Today we’d like to introduce you to Dina Post.
Hi Dina, so excited to have you on the platform. So before we get into questions about your work-life, maybe you can bring our readers up to speed on your story and how you got to where you are today?
I have always loved to create. When I was a little girl, I’d cut, paste, draw, paint, garden — it didn’t matter what the medium. I enjoy all of it. Both my parents are artistic as well, so I had wonderful role models and artistic genes. They never indulged my brothers or me with expensive supplies. The box of 24 crayons was plenty as opposed to the box of 64 with the sharpener in the back of the box (which I desperately wanted.) I think this forced me to look around and be creative with what I could find. For example, I wanted a paint spinner that I saw in a toy catalog. I knew there wasn’t a chance I’d get it, so I looked for a way to make it. I found an old children’s record player: this could work was a paint spinner! As I got older, through trial and error, guidance and encouragement, I continued to try other mediums but eventually settled into becoming a metalsmith. I went to a jewelry symposium at the Grand Marais Art Colony with no background in making jewelry — only a love of jewelry design. I didn’t even know how to put a blade in my saw. The instructors and professional metalsmiths at the symposium were so kind and patient. I left there inspired but with only a few simple tools and nowhere to work. Next, I signed up for a workshop at Seventh and Stone taught by Barb Stellmach. It was the first class I took and the first class Barb taught. I came home with a ring I designed — the creation of which heavily mentored by Barb who with endless patience helped me realize what I had envisioned. When my husband saw it, he said, “I’m making you a jewelry studio!” He set me up with all the basics, and I was off and running. There was a HUGE learning curve, but I was so lucky and to have wonderful mentors and instructors who helped and advised me: Lissa Flemming of Silverwaves Jewelry, Grace Hogan, Shira Brown, Nicole Ringgold, Richard Salley and many others encouraged and supported me while also pushing me to take chances and try new things.
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
When learning anything new, there are going to be struggles with good days and bad, successes and disasters. Like all metalsmiths, I’ve held the torch on the silver a second too long and melted my project. I have cracked and gouged stones when setting them, which is the final step in making a piece of jewelry resulting in a massive loss of time and materials. I made some ugly jewelry when I started. It was incredibly frustrating until my friend and mentor, Lissa Fleming, said, “But what did you learn?” This has been my mantra when things go awry. What Lissa taught me is that there aren’t failures but steps in the learning process.
Another big challenge I face is marketing and promoting my work. I like taking pictures using plants and flowers from my garden to enhance each piece, but putting pictures on social media, trying to keep a website updated, pricing, and self promotion is very time consuming but real and necessary parts of being a jeweler. These things are not my strengths, but I am working to improve at all of them.
As you know, we’re big fans of you and your work. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about what you do?
I work mostly with sterling silver although I am trying to incorporate some gold as well. I rarely repeat a design. I’m in a somewhat enviable position where I can take time to create and make art — when I have can. I’m a full time English teacher and also build and maintain gardens for many clients in the summer, so it’s like having three jobs at once. I don’t work quickly, but I put a lot of time, care, and love into each piece, making it unique. I like to add a little something special on the back of the piece. Even if the design is never seen by anyone other than the one who wears the piece, a little touch on the back emphasizes the love and attention to detail I like to incorporate in each design.
My livelihood is not solely dependent upon making jewelry, but that also means that my main job — English teacher — also doesn’t allow me a lot of time to create. Sometimes I can be away from my bench for weeks while I grade middle school essays. It is fun, though, to have other passions outside of teaching. It’s something I can bring into the classroom and show kids that I’m more than just classic novels and punctuation.
I also LOVE stones — small and large. Each one is unique, and you’ll never see that same stone again, which is why I’ve developed a stone addiction, which is something most jewelers succumb to. When I find a stone, I love to honor it with a design worthy of the stone’s natural beauty. I also like to purchase my stones from lapidary artists who also put the time, love, and attention into each stone they cut. Abby Schafer at Northern Raven Studios is one of my go-to lapidary artists who also sees each stone she selects as cuts as a precious piece of art. It’s wonderful to collaborate with another artist.
When I design gardens, likewise, one of my favorite things to do is work with stone either to build a small wall or to incorporate them like pieces of sculpture into the garden design.
We love surprises, fun facts and unexpected stories. Is there something you can share that might surprise us?
Working with metal is science, art, and precision. Metalsmithing is a somewhat unforgiving artistic medium. With drawing or painting, I can go back and rework, but it’s a little harder to do that with metal. When creating a bezel (the silver band around a stone), the ends have to meet perfectly before soldering. Then the bezel has to be perfectly level on the back plate before soldering, which was so challenging as I began working with silver. I have always been drawn to the arts, but working with metal definitely pushes one toward the science of how heat affects metal. As one drawn to the arts and humanities, the science/physics portion of working with metal has been a little out of my area of expertise.
I always dreamed of some day having an art show. I have some of my work in Siiviis Gallery in Duluth and 47 Degrees Gallery in Knife River, but I have never had a solo show. What I discovered with my gardening, however, is gardens are my art show. I have gardens all around my house which is on a busy street. So many people stop by and tell me how much they love the flowers. This is the best part of gardening — my other artistic passion. Gardens make people happy, and I delight in that. One of the most touching examples of this is a time someone stopped by with a friend who was suffering from Ahlzheimer’s. This woman sat in my garden, listening to the water features and looking at all the color and texture of the plants. I was told later that the woman struggled to remember her child’s name but could recall the details of my garden. I think immersing oneself in beauty touches and nourishes the soul. A lovingly maintained garden or a piece of jewelry can bring a sense of awe, wonder, and peace to others. That is what I love most about being an artist. These two artistic passions — jewelry and gardens — are how I arrived at the name of my business: Silver & Soil.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://steveharrisauthor.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/postdina/
- Email: postdina@yahoo.com
