It's okay to make mistakes.


It's all too easy to fail at something and then get down on yourself for decisions or situations that didn't turn out as originally planned. I ran into this recently with my second project for Beginning Metalsmithing class.

I was still high off the success and speed at which my pierced piece came together. I felt like I was on a fast learning curve and that it was also super easy. Then with the second project, we were going to each make a ring. I was excited since the project felt more three-dimensional and accepted the challenge. I came up with my design, cut out the metal, soudered the pieces together, and then tried it on. It was too big on my finger, but that wasn't a huge deal. I cut off a tiny piece of the band and pushed the separated parts together to shorten it. Then I went to go souder the band together and ended up melting it.


I was so upset. All that time I had put into it was haunting me as I tried to fix it. I attempted to resusitate the ring by cutting off an odd melted piece and then filing the top. I also tried to gently hammer the ring back into a circular shape again. My teacher came by and told me that there were a few parts of the ring that looked like they were going to break, and that I should probably start over.

This may have been bad news for someone else, and though it was for me, I also felt a huge sense of relief. I realized that it was going to be okay. As I talked to some of my other classmates that had taken the class more than a few times, they told me that working with metal almost never goes as planned. You only have so much control over the piece, and it's okay for these kinds of things to happen.

I've always been way too hard on myself when it comes to the quality of any work I do. This kind of attitude leads to good grades, but can wreak havoc on my sense of well being. It's things like this ring I am showing you today that help keep me level-headed.

As painter Bob Ross would say, "We don't make mistakes, just happy little accidents."

Comments

  1. Bob Ross is right <3 I'm glad that you're able to accept mistakes and not beat yourself up. That's something I need to work on.

    ReplyDelete
  2. I totally agree. I like to be perfect at something straight away and find when i am not I get extremely frustrated. That's what learning is all about though isn't it. By the way I think your ring is amazing. I wouldn't even know where to start making one.

    ReplyDelete
  3. I heart Bob Ross. :). I always enjoy his narritive on his painting show, I always make up silly storys about my paintings so it was nice to know other people did the same. I understand about feeling like you need to do perfect work, I'm the same in my riding and it use to drive me crazy when I would make stupid mistakes like going off course or chipping a distance. That stuff just gets easier to brush off as you get older.
    Ps- i dig the shape of your ring!

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Thank you for your digital presence! Feel free to comment if you wish. I enjoy them greatly upon reception. :)

Popular Posts