2015 One Moto Show in Portland
I left the Home Depot web dept. at the beginning of December 2014 to go back on a design shop and get more creative work since I was all inspired by how Silver Piston had been doing. I was there 30 days and got fired. It was then it was decided to just try doing jewelry full-time.
Rewind a couple of month to the fall of 2014, I had reached out to Thor at See See Motorcycles in Portland about being a small sponsor for his brainchild, the One Moto, just about the coolest motorcycle show out there. A deal was struck and part of that deal was I provide custom hobo half dollars. It was helmeted skull with the One Moto logo. These were part of the prize bags awarded for the various show bike winners. I also had a table set up right inside the entrance selling my jewelry and meeting all these people I knew from Instagram.
That weekend was the first time Holly and I had been to Portland and it was a weird warm spell that had the sun out and temps in the 60s during the day. I met so many people that weekend that I’m still friends with and keep touch.
First of the hobo nickels
Ten years ago was a lifetime ago it seems anymore. It was the beginning of 2014 and I’d been working in the web dept of the Home Depot. Jewelry making had been a hobby for awhile but this felt like the beginning of something different, something solid and all from a humble buffalo nickel.
After making the first indian head ring by cutting out the head from the nickel and putting it onto a half inch band then doing the same for the buffalo side of the ring. It was now in February that I’d gotten the first batch of hobo nickels. Shortly after getting them, Shane sent the pic of mercury dime that I’d asked him to do after I’d gotten the first batch of nickels. It would be the foundation of Silver Piston and still there today.
Silver Piston really does have a timeless Americana vibe that ten years later is still relatable to a lot of people. These pictures are the originals from Feb 2014.
Portrait of Fahamu Pecou
Today I’m celebrating my friend Dr Fahamu Pecou. We’ve been friends for long enough that neither of us can remember how we met. I’ve taken his picture on a variety of occasions and some for him to paint from. When I did a solo pop up show called Southern Danq, Fahamu curated it for me.
He was awarded the Chevalier des Arts et des Lettres at the French consultant earlier in the month here in Atlanta. That makes him a knight and the first knight I’ve ever photographed. I went over with my equipment to his studio to take his portrait and do him justice with his new medal. It’s these moments that should be celebrated and documented.
Meeting Arrested Development
When I started hanging out with Killer Mike back in 2017, I always had in my head how cool it would be to meet folks with Arrested Development. Last year my friend DJ Kemit connected me with Speech, the founder of the group. I’ve been working on a book of portraits called West of Atlanta and pitched him to take his portrait for the book.
We were going to meet on a Sunday at my studio and the week before he hit me to see if it’d be okay if he brought Eshe with him. She was one of the five original members. Of course that was fine!! A couple of days later, Eshe hollered to see about bringing Rasa Don, the original drummer for the group. In the end, Rasa wouldn’t make it that Sunday and visited the following week.
For me, it was really an amazing day. I’ve been a fan of theirs since they came on the radio back in the early 90s. When I got out of the Navy in September 1992, I moved to Chattanooga, TN where my family had moved while I was serving. When I moved there it was a bit of a shock and I wondered if I made the right decision moving there. It was as this time that there hit Tennessee was in heavy rotation on the radio and thought if a group could make a song that celebrated the state like that, I could give it a try. I’d go onto get my degree in Chattanooga and start my design career there until I moved to Atlanta January 1, 2005.
You can see more about my book in progress on my site, stevewestphoto.com/west-of-atlanta
How It Started With A Humble Nickel
In the summer of 2013 I bought a bag of buffalo nickels on like 40 for 100. I didn’t realize it at the time they were pretty worn out. I was filing a flat spot on the edge and soldering on a jumping to attach them to a key fob. I bought them because when I was a kid I really liked them and doing these lil key fobs was fun and I loved sharing them with people.
Fast forward to that November and I’m in the studio making a half inch wide wedding ring for a buddy when I had this idea of cutting out the indian head. I don’t know why but I’d just had that idea. So I did and it took at least fifteen minutes, was a bit ruff but I loved it removed. So I made another half inch ring and soldered the head onto the ring. I hammered it flush to the ring, sawed of the extra hanging over the edge of the band and It was pretty bitchin. I spent some time on google trying to find it on the internet and couldn’t.
The next weekend at my studio, I sawed out the buffalo and did the same thing. It took a whole lot longer to saw out but dfamn, it was cooler than the indian head. That was ten years ago this past December. I would start posting those in Instagram and Silver Piston as it is today was born then. A few weeks later I’d get an email from England suggesting I look up Hobo Shane on eBay who carves nickels. I’d eventually buy four custom hobo nickels from him with detailed hair and Day of the Dead decorations on the face. That was my first hobo nickel design that I still use today and Shane’s still engraving them for me.
Ten years on and I’m still out here making my way earning a living off of what I created.
Being Called An Artist
I've never referred to myself as an artist; it just never felt right. I always considered myself creative, often indulging in excessive doodling and drawing from from comic books. However, I couldn't draw a picture from my imagination, and I believed that was the essence of being an artist. I was also put off by individuals who couldn’t shut up about themselves being artists and the associated drama.
After my time in the navy, I pursued graphic design in school because it offered employability. I thought it would be a creative outlet to satisfy my need for creativity. Along the way, while working as a designer, I delved into photography using early digital cameras as they were coming out. During school, I took intro to photography and photography for design classes, learning the process of developing b&w film and printing in a darkroom. I continued photography as a hobby until 2014 when I ventured into a new endeavor—jewelry making.
Recently, I've been encouraged to embrace the title of an artist. In truth, I've been operating as an artist for at least nine years, starting a decade ago when I cut out my first Indian head from a nickel and mounted it on a half-inch wide sterling band. The idea was simple; take my time and cut out an Indian head. The early attempts were rough, taking around 15 minutes each. However, I quickly refined the process, cutting them out in just a couple of minutes. I continue to create them as orders come in.
Throughout 2014, I built my brand on Instagram and Facebook to a point where, when I was fired from my last agency job, I could make it through jewelry making. This was the moment, in my mind, when I truly became an artist. I had explored a new form of creativity with jewelry making, and now I was supporting my family by doing something I had created. As I type this, I'm beginning to understand it more deeply.
I Was Ghosted By FaceBook
Facebook ghosted me but I’ve felt it coming for awhile. A couple of years ago, my Silver Piston FB pages was hacked and it also affected my photo Instagram. It took several weeks and some help from one of my follower’s wife who worked there and simply submitted a ticket for me.
After that though, I felt it was only a matter of time before it’s happened again. It really took all my steam out of posting on the platform and utilizing it to promote Silver Piston. At the time, 10 years ago, this was what makers weee doing to sell our wares. That and primarily using instagram to market and sell my jewelry really using what I’d picked up from a career in marketing.
I spent money on a daily basis promoting the FB page and my website to buy my goods. When I first started selling jewelry early 2013, I was on Etsy for a little while. I built a site on SquareSpace to sell because I didn’t want to be on a platform that could decide to change its rules for using it or go as far as to lock you out of your account. Doing it this way allowed me to not worry about what I wanted to say or present.
I used Facebook to post the happenings and the jewelry stuff. It was a great way to share what I was doing and Silver Piston is its own unique thing that people understood. Promoting on Facebook was literally targeting my followers and their friends. My jewelry is a really relatable thing that I appreciated friends would get too.
So to wind this long post up, I’m going to be posting here in the Notes From The Outpost. It ties in with the 10 year anniversary of Silver Piston and the start of another chapter of creating. While I’m still doing my jewelry, I’m working as a portrait and editorial photographer.