4 Projects a Month

For many of us the beginning of the year dawns with idealistic and hopeful resolutions, pointing to a potentially happier and more content version of ourselves. The truth is many of our resolutions actually involve a lot of struggle and work, and while the end results can yield a certain sense of accomplishment the road to is littered with the reality of daily living.

As an artist, I think it's essential to sit down at least once a year and set some short term and long term goals. Last year most of my goals involved being a little more courageous with sharing my work, engaging in more online forums, and submitting work to exhibitions and competitions. These goals were set without an expectation of specific outcome, meaning I didn't set out to be the brightest star in the sky, I just set out to participate. While many of these attempts yielded incredibly positive results, some of them did fall flat causing internal struggles to find my balance. So it goes, and I must admit I learned a great deal from the disappointments as well as the accomplishments.

As December came to a close, I sat down and really pondered what I wanted to accomplish for 2012. I realized that I wouldn't be where I am in my medium if it weren't for the wiliness of other artists to share their techniques and skills. You see, I work in metal clay primarily, a medium that's in it's infancy at best. As with many new mediums it's validity and worth are yet to be determined, and while this may be a draw back to many, to me it's fertile ground for innovation and invention.

How can I foster this spirit of innovation? This is my goal for the year; to share and become part of the community that lays a foundation for the medium's growth. My resolution? Four times a month I will breakdown four projects. Whatever is on my bench, whatever project I'm working on, I will photograph the process and explain the steps. I can't make any promises on my grammar or spelling, but I can promise to engage in this commitment with sincerity, openness, and a sense of humor.

While this may be a loftily commitment and goal, I endeavor to present it to as many people as possible, and they in turn, will help me find the push to fulfill this new year's resolution. So, here is it is, my first 4PAM (4 Projects a Month) post: Last year I produced a video tutorial on making extruded metal clay hinges, I figured a tutorial on how to install said extruded hinge would be a great way to start off the year. Here are both tutorials, forgive my tendency to make up words, and my poor use of the english language.

Hinge Extrusion Video:

http://crafthaus.ning.com/video/metal-clay-hinge

To download the full PDF: https://docs.google.com/open?id=0B9Jm091jwDEGMDY1NTUyNDQtMzMwZi00OD...