Don Norris

I'm making this ring that I want to put a wide band on. The stone is a whopping beauty. It's gonna need a wide band. So, I made a wide band, and I like it, but I'm thinking it needs to be tapered somehow. Then I remember that I have a "class" on DVD that covers wide bands.

And that got me thinking about the teacher of the only metalsmithing class I have taken. Don Norris, Learn Silver. This guy is a character. I mean, you can see his style, and that's exactly what he taught us to make. I knew when I signed up for the class, that I wasn't really into his style, but I figured I could get the basics down.

And I did. I learned a lot from Don. He also sells these DVDs. They are terrible. They are all shot from dons view while he solders, or works, or whatever. Like he's holding the camera in one hand and filming while working with the other. And no editing. It's ghetto fabulous though. If you can get past all his blabbing, and his taste so not like your own, and just watch the skill he's teaching, well then you can get a basic idea of how things work.

He fancies himself quite the artistic rebel. Uses all kinds of substitutes for proper tools.
Taught us to only use hard solder. And don't be afraid to pile it on.

The truth is, there is no better teacher than trial and error and just getting out there and start trying stuff out.  Some of the things I learned from don work the way he said they would. And some of his ways just don't work for me.

So, I give you the joy that is Don Norris the only teacher I have known. Note what he is using as a bezel pusher....