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These are questions I’ve
always asked when going to the local craft fair.
Simple crafts have their place. By the older definition,
crafts were simple and folk oriented. People got
creative and made things for fun. It communicates
to lots of people judging by attendance at craft
fairs. Today however, fine art has entered and
filled the high-end craft market. What does this
mean for people who want to do craft projects
at this level, not just buy them? First of all
is it possible?
I have been very interested in handmade projects
since I was a kid apprenticing my silversmith
mother. We had great times together working with
our hands. As a result, doing this kind of activity
became my main recreational pursuit. Mom has a
BA in fine arts from the Boston Museum School
of Fine Arts. She did her internship in Germany
in the early 1960s. From mom I learned the discipline
necessary to make fine jewelry. I found this discipline
worked on all handcrafts.
As a kid I spent lots of time working in the
wood shop adjacent to my mother’s silversmithing
shop in our home. I taught myself using the discipline
from metalworking techniques how to do fine woodwork.
After working with mom on metal I just translated
the skills to a similar medium. In this environment
I never heard the word, craft. It was called fine
jewelry or fine woodworking. I saw crafts but
quickly sized them up as too easy for me. My handwork
became a way to communicate, have fun, and remind
myself to improve on the next project. I ended
up making my own classical guitar as an adult.
It was the summit of my fine woodworking projects.
I enjoy playing the guitar even better now than
making the one I did. Handcraft for me translated
into music craft.
You may ask, “Is fine jewelry or fine craft work
possible for the average person”? The answer is
yes. It is the discipline that makes it possible.
In fact, it is the transferring of any discipline
that makes fine handcraft possible for everyone.
You already have a discipline in your current
profession. You know how to do your work because
you have the main concepts and details ingrained.
Whenever I needed help on making things with my
hands I sought out a good how-to book. This is
the way to find out what are the big concepts
and details.
The Chainmaille Jewelry Pattern e-book teaches
the discipline of making fine chainmaille jewelry.
When I began making chainmaille I was completely
frustrated with the whole process as others taught
it. Starting a chain was the worst disorganized
mess I can remember. The jump rings would fly
off the bench and get lost. It would take me 30
disorganized minutes just to get the first 1 inch
of chain made. I knew there was a need for a tool
or jig. I used my woodworking, jewelry making,
and mechanical design skills to invent an easier
process via a jig to simplify chain making. With
the purchase of this e-book, a plan to make the
chainmaille jewelry assembly jig comes as a bonus.
Don’t worry, I have a customer who is a grandmother
and she put one of these “Godsends” together as
she called it, in no time at all. She wrote me
back a week after she downloaded the e-book and
told me how much she liked making chain now, where
before she “felt all thumbs”.
The craft world is converging on fine jewelry
both from above and below. Fine art has come off
the pedestal and crafts have matured. During my
research phase I noticed this trend building since
1960. Specialized craft fairs show the market
for high-end crafts. Look at artrider.com or craftcouncil.org
and you will see that crafters and fine-artist
have merged. There is room for you in this high-end
craft market too.
Matthew Woodbury has been making and designing
handmade crafts for 30 years. Matthew apprenticed
under his mother, a silversmith and paint media
artist who studied in Germany. As a professional
designer for 15 years his favorite medium is precious
metal. He has enjoyed the thrill of making custom
jewelry for select clientele. His passion is all
about designing beautiful functional jewelry that
people use, not art jewelry that belongs on exhibit.
Years ago wood was his first passion but metal
won him over. He has made a classical guitar and
holds a Bachelors of Music in classical guitar.
We think it is his background and multi-disciplined
approach to jewelry that makes him unique in his
field. You might call him a well rounded cross-trainer.
His family going back 155 years were all artists
of the finest caliber and some with international
reputation.
Matthew is promoting his new Chainmaille Jewelry
Pattern e-book, chainmaille jewelry you can definitely
make yourself.
This is a "Shareware" Article
(what's that? read on...)
This article is shareware. Give this article
away for free on your site, or include it as part
of any paid package as long as the entire article
is left intact including this notice.
Copyright © 2005 Matthew Woodbury.
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