13

Sundown 

Todays sunset was pretty amazing, the sky and just over all atmosphere around that 20 minutes of the sun setting was so electric. Everything had this amazing color to it. I was able to grab my camera and take a few shots while it was still going good. Here is what I got.

The sky was such an amazing color, we probably only have a handful of sunsets like this a year. I wish I could have stayed and watched it longer or gone to get a better view but I had work to do, oh well.

The color was so amazing that i started to play around with the pictures a bit.

Then I made a few that were fitting for Friday the 13th.

Not only was the color of the sky amazing, the texture of the clouds was also remarkable. Just look at this B&W picture to get the real sense of it.

Anyway, I hope you were somewhere where you could look out and see the sunset today too. If not I'm sure there were a lot of people posting pictures of it on facebook for you to see.

12

Work

I really like watching, and listening to TED talks. They always have such a wide variety of people giving talks from every sort of background you always hear something that will make you think. It's a great way to learn about new things or to hear something that will make you think twice about something.

I watched one TED talk recently that really hit home with something I believe in. The value of work. It was given by Mike Rowe from that Dirty Jobs show. He gives his insight into what he has learned over the years spending time with all sorts of working people. Watch below.

Skilled labor really is lacking these days. It's amazing how many people don't even know how to repair the simplest thing in their house. I think it is really important to know how to fix things, or at least know how something you use works. Well, I guess most things in people homes these days cant really be repaired. Most TV's, microwaves, and almost all modern appliances are not really meant to be repaired when they break, just replaced. Maybe this is one of the causes of the decline of skilled labor. When I say skilled labor, i really mean people who have the knowledge to make and repair things, generally. It seems like with every generation a little more and more of skilled labor gets lost. There must be a point where everything just starts falling apart because no one knows how to fix anything anymore. Hopefully not. This is kind of why I want to become a teacher. I want to teach people how to make things and work with their hands. I think it's really important.

11

Hand Drill

I recently bought a "new" hand drill at the Fremont Market. My old hand drill was starting to wear out so when I saw this one I knew I had to get it. This new one is even older then my old one but it is built like a tank. I haven't been able to pin point the drills date but the company that made it was the Granit Tool Comp. and was made in either Germany or New York. Whenever it was made, this thing was built to last. It has a really smooth action and the gears look almost brand new. It has either not been used that much or it was really well taken care of. I'm sure I will have it for many years.

I use a hand drill mostly because I like the feel and control it gives me when I'm working on small pieces. A power drill can quickly damage a piece. I use this drill with all my rings to drill at least one hole and on a lot of my pendants as well. Pretty much the only power tool I use to make my rings is a dremel, if I could only find a hand powered dremel then I would be set.

10

Around The World

I had my first order from my Etsy shop for this year today, and it's all the way from Denmark. Hjørring in Vendsyssel to be exact. So I thought today I would go back and see just where I have sent one of my pieces to around the world. Here is a list of cities and countries I have sent one of my pieces off to. 


