I arrived Sea-Tac international airport with 2 suitcases and dreams for a future I had not fully realized at the time. I was only 23 years old, immigrating to a country all by myself. Seattle was my new home, waiting to be discovered. I loved this city so much from the moment I landed there. I came here to improve my English and receive my MA degree but that was not the end of the story. A few long academic years were waiting for me. So I did it what I thought I was supposed to do and received my PhD at the age of 35. Yet I still didn't feel fulfilled with the path I initially chose. I had a different vision of a future that I had not even dared to dream about before. Becoming a silversmith, an artisan, living a life filled with creativity...
Have you ever felt like there is more to life than what you are currently doing with it? Something is calling for you and you don't know what it is just yet. I felt that way during the last couple of years of school. I loved my professors, colleagues, friends, students, books but it was not enough. There was something missing that I suppressed for years: a creative outlet. I was not where I wanted to be, who I wanted to be and the future was blurry. That's when I started experimenting with various arts and crafts just to get my mind off school. I started up cycling my own jewelry, drawing zentangles and most importantly my husband and I started playing percussion instruments. Influenced by our drummer friends, we started going to drum circles. Drumming and crafting were like a medicine. There were nights we would meet our drummer friends at parks in Seattle and play djembes and frame drums for hours sitting in a circle around the fire. This mini bonfire was the center of everybody’s attention, where we spaced out while playing. Sometimes it seemed we reached a trance state with the rhythm and the fire. This is where I reflected on my own transformation in that transcendental state of mind. My life was shifting, I was becoming something else than I was expecting to be.
Fire also plays another great role in my transformation. I remember the first time I stepped into a jewelry studio. That was the day I made my first ring when I held a torch for the first time and I fell in love with the process. Especially the fire. The moment that two metal pieces joined together was just magical. Fire is fascinating, dangerous, and learning how to control it before it melts down the silver requires some skill. And oh yes, I melted metal in this process many times. I made so many mistakes, got frustrated, and wanted to throw it away but my love for metal and fire just grew bigger. I couldn't give up! So here I am, happier than ever, creating a life around the things I love...
We constantly change yet we resist it most of the time. I resisted for so long but the moment I let go of resistance, I found a path different than I imagined before. This path is rocky, this path is confusing, dangerous, beautiful… I am in the path of an artist, a silversmith who is becoming something other than I was taught to become my whole life.
My name is Muge Salmaner. I speak with an accent, I write with an accent. I am an outsider, I am a mom, I am a hippie, I am a feminist, I am a drummer, I am a dreamer, I am a silversmith.... I am constantly changing, always becoming...