Riveting Class: If at first you don't succeed...try try AGAIN!

September 29, 2015

Dear Friends,
I mentioned in my last post about my experience with Artful Gathering Online retreats.  I enjoyed two classes this past summer; Luthien Thye's class entitled "Fly With Me" and Keith LoBue's Class entitled "Rivets Revealed."

In Luthien's class we learned how to make a darling pendant that looked like a cuckoo clock.  It was fun to see other students' work and ideas and all learn together.  (See previous post.)

In the riveting class, Keith gave clear instructions on various types of rivets such as decorative rivets, tube rivets, flush or blind rivets and so forth.  We didn't make specific projects but learned techniques to accomplish our own designs.  So with a new-found understanding of how some rivets work, I will practice making them better~and that's the key, often we take a class and learn a new skill and forget that the teacher IS the teacher because they've been doing that technique for years and we, the student, need to practice.

So here are pictures of from my riveting class...see, I'm just beginning, and someday, I'll post some pictures of new and improved workmanship.  This is a vintage makeup case I wanted to make into a pendant.  The closure was broken and I attached it poorly to two more pieces of metal.  I re-riveted it four times.  The fourth time, I changed out the back metal plate so it would look better and fixed the latch. My tube rivets improved as well after taking the class.

Here are pictures of the pendant after I fixed it up.  It's still not perfectly straight, but it's a huge improvement. The picture inside of the pretty lady is my mother, Shirlee, getting ready for a high school prom in the 1950s. 

You can see I have work to do!  I also tried to make a riveted pendant from some etched metal I made and a little piece of sterling silver chain that actually moves!  It takes practice to learn new skills. The follow story is a sad example of what I'm trying to say:

Some years ago, I was in a quilting class and a woman became frustrated with how her project was going.  She compared her work to the teacher's and other students who had been sewing a lot longer than she.  She decided to leave.  I tried to coax her into staying, but nothing I said would change her mind.  As she was leaving, I thought, I knew what she felt like.  Early on when I had attended quilt shows or art shows, etc., and saw all the incredible talent of the artists, sometimes I would compare my work to theirs and discount mine.  I wondered why should I even try?  Look at all that talent out there and I'd think, "I'll never be as good as they are..." But...

I changed my attitude.  I decided I wanted to appreciate and learn from that talent out there and stopped playing "Pity Pearl" and I got to work learning, growing and enjoying trying new ideas. Now I admire so much talent out there and thoroughly enjoy looking at the amazing incredible ideas of people on Pinterest and the Web.  You people are AMAZING AND INCREDIBLE!   I just love to see what's out there in the art world!

Thank you for sharing pictures of you artwork so we can enjoy your awesomeness!

Sincerely,
Julie