Handmade or the Art of Getting Dirty

I do love to get my hands dirty. Let it be jewelry making, building little projects around the house or digging in the dirt in the garden. There is something very satisfying about using your own hands to create things, way more fulfilling than moving the computer mouse around. Handmade means dirty hands to some extent.

These hands are always rough, never really clean. Polishing compound seems to be burned into the skin pores. Soon enough I won't have any finger prints anymore because I tent to polish off the skin when finishing a ring. Hands that have cuts, nicks, burn marks and bruises. They hurt after a productive day in the studio. They get a treatment in a hot paraffin bath on some days if the pain gets too much (highly recommended mini spa treatment :)).

If I continue jewelry making for the next 30 years I imagine my hands to look like these:

Beautiful photo by Yellow Sky Photography : Jeweler's Hands - Hands that made jewelry for 35 years. These days they spend most of their time holding mugs of hot coffee.


PS: Love his sweater too, looks very comfortable.