February 20th, 2007 at 9:22 pm
Gordon Uyehara Interview
Gordon Uyehara (follow link to see his work) is a very talented artist working with the medium silver clay. He kindly answered my questions about his career as a jewellery artist…
1)What made you decide to take time off for your
artistic exploration?
I was totally unsatisfied with my life. I wanted to
rewind and start off without any expectations. I felt
like I was either going to take some time off or start
doing mean things to people
2)Have you always enjoyed creating art with different
materials before you discovered silver clay?
Yes. But mainly I liked to draw. I liked to fuss
around with stuff. Something just clicked with silver
clay. I couldn’t get my fill with it. You have to try
different things, and then stick with the ones you
like.
3)What area of IT did you work in before this? Did it
involve intricate work?, as your small scale design is
flawless!
Thanks! My work experience was mostly in the form of
technical support. Not too much in common but
attention to detail is important in both fields
(actually it is important in most fields).
4)How long did it take you to master silver clay?
I don’t consider myself a master. I was doing fairly
advanced work about 6 months in. I’m not satisfied
yet.
5)How do you come up with new ideas?
They mostly arrange themselves in my head - see answer
to #6. Then I sketch them out to adjust the
arrangement.
6)Why are you particularly drawn to science and
nature?
Nature is the ultimate designer. Can’t hurt to borrow
from the best. Science is infinitely interesting too.
There’s so much we don’t understand. I like science
fiction. A lot of very creative people work in that
field. What you let in comes back out in your work.
7)When you write the meanings of your pieces (e.g. The
Rhetoric of Peace), do you think of a theme beforehand
and design a piece to symbolize that meaning, or do
you make the piece and write a description based on
the chord it strikes with you?
Both. For that particular piece, I wanted to say
something about how frustrating humans are.
Other times it is just a design that comes out and
then you say it looks like so and so.
8) How hard has it been to start your own business in
jewelry design and tutoring? What were your first
steps?
Technically, I consider myself an artist rather than a
jeweler. I’m still learning the jewelry part.
I didn’t necessarily think or know I was starting a
business. I just really liked playing with metal clay.
So I spent a lot of time learning about it. Then, I
entered a lot of competitions. Still just making and
sharing my creations is my favorite thing to do but if
you want to make it into a business you just can’t
only do that. Winning awards does help with
credibility, though. When people “think” you know what
you are doing, that’s when things change.
Opportunities arise and you have to decide where you
want to take things. I got offers to teach and also
offers to write articles. Anything new is a challenge.
So the first step is to understand the process. Then
you can make things to sell and then you can teach
others about what you do.
Teaching is a challenge especially if you haven’t done
much of it before. If you are to be a successful
artist it often comes with the territory. Teaching
helps me to develop my communication skills so it
works both ways.
9)Did you need to take any business courses to do so?
I didn’t. But I would advise anyone who asked to do
so. Some are naturally good at business but few are.
10)What do you find most enjoyable about what you do?
I like to share what I’ve made.
11)What’s the most stressful thing?
Having to make it into a business.
12) Do you feel it’s important to be formally educated
when working in design?
I’m not formally educated in design but I’m a fan of
design. I’ve developed a good inner dialog. I look at
either other people’s work or my work, and I ask
myself why does this work? Or why doesn’t it work?
Usually, I can point to certain things that stand out.
All successful art, has certain things in common. A
formal education is a means to an end. If you make use
of it, then it wasn’t a waste of time.
13)What advice would you give to any budding jewelry
designers? How is it best to catch people’s attention?
Be willing to learn the fundamentals. The more
developed your repertoire the better you can express
yourself. Carefully observed the leaders in the field
and the people you admire and try to emulate their
good traits. You can catch people’s attention by being
different and developing your own unique look. Slowly
build confidence backed by real experience. When you
believe in yourself, others will too. Follow your
bliss, have fun, and share your creations!
1)What made you decide to take time off for your
artistic exploration?
I was totally unsatisfied with my life. I wanted to
rewind and start off without any expectations. I felt
like I was either going to take some time off or start
doing mean things to people
2)Have you always enjoyed creating art with different
materials before you discovered silver clay?
Yes. But mainly I liked to draw. I liked to fuss
around with stuff. Something just clicked with silver
clay. I couldn’t get my fill with it. You have to try
different things, and then stick with the ones you
like.
3)What area of IT did you work in before this? Did it
involve intricate work?, as your small scale design is
flawless!
Thanks! My work experience was mostly in the form of
technical support. Not too much in common but
attention to detail is important in both fields
(actually it is important in most fields).
4)How long did it take you to master silver clay?
I don’t consider myself a master. I was doing fairly
advanced work about 6 months in. I’m not satisfied
yet.
5)How do you come up with new ideas?
They mostly arrange themselves in my head - see answer
to #6. Then I sketch them out to adjust the
arrangement.
6)Why are you particularly drawn to science and
nature?
Nature is the ultimate designer. Can’t hurt to borrow
from the best. Science is infinitely interesting too.
There’s so much we don’t understand. I like science
fiction. A lot of very creative people work in that
field. What you let in comes back out in your work.
7)When you write the meanings of your pieces (e.g. The
Rhetoric of Peace), do you think of a theme beforehand
and design a piece to symbolize that meaning, or do
you make the piece and write a description based on
the chord it strikes with you?
Both. For that particular piece, I wanted to say
something about how frustrating humans are.
Other times it is just a design that comes out and
then you say it looks like so and so.
8
jewelry design and tutoring? What were your first
steps?
Technically, I consider myself an artist rather than a
jeweler. I’m still learning the jewelry part.
I didn’t necessarily think or know I was starting a
business. I just really liked playing with metal clay.
So I spent a lot of time learning about it. Then, I
entered a lot of competitions. Still just making and
sharing my creations is my favorite thing to do but if
you want to make it into a business you just can’t
only do that. Winning awards does help with
credibility, though. When people “think” you know what
you are doing, that’s when things change.
Opportunities arise and you have to decide where you
want to take things. I got offers to teach and also
offers to write articles. Anything new is a challenge.
So the first step is to understand the process. Then
you can make things to sell and then you can teach
others about what you do.
Teaching is a challenge especially if you haven’t done
much of it before. If you are to be a successful
artist it often comes with the territory. Teaching
helps me to develop my communication skills so it
works both ways.
9)Did you need to take any business courses to do so?
I didn’t. But I would advise anyone who asked to do
so. Some are naturally good at business but few are.
10)What do you find most enjoyable about what you do?
I like to share what I’ve made.
11)What’s the most stressful thing?
Having to make it into a business.
12) Do you feel it’s important to be formally educated
when working in design?
I’m not formally educated in design but I’m a fan of
design. I’ve developed a good inner dialog. I look at
either other people’s work or my work, and I ask
myself why does this work? Or why doesn’t it work?
Usually, I can point to certain things that stand out.
All successful art, has certain things in common. A
formal education is a means to an end. If you make use
of it, then it wasn’t a waste of time.
13)What advice would you give to any budding jewelry
designers? How is it best to catch people’s attention?
Be willing to learn the fundamentals. The more
developed your repertoire the better you can express
yourself. Carefully observed the leaders in the field
and the people you admire and try to emulate their
good traits. You can catch people’s attention by being
different and developing your own unique look. Slowly
build confidence backed by real experience. When you
believe in yourself, others will too. Follow your
bliss, have fun, and share your creations!
This entry was posted on Tuesday, February 20th, 2007 at 9:22 pm and is filed under The Journey.
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