my days of hand modeling are officially o-v-e-r.

I used to find solace in the fact that being an artist usually required very little in the way of math. And by very little I mean almost none. As in: I can successfully use a ruler, I can balance my checkbook, I can read the measuring cup with ease.

I’m ok with that.

Week two however introduced me (quite in depth) to official jeweler math. Not that I was unaware that it was there, just that its never been pounded into me quite so extensively in my life.

Looooooong gone are my days of artistically “winging it” or “eyeballing” anything.

Yessiree. The official system of weights and measures is called the Troy system. On top of learning a completely new weight system updownandsideways, I was also thumped with all sorts of tasty conversion scales, different metal alloys, karats and at the end of that, politely suggested to that it would be wise to learn the metric system. Apparently the common standard issue Ameri-kan way of measuring things is not only obsolete most everywhere else in the world, its antique. It doesn’t work for nearly anything I do.

Awesome

I am also getting really good at measuring whatever you can think of with my spankin new vernier calipers. For instance: my head is like, 116.8 mm wide, if I remember correctly. My friend was measuring his nose. And I caught one of my classmates measuring his kneecap.

Watch out jewelry, here we come!

I also had math homework for the first time in years. Yeeeaaarrrs. Monday night I sat down with my homework and a cup of hot cocoa (for comfort) and proceeded to panic. By the way, I had to root through three boxes of stuff to see if I even HAD a calculator anymore.









Turns out I do and it’s the exact same one I never used in high school math.





The good news is I got through the 15 conversion, weights and measures questions while sobbing and swearing in one hour and 20 minutes but I don’t know how I did yet. Stay tuned.

Does anyone know what a Florentine finish looks like? I do. This entire week at some point or another each day, I was slapping a Florentine finish on something. I had to. Our instructor said its on our first bench test in a week and a half. I florentined not one, not two, but four practice brass rings (all the way around), one of my own because I hate brass, and the sides of our mini man rings, project # 5,895. I even had a dream about it two nights ago. Come on.





Ive been sleeping, eating and breathing textures and measurement systems this week.





Pleh

Hand Injury Total for week two is as follows:

• saw blade finger slice: 1
• file slices even though I have safety edges on them:4
• minor stab wound from brand new graver: 1
• miscellaneous saran wrap serrated edge cut early thursday morning trying to wrap up sandwhich: 1.

Week three preview: two quizzes and we start with the torches! Stay tuned for burn stories!

In peace and solidarity, my friends.