The Ring a Day Project has been a long journey for most of the artists involved. It is emotional, exhausting, compelling, invigorating, and just plain hard. There are about 20 metalsmiths who are still making their ring daily.Thomasin Durginwas kind enough to give us an interview.
Thomasin Durgin's "Crown of Thorns Cilice Ring" RAD 31
SW: Please tell us a bit about yourself and your background in metalsmithing. TD: I have an MFA in Fiber Art and didn't begin working with metal until three years ago, I am a collector of mid-century modernist jewelry and was finally inspired to make my own pieces. I took a three-week Introduction to Jewelry Making class and have been teaching myself ever since. I am very much a beginner, I have lots of learning and many tools ahead of me.
SW: How did you hear about the EtsyMetal’s Ring a Day project initiated by Nina Dinoff? TD: Nina is a friend, and we are both members of EtsyMetal. Nina presented her idea to the team and those interested took up the challenge.
SW: What compelled you to participate and persist in this endeavor? TD: I have a notoriously hard time with daily discipline and maintaining a commitment to long-term projects. I have challenged myself to make something specific every day many times in the past, but never for longer than 31 consecutive days. I thought I'd give 365 a try.
SW: When did you start this project? TD: On January 6, 2010. Victoria Takahashi talked me into, after 100 rings she dropped out and I still miss her. [Victoria has since rejoined the project].
SW: How many rings have you made to date? TD: 229 [when this interview was submitted Thomasin's rings were up-to-date, she is now at 244]
Thomasin Durgin, "Ring for Haiti" RAD 13
SW. What is your favorite ring that you made and why? TD: I don't have a single favorite, but I am really glad I made my Ring for Haiti on the day the terrible earthquake hit that country. That ring led to a fundraiser auction of other rings to benefit Haiti, and I made lots of great new metalsmith friends in the process. We raised $1780 in total and many of the rings auctioned were from the RAD project.
SW: What was your least favorite ring that you made and why? TD: One day I was out of time, so I cut a ring from a piece of bamboo I had collected from the street while walking my dogs. That felt like a cop out. There are other rings that I made terrible mistakes on - broken stones, bezels that were too large or small, etc. - but they don't disappoint me because at least I tried to create something.
Thomasin Durgin, "RAD 153"
SW: How have you changed as an artist since you began this project? TD: I've been working as an artist for a long time, this experience has not changed my process or how I approach my work, it's simply another avenue for me. I do think that some of my metal skills have improved since I took on the challenge, possibly more rapidly than they would have if I weren't doing RAD.
SW: Has your involvement in RAD affected your business? TD: Yes - and not in a good way! I do not care to ever create the same thing twice, yet I have to make those "bread and butter" items to pay the bills. I'd much rather spend three hours on a conceptual piece for exhibition than on boring production work that I can actually sell, and I often do. It's quite a problem, actually.
Thomasin Durgin, "Bad Girl Button Ring" RAD 9
SW: What advice would you give to anyone who wanted to participate? TD: Run! Flee! Save yourself!
Just kidding. For myself, this project is about the long haul, a ring a day for a year, period. If someone takes the challenge that far they will find themselves in a very small and welcoming group of people who support each other on a daily basis. We all look at each other's rings and leave comments every day. Giving feedback and supporting the others has become just as important to me as making my rings, and without all of those special people I would not be able to keep going.
SW: Where can people buy your jewelry online? TD: I mostly sell in galleries and at art festivals, but I do have an esty shop, and plans to add a shopping cart to my web site thomasin.com soon.
Thomasin Durgin, "RAD 151"
SW: What one idea or thing inspires you most in your work? TD: I am most interested in making conceptual art, much of my work is political in nature and lately I have been focusing on the Deepwater Horizon spill and the torture at Abu Ghraib prison. I also make wearable jewelry that is firmly rooted in craft and I enjoy that as well, but I consider those pieces to be design and don't refer to them as art.
SW: Would you like to tell us anything else? TD: Nope.
Thanks Tomi!!! You have been an inspiration to us all!
The Ring a Day Project has been a long journey for most of the artists involved. It is emotional, exhausting, compelling, invigorating, and just plain hard. There are about 20 metalsmiths who are still making their ring daily. Evelyn Markasky was kind enough to give us an interview.
Evelyn Markasky, Ring #182 & #183
SW: Please tell us a bit about yourself and your background in metalsmithing. EM: I graduated from college with a BFA in Sculpture from a small college in Ohio. I took my first jewelry-making classes there and also a metal sculpture class where I learned welding. There was only me and one other woman in the class. We eventually became very good friends, but during that quarter, because of all the safety headgear and clothing we had to wear, our conversation was mostly “Would you pass the striker please?” This was during the 70’s, and we eventually moved on to more bizarre and conceptual types of art. Then I had 3 children and my art took a different turn in the form of a family. After the last one became a teenager I started getting back into metal work and enameling, taking some workshops in the area. I teach a little and sell a little and then I became obsessed with the Ring a Day!
SW: How did you hear about the EtsyMetal’s Ring a Day project initiated by Nina Dinoff?EM: I had been a Flickr member for a while and already a contact with a few Ring a Day people, like Maria. I began to notice this funny code-like number and letters coming up with Maria’s photos. So I asked her about it and she explained about the project and invited me to join.
Evelyn Markaksy, Ring #198
SW: What compelled you to participate and persist in this endeavor? EM: Well, I had been watching Maria’s rings and photos evolving in just a month’s time. I know that if you do something everyday, almost anything, that you will eventually get better at it and I really wanted to be a part of that process. Also, I have always had a hard time staying committed to any one thing. My mother’s voice in the back of my head from when I was a little girl saying ‘you never finish anything.’ I wanted to do something like this and follow it through to the end, to prove to myself that I could commit!! Ring a Day also makes you accountable. There are people that will see your ring – every day. It motivates me more when I know there are people out there that will know if I did it or not, more so than me trying to think up a project of this length and trying to do it all by myself.
SW: When did you start this project? EM: I joined the group on February 6, 2010.
SW: How many rings have you made to date? EM: The more I participated the more I wanted to be able to finish with 365 rings with everyone else, so I became obsessed until I caught up. So as of today, 8/17/10 I have made 229 rings!
SW: What is your favorite ring that you made and why? EM: Eeee! That’s like trying to pick your favorite child!! RAD gives you that latitude to be able to try and work out many different techniques, so some I like because of the process, some because of the way they look, and some because of the meaning or symbology. But I guess if I had to pick one… I would pick #183, my sick ring! I had had this horrible cold – sore throat and cough – for about 3 weeks and I had to make a functional ring for a RAD spin-off group. So I made a cough syrup cup ring, with words describing the crap they put in medications. It was the first ring in a while that I actually took time to fabricate and think about and it marked a turning point in starting to feel better. I guess I just liked the way it looked and was put together. I know you didn’t ask… but 2nd favorite would be the anticlastic rings with enamel like #198. I am addicted to hammering the form and am enjoying finding new ways to work with it.
Evelyn Markasky, Ring # 37
SW: What was your least favorite ring that you made and why? EM: That’s hard to say too, because even when a ring didn’t come out like I may have intended, or fell apart, or just looked weird, I still learned something from making it. But if I have to choose, I’d pick #37 (and hope that #37 doesn’t feel insulted!) I like it least because of the craftsmanship. It was lumpy and not filed and sanded very well. However, it was also a turning point, because I started to realize that even if I’m making a quick ring or a simple ring, it should be done well. That’s when I started looking more closely at what I was doing and trying to work harder on the technical aspects. Not that everything I do comes out perfectly, but that I have that more as a goal now. Thank you #37.
SW: How have you changed as an artist since you began this project? EM: My mind and thinking has been stretched to dimensions I never thought existed! I’ve gotten better technically and have tried things I wouldn’t have tried before. It keeps me fresh, which is sometimes difficult to do when you are isolated working alone in your studio.
SW: Has your involvement in RAD affected your business? EM: One way it has affected my business is that I’m so obsessed with doing a ring a day, that I have let a lot of my online posting slide! But because of the creativity and new work that has evolved from Ring a Day, I have been accepted into shows and sold more work locally.
SW: What advice would you give to anyone who wanted to participate? EM: Do it, whether you commit to a ring every day or not. The commitment is personal, no one in the group minds if you post every day or every month or even just once or twice.It’s like taking an intensive college course online. Its not necessarily always fun. Sometimes it hurts to think. And sometimes the frustration of having to make a ring every day when maybe you just don’t want to, is necessary to move to a new level. And the support you get from the other members is phenomenal.
SW: What one idea or thing inspires you most in your work? EM: Organic shapes/designs. I love taking a piece of cold, hard metal and turning it into something soft and organic by hammering, folding, forming, and coloring.
SW: Would you like to tell us anything else?EM: I started doing Ring a Day with the idea that I would get better at metalwork and better at taking photos. Both of those things have happened. What I didn’t realize would happen is the camaraderie, friendships, and support through this group. It seems like at some point someone will post that they are uninspired, tired of making rings, wanting to quit, etc. (I know I was one of those people) and then you get these great supportive comments from people loving your work and encouraging you to keep going (whether its ring a day or not). No judgment or negative criticism, just supportive comments from people going through a similar experience, but maybe on a different place in the road.Sometimes it feels like a group of artists gathering and discussing ideas and art and families and health, only instead of sitting in some little café we are on the internet and we live all over the world. I have made friends and connections with people that I wouldn’t have if I hadn’t joined Ring a Day. I knew some of these people as contacts on Flickr, but Ring a Day did something that brought people together in a different way and connected them.Thank you Nina Dinoff!!
Thomasin Durgin's "Crown of Thorns Cilice Ring" RAD 31
Thomasin Durgin, "Ring for Haiti" RAD 13
Thomasin Durgin, "RAD 153"
Thomasin Durgin, "Bad Girl Button Ring" RAD 9
Thomasin Durgin, "RAD 151"
Thomasin Durgin, "RAD 208"
