This ring represents my first real, costly foray into formgiving.

 This ring represented the first assignment for the Stanford silversmithing class, but by week 4 I had made as many rings and was still unsatisfied with each result, with growing frustration. The professors were growing worried I would never get past this assignment, until finally on my 5th iteration I broke through the barriers of orthodoxy in my own mind that were guiding me towards forgettable, or terrible, ring designs. One of the professors then told me that she was actually jealous of me, that it took her 3 whole Stanford design classes before she was able to make her breakthrough.