecting the finished piece to a person.  Many of the piece I make are fitted on myself.  When I give an hand made jewelry piece, I say it can be fitted if needed.  I had a teacher who told me to fit it on myself.  I think she wasn’t into the conventional measurement for the various necklaces.  I think it was a good advice.  Until now, i never had to adjust any jewelry I gave.  Maybe I know how to fit it to each person.  I can have a loose bracelet for my mother.  For my sister, I make it tighter because she is more delicate than me.

I also have experimented for many hand made jewelry.  I had many necklaces where I tried various ideas.  It is formative.  I learned a lot from those experimentation.  For example, I had a small obsidian arrowhead.  I wanted to use it as a centrepiece for a necklace.  I didn’t knew how to do it.  My teacher said to use wire around it.  I tried to imagine the result.  I couldn’t do it.  I saw problem in securing the wire.  I got the idea to put a very fine chain on that piece.  It was tricky to put it on.  With some patience, I got it right.  I had some minor problems with this project but it ended as a stunning necklace.  It made me even more proud to wear it.  People had commented on it on many occasion.

If I haven’t tested my ideas, it wouldn’t had been a learning experience.  I learned a few tricks in the process.  I also gained insight and appreciation.  There are also a few projects that I would do differently now compared to how I had done them.  It makes me feel wiser, in a sense.  Knowledge is not touchable.  The only way to acquire it is by doing it .  Putting abstract ideas in a physical form is the best learning process, I think.  I still have a vivid memory on the projects I had made that way.

Experimenting is a good way of expression.  I am able to try new projects.   I learn.  I gain experience.  I feel in confidence.  If iI have to do it again, there is some adaptation I can make, to become more effective. It is not always easy to end up with what I have seen in my head.  I know I will at least be close to it.  Modification is sometimes unavoidable.  Sometimes, those modifications give little good surprise, at the end.