Conversations with Tony Baxter

Today we’d like to introduce you to Tony Baxter

Tony, we appreciate you taking the time to share your story with us today. Where does your story begin?
I have been a lifelong rockhound,
since very early in my life. My story really started in the engineering side of the automotive manufacturing world. Some of my earliest education in manufacturing engineering, was focused squarely on automated and manual machining using a variety of lathes and mills. Along the way I became very adept with an oxy-acetylene torch for performing maintenance on induction coil packs as part of a wire pulling line.

A time came several years ago where my career was put on hold. A time when jobs were few and far between, and I found myself homeless due to unfortunate circumstances. Back to my roots, I was Rockhounding the beaches and I had the idea to use diamond rotary tool to form a stone and attempt to set it into a poorly made ring. That ring is long gone now, but the path that it set me on was one that I loved very thoroughly as it allowed me to exercise a level of creativity and love that I had never known prior.

Over time, it became an excercise of honing out what was- for me, my own version or variation of something ancient. Something very thoroughly intertwined within the dna that makes us human.

As an avid learner, and experimenter- I found my greatest joy in fusing different traditional methods into a cohesive blend of that which is beautiful. The work, it requires patience and for me, it’s a powerful meditative experience.

I’m sure it wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?
Not smooth. Lol. In and out of the corporate world, never really perfectly aligning with the status quo and truly, not angry for it.

There was a very long time it felt impossible just because of where I am coming from in life- poverty, etc. To
stand in my studio feels like a dream come true because in ways I could never fully describe to you- it very much is. A blessing from God, in the highest.

As you know, we’re big fans of you and your work. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about what you do?
A professional project manager by credentials, I am an artist and goldsmith working to build a name and some momentum in industry.

What are your plans for the future?
I’d really like to get my studio into a store space/workspace in a high traffic location where I can really get my work out and into the public eye.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.a6bmetalxstone.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thegoldsmitha6b