Pass It On . . . and On . . . and On

Filed under: Creativity, gifts, Metal Work, Necklaces, Pendants, Philosophy, soldering, Teaching, Torch Work, Wire Work | Back to: Homepage

It’s not a surprise to anyone who knows me that I like to teach. I tend to grab most any “teachable moment” whether you want me to or not. With adults, I try to curb my appetite for devouring those moments, but little children need to beware!

I’ve truly enjoyed the two jewelry classes that I taught last week, one in Wimberley, TX and the other in San Marcos. I worked with seven women as they learned to make a wrap bracelet in Wimberley and then four more who worked on wrapping cabachons. I enjoyed hearing from the first group about who some of them planned to pass their bracelet to as a gift. I regret not getting a photo of that group, but note the happy intensity on the faces of the second.

It’s common for someone to ask a designer ideas come from. I have no doubt that many of mine come during preparation for teaching. I think that is why it takes me so long to get ready to teach a class. There’s something about this pre-planning that gets my creative juices flowing. I used to fight this urge, trying to stay on task, but now I just go with it. I do, however, have to resist my propensity to want to teach the new idea instead of that which was designated for the class. I just keep wanting to pass it on.

As an example, a couple of gals came over for a little assistance in starting their journey into soldering with a torch. They hardly got off the ranch before I was cutting and planning the piece below. Yes, I know it’s a bit bird-like, but it wasn’t planned that way – oh well, it’s definitely different!

I’ve also done a new soldered design that someone on Facebook suggested is Bohemian. The legs on this piece are soldered to the bottom half of the arc and then wire wrapped. I was tickled that the very first sale of this went to my good friend who often calls and says “is the Dreamcatcher Designs shop open?”  (Of course you know I don’t have a shop!) Sometimes she just runs out to the ranch and gets what she needs. This piece was gifted from her to a co-friend of ours and I’m pleased for her to have it. Do you think you can wear “Bohemian” at the Lutheran Church?

As you read, many things, both concrete and ideational, were passed on last week. From teacher to student, student to teach and friend to friend. I think life was very productive.

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Going Home

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Today I was in Lakeway, TX and started back home midafternoon. There are two ways home, but on this day I selected the route that took me on the interstate. I thought I had selected the wrong way when the traffic was so heavy that we crawled.

Then, I noticed just a few people sitting in lawn chairs by the side of the road. Several were sitting under umbrellas and holding American flags. It seemed they were mostly retirement age citizens. As I went farther, I noticed there were more and more young people including a man who was standing with six children in the back of a pickup. Each child held an American flag.

As I got closer to Austin, the number of people beside the road changed from a few to more and finally to many. There were not only people beside the road, but also a myriad of trucks. There were big tow trucks, EMS trucks, sheriff’s vehicles and many others. Those trucks were all lined up as if to salute the front of the road and that’s when I understood. Today was the day that the body of the slain Austin Police officer, killed on the job, was processing through Austin toward San Angelo – going home. I was impressed by the number of officials that lined the route.

Approaching the road where the funeral procession would merge with the highway, it became apparent that it wasn’t just officials who had come to pay respect. Citizens of all ages lined the route. There were young mothers with their toddlers, heavily tattooed bikers, merchants and individuals in pickups, broken down vehicles and expensive cars. There appeared to be no cultural, racial, economic or age boundaries separating those who wanted to pay respect.

At the onset of my journey back to ranch, I was certain I had taken the wrong way home. Yet, by the end of my journey, having seen what pulls us together, I knew I had indeed taken the right way home.

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Sharing

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I greatly enjoyed a phone conversation last week wherein a friend from another life asked me about giftedness in five year olds. This brought back a basketful of pleasant memories from my work with young gifted children.

Today, I’m thinking about how freely the littles help one another with finding toys, building block structures and putting answers on tests. When I tested kindergarten children, we worked in small groups of no more than four or five children at a time. I was so careful to spread their tiny desks about the room where they could not see each other’s answers. Yet, they felt free to hop up and scurry to someone else’s spot for help with questions. They did this even though they clearly knew the answers. Some just moved to go and help a friend. Eventually, when I got that stopped and they realized their feet were glued to the spot they were in, the sharing still continued. I would read a question and the children would look around at one another. Then, many times one child would say “it’s the dog!” and all the others would mark the picture of the dog whether it was a good answer or not. It was really difficult to convince them that this type of sharing was not appropriate. “But,” they would counter, “Mrs. So and So tells us that we are supposed to share in class.” Hmm . . . One little guy was so vehement about announcing his answers that I had to place him in the hall where the others couldn’t hear him. I administered the test from the doorway of the classroom. Yes, little children are very slippery when it comes to testing, but they are often much better at sharing.

Lately, there has been considerable talk in the jewelry design business about just that – sharing. When can we share an idea, copy an idea, sell an idea, etc.? You can find a link to my article on the topic of copyrights and ethics at the side of the blog on the website (www.dreamcatcherranch.net/designs) or go directly to it at http://www.magpiegemstones.com/ethics.html . This short treatise basically encourages us to share techniques, but to develop our own ideas rather than copying those of others. “But everyone does it!” Part of the problem is that we’ve spent a life time, beginning in preschool, of being told that we should share. Yet, when we share an idea with someone, it is NOT OK for the person to profit from it. We have to consider intellectual property and honor the initiator.

Unfortunately, this isn’t a clear purple vs. ecru issue. I want to share and that’s why I write this blog. I hope you gain ideas from it that you will develop your own, but if you make any money from my intellectual property, how about sending me some?

As I ramble on, I would be amiss if I didn’t state that the Easter season is a good time to share. Christians share in the joy of a risen Christ and littles share the joy of hunting for Easter eggs. I hope that someone shares a good thought with you and you have a happy Easter. Below is a photo of the bunny salad my grandson and I shared with his family. You can see that I inadvertently shared some marshmallows with my little friend.

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