The informal poll for the question: "Is a metal clay artist a metalsmith?" Raised a lot of comments and differences of opinion. I suppose it is who you ask...Ask a metal smith that works in only sheet metal, and they say more often- no-
Ask someone who works with many forms of metal ie. wire & sheet, the answer is -artist
Ask someone who works with different mediums- they more often say, yes, metalsmith.
So, the dictionary offers this as an insight:
A person skilled in metalworking and the term has been around since the 14th century...
Metalworking is described as:
The act or process of shaping things out of metal.
The first known use of the word metalworking... was in 1855... how is that? How did no one use the term before that?
So, I put the poll to the group Aspiring Metalsmiths... and it came out as what I expected it to be...
They thought overwhelmingly (50%) that someone working with metal clay is a mixed medium artist. The rest of polled group answers were varying, one said it's just another form of moving metal... which I took to mean metalsmith... 10 answered that they were clay artists, 9- metalsmith, and 4 gave me justifications of why they thought they were mixed medium artists...
Now, ask someone who works in Metal Clay what they would be called... and most would answer that they are metalsmiths... or jewelry artists... or Metal Clay Artists...
I only did an informal poll questioning people who work in this medium.
In the metal working world, there is a snobbery... I guess it happens in every walk of life... I belong to a lot of groups on the internet, and there is that same form of snobbery in each group... whether it is metal working group, Civil War Reenacting group, Celtic Mythology groups... Archaeology groups... There is always someone that will argue that what they do is pure... and should remain untouched...
I guess that is the way with metal smiths.
They want their form of working with metal to remain untouched...but... you have to admit that there are some workers in metal clay that will rival a good wax carver...
And isn't a person who makes jewelry out of lost wax process still considered a metalsmith?
When fired correctly, the Pure Silver clay will come out as .999pure silver.
Now... to me, silver ingot, silver wire... silver is silver... and if you can set a stone in it, or hammer it... solder it... it is metal.
Bronze, copper, sterling... all come in form of metal clay. When they come out of firing... they are bronze, copper, sterling...
So...the controversy rages on....
Ask someone who works with many forms of metal ie. wire & sheet, the answer is -artist
Ask someone who works with different mediums- they more often say, yes, metalsmith.
So, the dictionary offers this as an insight:
A person skilled in metalworking and the term has been around since the 14th century...
Metalworking is described as:
The act or process of shaping things out of metal.
The first known use of the word metalworking... was in 1855... how is that? How did no one use the term before that?
So, I put the poll to the group Aspiring Metalsmiths... and it came out as what I expected it to be...
They thought overwhelmingly (50%) that someone working with metal clay is a mixed medium artist. The rest of polled group answers were varying, one said it's just another form of moving metal... which I took to mean metalsmith... 10 answered that they were clay artists, 9- metalsmith, and 4 gave me justifications of why they thought they were mixed medium artists...
Now, ask someone who works in Metal Clay what they would be called... and most would answer that they are metalsmiths... or jewelry artists... or Metal Clay Artists...
I only did an informal poll questioning people who work in this medium.
In the metal working world, there is a snobbery... I guess it happens in every walk of life... I belong to a lot of groups on the internet, and there is that same form of snobbery in each group... whether it is metal working group, Civil War Reenacting group, Celtic Mythology groups... Archaeology groups... There is always someone that will argue that what they do is pure... and should remain untouched...
I guess that is the way with metal smiths.
They want their form of working with metal to remain untouched...but... you have to admit that there are some workers in metal clay that will rival a good wax carver...
And isn't a person who makes jewelry out of lost wax process still considered a metalsmith?
When fired correctly, the Pure Silver clay will come out as .999pure silver.
Now... to me, silver ingot, silver wire... silver is silver... and if you can set a stone in it, or hammer it... solder it... it is metal.
Bronze, copper, sterling... all come in form of metal clay. When they come out of firing... they are bronze, copper, sterling...
So...the controversy rages on....
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