View Poll Results: Where did you get your skills?

Voters
79. You may not vote on this poll
  • Self Taught only

    30 37.97%
  • Self taught and the odd short course

    30 37.97%
  • Series of longer courses but no qualification

    5 6.33%
  • FE qualification (A Level, OND etc)

    0 0%
  • HE qualification (HND, Degree etc)

    4 5.06%
  • Apprenticeship

    5 6.33%
  • Self Taught then Qualification

    0 0%
  • Self Taught then Apprenticeship

    1 1.27%
  • Natural talent from birth

    2 2.53%
  • something else (please say)

    2 2.53%
Page 6 of 6 FirstFirst ... 456
Results 51 to 60 of 60

Thread: self taught, apprenticed, night school or degree trained?

  1. #51
    Join Date
    Feb 2016
    Posts
    9

    Default

    The one thing they did seem to have that I lack is the self belief...I really struggle with 'owning my work' and having faith in it as something worth peoples money...this despite knowing that people have seen pieces and loved them enough to part with the readies! I still have to quell that inner voice that says What you really like this? Are you sure? Perhaps it's the wonderful arrogance of youth....that said, my eldest is off to uni this year to study creative writing and it's taken a lot of soul searching for both of us to decide that the debt he'll incur is worth it...

  2. #52
    Join Date
    Aug 2009
    Location
    Staffordshire
    Posts
    1,727

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by Helen View Post
    The one thing they did seem to have that I lack is the self belief...I really struggle with 'owning my work' and having faith in it as something worth peoples money...this despite knowing that people have seen pieces and loved them enough to part with the readies! I still have to quell that inner voice that says What you really like this? Are you sure? Perhaps it's the wonderful arrogance of youth....that said, my eldest is off to uni this year to study creative writing and it's taken a lot of soul searching for both of us to decide that the debt he'll incur is worth it...
    Oh, Helen,
    I still have this continual debate with myself,.......but I also know the value of materials that go to making a piece,.....and that is the basic cost, no brainer, as it were, I tend to use 1mm sheet minimum, some things are 0.8, but (for me) there would be a very good reason if anything was in any less thickness. So that's the basic cost, no work, no design, no on costs......and in my head I still try and justify this......

    I think it takes time, experience, market research, market testing to 'get it right'.........but even then, you continue to wonder why something did or didn't sell

  3. #53
    Join Date
    Feb 2016
    Posts
    79

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by Helen View Post
    The one thing they did seem to have that I lack is the self belief...I really struggle with 'owning my work' and having faith in it as something worth peoples money...this despite knowing that people have seen pieces and loved them enough to part with the readies! I still have to quell that inner voice that says What you really like this? Are you sure? Perhaps it's the wonderful arrogance of youth....that said, my eldest is off to uni this year to study creative writing and it's taken a lot of soul searching for both of us to decide that the debt he'll incur is worth it...
    I lack self belief too Helen and only started selling stuff in a small way two years ago. I'm 61 soon and know that my skills are limited and not likely to reach the standard I would have wished if I had got into this game earlier.

    However, the enjoyment of seeing someone willing to pay for something I have spent hours fiddling around with makes it all worth while.

    I've actually got a hoard of stuff I never put on sale but when friends pop round for supper and I tip it out and say "Do you fancy any of this" They say "Oooooh I like that!! I think Oh flip I should have tried to sell it lol

  4. #54
    Join Date
    Apr 2010
    Location
    Exeter, Devon
    Posts
    1,803

    Default

    I did a college night class for beginners (one evening a week for ten weeks) about 6 years ago which taught the basics of soldering and tube setting stones and the very basics, which i managed without too much difficulty despite only having one eye. It took hold as a hobby and eventually I had so much stuff that I had to sell. I started doing craft shows during the summer and went to one local show only to end up in the same tent as my teacher, only to be greeted by "huh, if I had known you were coming I wouldnt have come". I replied by saying thank you for teaching me so well, to which there was no reply.

  5. #55
    Join Date
    Dec 2009
    Location
    Central London
    Posts
    8,845

    Default

    Everyone who saw this laughed their heads off. Dennis.

  6. #56
    Join Date
    Jul 2009
    Location
    Romsey
    Posts
    5,256

    Default

    It's a lousy teacher who doesn't recognise that their students doing well also bolsters them.

  7. #57
    Join Date
    Aug 2016
    Posts
    45

    Default

    Funny to read this as I was feeling depressed today after realising that I am too old... I'd like to think I'm not one foot in the grave but I don't have the entry qualifications for a formal course and by the time I do an access course and a formal course I will be taking a chunk out of my working life.

    Oh to have had the foresight and self belief to pick creative choices rather than proper work lol..

    I have mainly learned some techniques from a local jeweller/teacher who used to run evening classes at the college until funding stopped. So I pay by the hour and do something new each session.

    I have a night time habit of watching Soham Harrison on YouTube... I find his voice alone distresses me and the videos are short enough that I don't nod off before they finish lol..

    I also love the work and techniques of filigreenus on YouTube.

    Anything else is dogged trial and error.. (21 hours of failure soldering a bezel before I discovered my refillable torch just wasn't up to it...)

    I'm hoping that investing the equivalent of full time course money in one off training days and weekends will be a good alternative to college for me as a mature mature student 😆

    Sent from my SM-N910F using Tapatalk

  8. #58
    Join Date
    Jun 2015
    Posts
    22

    Default

    Self taught here too: buying equipment, trial and error, vids, more errors, lots of errors .......

    It's interesting to notice this is the choice for around 80% of people.

  9. #59
    Join Date
    Jan 2018
    Location
    Derbyshire
    Posts
    130

    Default

    Great poll - I was wondering this very question just yesterday!
    I've done a bit of beading and lots of other creative, crafty type things but I'm just starting out with metalwork so there is huge amount of new skills to learn - probably loads of things that haven't even occurred to me as a novice!
    At present I'm mostly intending to just experiment with simple things guided by the usual sources like books, youtube tutorials and forums but I've already found a couple of reasonably local studios that run workshops and classes that look good.
    I would love to do more extensive formal training but unfortunately I have to work full time and it isn't always easy to fit regular appointments in around that job as the hours aren't a straight-forward 9-5 arrangement.

  10. #60
    Join Date
    Feb 2016
    Posts
    99

    Default

    From birth also tongue in cheek but my mum still has some of the first pieces I made at nursery including a painted pasta necklace (where I insisted on a symmetrical colour pattern) and a necklace made with beer bottle tops (38 years ago the nursery I attended let us use real (miniature) hammers, nails and blocks of wood. I made holes in all the bottle tops and threaded them. I think I must have got an adult to remove the nails as I don't remember there being any pliers!
    At primary school I discovered fimo, macrame and seed beeds....
    At secondary my designs were far too complex for the equipment and I hated compromising.
    Had a chequered education and work history but still kept making which eventually led to building my own workshop in my garden and working on commissions.
    Love to experiment with new materials and techniques but not sure whether I'm an artist or a jeweller.
    I would love to have a more formal education but I can't afford it either financially or in terms of time!

Bookmarks

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •