The word “connections” means a lot to me these days. Because of many warm connections in my past, I am now a jeweler. As I mentioned in my last blog , How I Got Here, I took several classes at William Holland School of Lapidary Arts in Young Harris, GA. I made my connection to this school when my parents retired to Blairsville, GA. They made new friends who attended the school, which during every weekly class, the school hosts a “Tailgate” party for the public. This hosted event is for students and instructors to buy, sell, and trade their lapidary and jewelry related items. I went to a tailgate party early on with my parents and picked up a catalog of classes. Soon after, I signed up for my first class to learn how to cut, solder and make sterling silver jewelry.
As luck may have it, I made another warm connection. A friend of my mom’s from High School retired to the same small town of Blairsville and lived near the school. He was a rock hound and sold cabochons, many of which he brought home from his annual shopping trip to the Tucson Gem and Mineral Show (TGMS). My mother took me to meet him and every visit to Blairsville thereafter, I sat for hours combing through trays of gemstones to purchase for future use in my jewelry designs. But that’s not the only connection I made with my mom’s friend. He gave me the history behind every stone I asked about; where it was mined, how rare it may or may not be, what reflected high quality in a gemstone. The background of each stone would send my mind spinning with potential jewelry designs. He shared stories from the TGMS show. It was fascinating to hear about how big the show was, friends he made from around the world, and how he would never be able to see every vendor at a show that large but knew how to find his favorite ones. I don’t know if I’ll ever get to the Tucson Show, but it is definitely on my bucket list! My connection that started initially as a place to buy a few cabochons turned into an ongoing mineral and gemstone education, a journey that will never end.
In my April 2017 blog, Finding Balance, I wrote about becoming a member of an artist’s co-op in Greensboro, NC – Elements Gallery. This connection has provided me not only with an outlet for my jewelry, but access to fellow jewelers that have shared jewelry ideas, tips about ways to display my jewelry, where to buy supplies, marketing, even how to set up and use Facebook! But more importantly, this gallery connected me to talented artists that are now my friends. I did not know when I walked into the Elements Gallery over a year ago that the warm connections would be such as they are.
And now, thanks to all my class experiences, I understand cold connections! Technically speaking, cold connections are when you join two metals without heat. So with my jewelry that is cold connected, I usually connect two or more pieces of metal with rivets, eyelets, or wire. I often make jewelry with a combination of techniques, such as solder a portion of the metal with a bezel to hold the stone and then cold connect to a larger piece, such as in the examples below.
My last connection is with those who are interested in my jewelry and follow me on my website. This blog is one attempt to stay connected to those who wish to see what I am up to. Initially I blogged every three or four years. So as I mentioned in Finding Balance, I am trying to blog every three or four months!
Okay, I am still a little late, but I’ll continue to try…
Thanks for visiting! Bibba
Bibba Originals 