Where did you get your start in the world of jewelry?
June 3, 2013 was the day I made my first piece of jewelry, I remember it quite vividly! I had just recently came across the art form of wire wrapping through a friend, and had became instantly interested. The intricacy and futuristic essence of each handmade piece really sparked my curiosity. At this point in time I was a senior in high school nearing graduation and most of the classes I had been taking were art classes, and a few were of the 3D form, I had a natural attraction to making things. I knew for a fact that there was no way in hell I could see myself taking any sort of traditional career path. At the time I was pretty heavily into music production and doing it daily as a hobby, I had progressed to a point of where I thought it could be a valid career path if I really went for it so I looked into music production schools. This hobby faded in a relatively short time following the completion of my first wire wrap, on that day of June 3, 2013.
I really had no intentions of doing jewelry as a career at this point, I just knew I enjoyed it so I continued it as a hobby. As I continued I noticed it was really something that I progressed at quite quickly and it became something I did daily and continued to do daily for some time. I came to a point where creating these little metal sculptures became my passion and I started to really start researching metal fabrication and the craft of what an actual bench jeweler does. This lead to the discovery of the school I would later attend, New Approach School for Jewelers. I decided to take the leap and enroll in their main and most intensive course, the 3 month Graduate Bench Jeweler Program. My experience there was nothing but pleasant, studying under Blaine Lewis and Drew Hadley made it possible for me to become the jeweler and artist I am currently. I went from knowing nothing about being a bench jeweler to learning the ins and outs of sawing, piercing, soldering, repairs, finishing and polishing, tool identification and use, safety practices, Stone Setting techniques and Advanced Stone Setting techniques, introduction to Ornamental Hand Engraving, Silver Fabrication, working effectively with Silver, Gold and Platinum, Platinum Fabrication, and more in a relatively short amount of time. It was hard work, eight hours a day, 5 days a week(excluding the hours I went in early to practice) but also fun and a great growing experience, still some of the best months I have experienced as a person. Plus the connections and lifelong friends I made there are priceless. Overall it was an amazing experience and I will hopefully be returning there in the future for further education. I would recommend New Approach to anyone serious about a career in the jewelry industry, if any of you have questions about the school, I would be happy to answer them, or you can contact the school and talk to them personally. Big shout out to Blaine Lewis, Drew Hadley, and Jill Lewis for making my journey there something to remember.
http://newapproachschool.com/
Post New Approach graduation (may 20th, 2015) I moved home and and setup my gear so I could get to work immediately, I started to experiment and make things right out of the gates. While I was at new approach I did not have time to really explore creatively and make my own things, as we learned and practiced new techniques almost everyday. It felt great to get home and start expressing myself freely. Through the year and up to this point I have continued to work hard and get my business and art off of the ground. It has not been easy, but nothing worth achieving is. I am proud of where I have gotten in such a small amount of time, and I would like to say thanks to anyone that has shown support to me over my journey.
(Some recent works)
What are your plans for the future?
My plans for the future are to continue moving forward with the momentum I have already created, I plan on blogging frequently and making how to/tutorial videos for my readers and followers. I will also hopefully be taking some specialized jewelry classes down the road and will continue on the never ending quest of perfecting the things I already know. More production and one of a kind jewelry will be on the way, 2016 is going to be big for William Arthur Jewelry so stay tuned.
See you guys soon,
Bill