The Bench, designer of the month

Thank you Cooksongold, for including me in your jewellery blog "the Bench" this month as designer of the month.
See;http://www.cooksongold.com/blog/desi...nth-jim-miller

It's interesting that you make a point of having entirely trade experience and no college training. There has been an identical divide in hand bookbinding for many years. Happily, each side has fertilized the other, to some extent.

Personally I have zero trade or college experience in either bookbinding or jewelry-related work, but as a bookbinder this didn't stop me from beating the Royal Warrant holders in an international competition some years ago. It really comes down to getting the hours in at the bench, being on a constant quest for improvement, and having a critical mind; whether you have a trade or college background, if you're lacking in one of these three departments it will undoubtedly hold you back.

A good read James - thanks for the link. Coming through an apprenticeship the way you did, specialising in such superb hand-working with traditional techniques/skills and carrying on well into the computer age, you've certainly seen some changes.

I'm a bit of a lurcher fan myself - pic shows 3 out of a pack of 5 that we babysat a few years ago. It was midwinter, freezing cold indoors and out, but they had this heatlamp to bask under. On walks, Pedro, the one nearest the camera, would leap up onto your shoulders and wrap himself around your neck like a bony scarf. At night they'd all try to get into bed with us... bit of a squeeze. Characterful dogs!

Alan
Attachment 8989

Lovely read James, interesting and enjoyable.......intriguing how times change....