American artist, Tim McCreight’s lunchtime lecture at Griffith University’s Queensland College of Art certainly gave the students, teachers and associates of the Queensland College of Art Jewellery and Small Objects Studio plenty of food for thought. Arranged to coincide with his Precious Metal Clay workshop at the College, this was a not-to-be-missed opportunity to hear first-hand from the author of everyone’s workshop bible, The Complete Metalsmith.
Along with The Complete Metalsmith, McCreight has written many texts covering subject matter as diverse as knifemaking, casting, jewelry techniques, rendering and design. He has also created a number of instructional videos/DVDs that are widely respected for their clarity and breadth. McCreight runs workshops around the world, believing that teaching and writing is the best way to process information – it’s ‘learning in a fingertip way’.
McCreight first started making items to sell, until he began challenging himself to do things differently. He encouraged the group to look for rich cultural meaning in traditions and history. ‘Chasing trends is a waste of time and not very satisfying’, McCreight cautioned. ‘Make more personal pieces that can be passed along and if you’re interested in folk art – do what you like. It’s very liberating’. McCreight also stressed the value in slowing things down in the making. Planning ahead, sketching designs and working out manufacturing details are OK, but he believes it’s important to leave the door open to opportunities.
McCreight urges questioning of skills and looking for ways to use information, suggesting we constantly ask ourselves ‘now that I know how to do this skill, what do I do with that information? How can I put it into service of another idea?’ This is evident in McCreight’s penchant for using his metal skills to create and/or modify other items, for example his folding knives. While making the knives was a ‘bit of fun and a hobby’, he emphasised that it provided a sequence of learning skills and mechanisms still within the purview of jewellery-making.
Theodore Roosevelt’s quote ‘Do what you can, with what you have, where you are’ is the inspiration for McCreight to look at ways to simplify his methods. For example, he is achieving a natural patina on his metals by moving away from the ‘pickle’ – an acid compound used to remove oxidized surfaces and flux from metal after soldering – and using steel wool and fingers rather than abrasives.
Telling an astounded audience that he has cut off the legs of his bench to sit on the floor, McCreight also noted he is actively reducing the number of tools used in his practice and working with different materials. ‘Even though I’m a metalsmith, I don’t have to prove it in every piece’, he said. ‘Metalsmithing is moving beyond metal, for example with the use of leather’.
His parting advice was to ‘work on a piece with your design brain switched on – interact live and spontaneously with the piece’ and ‘shake up your practice more, for example themed exhibitions give you that slap on side of the head to get you out of your usual routine’. And so we left to go home to cut the legs off our benches and buy a cushion!
Karen Waddell
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| Tim McCreight with QCA student Karen Waddell |
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| http://www.thebeadhouse.com/Guest.html |
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| Untitled Brooch, 2009 snagmetalsmith.org |
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