Modern Skullsmithing

I’m making a few pieces this August.  If anyone is interested, time to visit my new site and see what’s what.   The Film/Animation side is still very much under construction.  More on that later.

I’ve gotten some tremendous feedback and support as I’ve been dealing with health stuff. I’ve been reassessing what I wanted to do, the kind of projects I want to work on, etc.  Basically it’s come down to working with the right people on the right projects within the right timeframe.  A modern strategy for skullsmithing.

I’m taking requests for pieces year round, but I’m only going to work on select projects during certain times of the year.   I’ll be offering specials and concept pieces via Facebook and Instagram (find me there through my social media links) .  For an awesome core group of regular clients who’ve sent me encouraging messages and with whom I’ve worked in the past – you know who you are – you can always get a piece made at the front of the line.

Given that my time is limited, I’ve broken things down between how I want to spend my time and how I don’t.  You all ever do this?

What I want to do:

• Make clients happy.
• Take more time to make pieces for clients.
• Make the perfect jawless skull ring.
• Get into bangles a little bit.  Something badass is waiting to happen here.
• Get into beads.  I have no fucking idea how to do this.
• Make clients happy.
• Learn to set silver into stones like all-around badass and ring-making legend Alex Streeter.  Not going to duplicate his work, but I need to get some gold lightning bolts into some black stones.
• Balance jewelry with sculpture, digital media, and the other artforms I work with.
• Make clients happy.
• Get some better packaging.

What I don’t want to do:

• Make adjustments for people who didn’t size their fingers before ordering or tried to size it themselves to save a 5 minute trip to a jewelers to have it done right.
• Talk concepts with people who can’t afford a piece to begin with.
• Rush.  The rings are done when they’re done.  4 weeks is standard. Sometimes a week less, sometimes a week more. Don’t like that?  Get some pre-fabricated tin-filled shit from Ebay and have a nice shitty life.
• Explain how veins in a stone aren’t cracks.
• Discuss projects with people who can’t spend 3 minutes looking at the website to see what kind of work I do.

Sounds like I’m being a snob, right?  Well, think about it: maybe we need to be a little more snobby.   Think about how awesome it would be if you could strip the bullshit from your own life and focus on doing things that matter to you and only interface with people who make your day-to-day life better instead of worse.  That’s what I’m doing.

So, if you’re into it, send me an email at matt@mtmaloney.com and let me know what kind of work we should be thinking about.  Meanwhile, stay tuned for updates here, on Facebook, and on my tiny little Instagram page.