My advice to other artists is to schedule in time for self-improvement.
...a couple hours of deliberate practice or experimenting with new techniques each month will push you out of your normal workflow.
If you could pass one bit of advice on to other artists, what would it be? You can go so wide and/or deep into so many techniques as a jeweler, stone setter and hand engraver. Only speaking for myself I still learn on a weekly basis after 10 years of doing this (I know, I’m just getting started, but still a decade is a decade). When you enjoy your work and consider yourself a life long learner it’s unbelievable how far you can come. My advice to other artists is to schedule in time for self-improvement. Doesn’t have to be anything crazy but a couple hours of deliberate practice or experimenting with new techniques a months will push you out of your normal workflow. Don’t cheap out on quality training or courses if it piques your interest. Just do your due diligence if it’s worth your time and money and then go for it. It’s unbelievable how much you can gain from the expertise of a professional in his or her field in a couple of days. You have to be willing to put on the ‘student’ hat again, which can be a humbling experience in and of itself, but the rewards can be great! All of the sudden you are in the position to ask a million questions and to work with potentially new or, for you, strange tools and materials. Even if you don’t
utilize the techniques on a daily basis in your own work afterwards, it will for sure let you see many more possibilities and options that are possible regarding the work you do. There is some debate of spreading yourself too thin and not zeroing in on one technique. The saying “Jack of all trades master of none” is definitely true. Speaking again for myself, I did a ton of courses and trainings and afterwards dove deeper into the directions I liked most. Automatically, when you like something you do more of it. So pretty soon you get really good at it, which makes it even more fun to do. People start to notice your quality of work and you can get questions to do similar jobs for them. So before you know it you spend many hours doing the thing you truly enjoy doing. Without me spreading myself first thin and wide to see what I liked most I wouldn’t have been where I am now, specialized quite deep into stone setting. So my last piece of advice is to try and test out many different techniques and gain some rudimentary skills in them, and then go deep into the ones you like most. As long as it pays the bills I don’t see how you can’t sit comfortably behind the bench all day when you do something you truly enjoy doing.
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