With our lecturer on maternity leave and another busy with an extensive exhibition that deals with a wide variety of South African artists, we were pleased to have a temporary replacement. Although the stay was short we learnt a lot with his input and insight into our work, both theory and practice. John Skotnes a goldsmith and jewellery lecturer at CPUT took us under his wing and looked after us for two very short weeks. With daily "15" minute lectures on basic practical skills and knowledge was abundantly useful, from the metallogy lectures to the chemistry, to uncovering new methods of the way we did things. We now stand two weeks later with a clearer mind as to why things happen a certain way, why our metal reacts like this or like that, whether it is our fault or that's just how metal reacts... It is natural. At first it might seem overwhelming the way he walks around with an opti visor or during a practice crit and is analyzing your piece with the opti visor, yes it is scary but he isn't there to shoot you down but rather to help you improve, he would inform you of other methods to go about manufacturing it in order to get a better finish. John encourages students and applauds their ideas and helps inspire and has made me enthusiastic to the future pieces that are to be produced.
With fresh input on our thesis it was good to hear a new perspective or an outside perspective on where we were going right or wrong.
An encouraging, inspirational and remarkable man left the department today and has without a doubt left a mark on the department and the students privileged enough to have learnt something from him.
