Tell us a bit about yourself (name, location, affiliations, personal stuff)
My name is Zachary Goldsmith and I currently live with my family in historic New Castle, Alabama near Birmingham. I am a student at the University of Alabama in Birmingham where I am seeking an undergraduate degree in chemistry. My ultimate goal after I earn my bachelor's degree is to attend medical school and then go into family practice medicine. Out of the five children my parents had, I am the second oldest and the only boy which made for an interesting childhood. I learned at an early age to either play Barbies with my sisters or I would be stuck playing by myself. My family is Jewish and since we live in a not so Jewish area, it can be weird at times. Unlike most of the guys my age I have waist length hair and a full beard. I have learned in life to march out of time to my own drum.
What are your favorite materials?
As you can probably guess from looking at my shop, I love working with stained glass. My favorite glass to work with is water-glass which is made by Spectrum. As the name suggests water-glass has nice soft waves that looks like water. When it comes to solder I like to use 60/40, it melts well and it is easy to get a good bead with it. I use lead-free solder in some of my work like boxes, pendants or
anything else that will be touched a lot. But other than things like that, I don't like the lead-free solder as it has a higher melting point than 60/40. On top of that, it causes my soldering iron tip to oxidize which means I have to keep dipping my soldering iron tip into some flux.
What is your favorite color combination?
I like a lot of bright color in my work, but if I had to chose my favorite combo, amber and cobalt rough-roll glass are my favorites.
What is the first thing you can remember making by hand? How and why
did you make it?
Before my parents got married my mom made a lot of things for art and craft shows. She homeschooled us so arts and craft were a big part of my childhood. When I was a kid I used to make my own birthday cards for my family members. On the back of each card I made I would write “Zachmark”, a spoof on Hallmark.
What inspires you?
The biggest inspiration for me is a blank sheet of paper. That's where all of my work begins. I just start looking at the paper and ideas start flowing.
What are your greatest challenges? How do you overcome them?
The greatest challenge for me is finding the right color of glass locally for my work. To overcome this I have bought sample sets of glass from different glass making companies. This allows me to buy the exact colors I need from the internet.
Where do your ideas come from?
Most of my ideas come from things in my life like Mickey Mouse, math, video games,Victorian art and Judaism.
Who is, or was, your greatest inspiration?
I think it is impossible to pick out one person who has been the greatest inspiration to me. Each person I have met and each person's whose ideas I have been exposed to have at least in some small way added something to my life and by extension, to my work.
What is your favorite thing to do with your creativity?
I like to create sun catchers, boxes, pendants and lanterns out of stained glass. I also like to play any musical instrument I can get my hands on. Everyone in my family except for my dad does wet-plate collodion photography. Most of you know the products of this process as tintype and ambrotype photographs. The difference between a tintype and an ambrotypes is that the tintype is done on japanned steel (not tin) and the ambrotypes are done on glass. Just like back then we take our pictures on japanned steel and dark colored stained glass. Unlike some of the modern practitioners we use the exact same chemicals they used back then. The most notable of these chemicals are potassium cyanide and silver nitrate. We mix the potassium cyanide in water and use it to fix our photographs. It is safe just as long as we don't drink our fixer or mix our developer in it. The developer contains glacial acetic acid which will liberate the cyanide from the fixer as hydrogen cyanide gas. Yeah, that's the chemistry major in me coming out! Most other wet-plate photographers are afraid to use potassium cyanide to fix their images, but you can't beat the clarity that the cyanide gives the photograph. A few of the photographs that we have taken have been published in national Civil War magazines, including one back cover were I was in the photograph dressed as a mid-nineteenth century civilian. My profile picture in my Etsy shop is actually a tintype of me dressed as a Union soldier. I plan in the near future to incorporate tintypes into to my stained glass artwork.
Why should people buy handmade?
Buying handmade gives you the freedom to discover new and unique items. When you buy handmade your supporting the production of new and innovative ideas
Any tips of wisdom on selling handmade item?
One of the biggest tips I can give is to enjoy your work, don't let it become a chore. Keep creating new things and feel free to incorporate old ideas into new ones. Charge what your work is worth. Too many artists think the key to sells in the price. The key is finding the right people for your work.
What have been the most valuable lessons learned from other artists?
The woman who gave me my first lesson in stained glass making told me to make sure that all the glass in my work is running the right direction before I solder it together. Another important thing I
learned was that it's about impossible to darken zinc with patina.
Apart from creating things, what do you do?
Aside for making things out of stained glass, I spend my days playing the piano, studying, going to classes and if I have some free time, I'll play Halo with my sisters. I volunteer sometimes as an usher at the Alabama theater. The Alabama theater is a restored movie palace built in 1927 and has been an inspiration for some of my work. I'm also an nineteenth century living historian. I portray a Jewish Union soldier. Living in Alabama, I'm one of the few who wear will the blue uniform. My family on both sides fought for the South, but someone has to put on that Yankee uniform so the Confederates will have someone to shoot at. I also love math, for me math is analogous to crossword puzzles. I am hoping to become a volunteer at our local children's hospital and I would like to tutor hospitalized children in math so they don't fall behind.
What are the Web addresses for your work?
Currently I'm selling my work on Etsy.com. My shop is Goldsmith Glass.
Are you offering my readers any specials?
I am offering 15% off any item your readers purchase from me. (This doesn't include shipping.) All they have to do is add a message when they purchase something stating they are readers of your blog and I will refund 15% of the item amount. If they prefer, they can also convo me in advance of purchasing and I will set it up on the listing. Whatever is easiest!
Thank you, Zach, for taking the time for this interview. Your work is amazing. Good luck with your studies.
To check out more of Zach’s work, click the link to Goldsmith Glass. It is well worth the click.
Remember the big Crafty sale going on Now at GoofingOff.etsy and GoofingOff.Artfire. All decorating, doll, toys, handbags, and kits in the TOYS, BAGS, KITS sections are 40% off with the coupon code CRAFTY. Just use the coupon code during checkout to get the discount.
Post by Eileen of GoofingOff.etsy.com and MissEileen.etsy.com
