are you my guru?
you may have caught the odd emphasis here and there of a teeny (big) mention about a master goldsmith, Jurgen Schonheit of forge and form on granville island, vancouver that I've taken a shine to? he is my personal goldsmith that created me and my husband's wedding bands many moons ago. pleasantly for years I visit him to re-brush the finish of our bands and I sneak in the suggestion of apprenticing under him. he normally shrugged it off, maybe threw in a little chuckle like I was on drugs. up until this year, he bit the love bait (must of been that charismatic charm I ooze!) and genuinely offered to teach me the craft of silversmithing (hand forging silver into cutlery, bowls) from a freshly poured silver ingot forged into the final piece.
since the start of that guidance I have moved into his heart as he has in mine, I travel many miles from fort langley to granville island to spend this cherished time with him, it began as a once a week little gig and it has thrived into a regiment of even three times a week, and now bloomed into learning the phenomenal craft of goldsmithing to a deeper level. he is my master. the gratitude I have for this incredible human is immeasurable.
I once asked him "why me Jurgen? I've never gone to school or studied this, I'm just self taught" he looked at me and said "your husband never went to school to be a builder, yet he single-handedly built your home; you need not have to school yourself into a skill or profession, the only qualities you necessarily need is the passion and yearning for it. I have had hundreds of students enter thru my doors to be an apprentice, and none held the gleam in their eyes and the passion in their heart as you have olympia, that is why you are welcomed here" well that made my heart swell with gratitude and then some!
when Jurgen was 14 he enrolled in the goldsmithing trade in Germany, he carried on into Sweden to hone his craft of silversmithing, fourteen years old. fourteen! he only chose goldsmithing as his mother promised to pay for his driving school if he graduated as a goldsmith. when he sat in his classroom that first day of school, his master said "before you begin to learn the art of making jewelry you first must make your own tools" and that's how the story goes. 25,000 hours later, he has earned his master goldsmith credential honorably, and undeniably one of the best using old world goldsmithing techniques.
my time with him is precious, I listen I ask I learn I do and in between we giggle, we eat (we eat a lot!) we tell stories and we kiss kiss hello and kiss kiss goodbye. I am blessed to have him in my world. I may never be a master goldsmith but I am honored to have the best one in my life.
they say you never look for your guru. when you are ready, your guru finds you.
miracles do happen xo O
september 2015