Canada
Calgary, AB

Denmark
Hjørring, Vendsyssel 

Italy
Bari, Bari

Switzerland
Genève


United States 

Arizona
Tucson 

California
Antelope, Goleta, Oakland, Riverside, Santa Barbara

Connecticut
Norwalk

Georgia 
Athens, Cleveland, Savannah

Illinois
Chicago, West Chicago

Kentucky
Danville

Massachusetts
Boston

Michigan
Clinton Township, Grayling, Rochester Hills

North Carolina
Moyock

New Hampshire
Manchester

New Jersey
Eastampton

New York
Baldwinsville\, Bronx, N Bellmore, New York, West Babylon

Nevada 
Henderson

Oregon
Portland, Eugene

Pennsylvania
Philadelphia

Texas
Plano

Utah
Salt Lake City

Virginia
Virginia Beach

Washington
Aberdeen, Lynnwood, Renton, Seattle, Puyallup

I guess 19 out of 50 states aint so bad, well maybe 5 out of 257 countries needs a little work. I guess my goal should be to go down the list and try and knock off each state and country one by one. So look out Alabama, Alaska, American Samoa, Arkansas, Colorado, Delaware, District of Columbia, Florida, Guam, Hawaii, Idaho, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Louisiana, Maine, Maryland,  Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri     Montana, Nebraska, New Mexico, North Carolina, North Dakota, Northern Marianas Islands, Ohio, Oklahoma, Puerto Rico, Rhode Island, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Vermont, Virgin Islands, West Virginia, Wisconsin, Wyoming and then Afghanistan, Akrotiri, Albania, Algeria, yada yada yada, ect. the rest. 

It's interesting to think about all the things I've made and where about in the world they are. Maybe even the people who bought one of my rings wore it with them on a journey they took. It would be nice if my rings sent me post cards letting me know where they are and how they are doing.

9

PressPausePlay

PressPausePlay is a film about how advances made in technology have brought forth a world where anyone can be creative if they want. It's about how technology has broken down walls so now the creative process is no longer a mystery. Everyone can be an artist. The problem with that is with so many people creating it can be easy to get lost in the crowd. With so many things out there to look at and discover it is impossible to see it all and some people will inevitably get overlooked where 10 or 20 years ago they might have been on top. Technology has made things easier and lets more people create but it then makes it harder for anyone to get ahead and noticed. The digital revolution has left talent in the dust. Technology can create mediocrity. I think it's an interesting problem that isn't talked about all that much. The real question is what comes after the digital revolution?

The digital revolution of the last decade has unleashed creativity and talent in an unprecedented way, with unlimited opportunities.

But does democratized culture mean better art or is true talent instead drowned out? This is the question addressed by PressPausePlay, a documentary film containing interviews with some of the world's most influential creators of the digital era.

8

Facebook Page

So I created a facebook page, I'm still not exactly sure why or even if I will use it all that much but it seemed like a good idea at the time. I'm still trying to figure it all out myself but if you would like to like it i guess you like go to the page and like click the like button or something. To go to the page just type in Ian Gill in facebook search and look for my page or just go here. I think it should be visible to everyone . If not then I need to figure that out.

I guess having a page will let people I'm not friends with follow me, for some reason. I'm still trying to figure out the whole linking up etsy and the page so that when I post an item in my etsy it will show up on that page, i think you can do that. Even though I don't really understand it much I figured I should do it to help people who would like to keep on top of my etsy and flickr and vimeo stuff have one place to go and look and then share it with others as well. I guess that's what it is for. It kind of goes in to my goal this year of getting my work out there more and letting people know better who I am and what I make. So far I have been keeping true to my goal of blogging every day and I have also been making at least one ring a day, mostly 2. It's been over a week so far and there have been some nights I didn't think I would make it to blog or have time to make a ring but I just bite the bullet and do it. I'm getting pretty fast at making rings too, and I'm back in the swing of blogging so I guess that is good.

So anyway, if you want to join my facebook page that cool, I guess. Maybe I'll figure out how to make it better and more user friendly but for right now it's pretty sparse.


P.S. Here is a completely random video to watch

Style Ledger takes a look at American manufacturing, with a focus on the Martin Greenfield factory in Brooklyn.

7

Gillville Christmas

This years Gillville Christmas was pretty much like every other year. Everyone shows up, drinks and talks for awhile, then we eat some great food and drink some more, then we talk and drink for a little while longer. Then comes the inevitable photo session. This never goes very well. There are usually 10 people taking pictures which means that everyone is looking in a different direction. This happens every year.

It usually starts off small with someone taking some small group shots.

Then more people get drawn into the room.

At first there is mostly just confusion

Which quickly turns into chaos

It's hard to get a good shot of everyone all at once

Take 2

Take 6

Take 19

I give up

Well, with all the photos I took I was bound to get at least 1 or 2 decent shots.

I guess this is where I should apologize to all my aunts and uncles, mostly my aunts, for all the terrible pictures I took and posted of them. Sorry.