Sterling Buckle by Sam Patania
I was fortunate to be born into a family which makes jewelry and to have fallen in love with the work. There are many ways to learn the craft of jewelry, I was apprenticed to my father as he was to his father. All three generations have made many pieces which were not considered art work but which show pride in craftsmanship.
In my art work I often have no idea what the end product is going to be exactly. In a piece like the pictured buckle I have many examples to compare it to. My grandfather designed this buckle and I have no idea how many have been made over the past 60 years. I was taught by my dad and Dan Enos, both of whom had made many of these themselves, to cut initials and fabricate this buckle. Initial cutting is not creative work when the design was done 60 years ago. The challenge to make this buckle is to maintain the standards that the past generations have set. I don’t want to make this buckle which can be identified as mine, it has to be a continuation of a tradition.
This buckle has been ordered by a client to have their loved one’s initials on it but to be the same quality she has seen in the same buckle from past years. In that way it is no different that the other buckles with initials I have made. I have made buckles with the clients cattle brands and other symbols that I had no part in designing. As a craftsman I need to take the client’s ideas and turn it into jewelry. I really appreciate this work, I appreciate the trust people have in me to make high quality work with their symbols.
Pin by Sam Patania
This pin was commissioned to be in 18 karat gold and set with sapphire. The metal, stone and design all had important symbolism for the client. It was ordered on a deadline which didn’t allow me to communicate with the client very much but, he trusted I would be able to make a piece up to his standards. I love that. I really appreciate the amount if trust I encounter in this business with both clients and suppliers.
Sterling Buckle by Sam Patania
This buckle had the cattle brand of a local rancher. He was able to provide his own art work, all I had to do was make a vertical design into a horizontal buckle. I made the buckle out of heavy sterling to last generations. Many of the projects I am commissioned to work on only require I be able to work out the engineering of the piece and turn a client’s ideas into jewelry.
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