Announcement: and the winner is...Ron Smith!!!

[FANCYGUN]

What can I say????????????????

Rons the man...we've known that for many a year
Well deserved my friend

Marty

 

[Steve223]

Congratultions Ron a well deserved award!
Steve

 

[filbertius]

The last I saw of Ron on Monday afternoon, he has sitting at a table drawing scrolls and visiting with 7 or 8 very interested engravers. I didn't have time to stay, but I sure wish I did. Congratulations, Ron!

Gary

 

[sam]

Ron, I can't think of anyone more deserving than you are for this award. It's an honor and privilege to call you my friend. / ~Sam

 

[Ken Hurst]

Mr. Ron, I can only echo what Sam, Marty and others have said about you. You sir are a shinning beacon to all who need help and wish to succeed in this art form. You are admired not only for your God given talent but for your moral fiber as well. My heart felt congratulations to you for earning this prestigious award ---- which you most certainly deserve. Your friend, ken

 

[Roger Bleile]

Ron,

Congratulations on this well earned recognition. You've been there with FEGA from the beginning and made long lasting contributions to both the art and craft of engraving. For over 20 years I've had one of your engraved prints over my workbench for inspiration and your books are a constant reference for me and engravers around the world.

Thanks for everything,

Roger

 

[JBrandvik]

Ron,

It was a real treat to meet you in Reno and to get a chance to tell you in person what a huge influence your work and your writing has been to me.

I feel especially fortunate to have been present when the honor of the James Meeks Award was bestowed upon you. I was privileged to witnessed such an important moment in engraving history. Continued blessings to you for all that you do for your fellow engravers.

Once again, congratulations to you for recognition of a lifetime of exceptional achievement.

 

[Andrew Biggs]

It just dosn't get better than this.

It was a very emotional moment and it was fabulous to see Ron get a standing ovation from his fellow engravers. The plaque that Mike Dubber engraved was superb.

Congratulations Ron and well deserved.

Cheers
Andrew

 

[joseph engraver]

Ron Smith, You are no doubt the most honorable, dedicated, and sharing man I have ever had the good fortune to meet. Congratulations, to the man who has been an inspiration and mentor to all engravers young and old.
Your friend Joseph

 

[John B.]

Brother Ron, so very well deserved.
You've touched so many lives in the engraving world with your magic.

John B.

 

[Mike Fennell]

Congratulations, Ron,

I know I have only just met you, but it feels as if I have known you for years.

I continue to study your books and I have read and reread all of your postings to all the engravers sites. I have benefited from the generous gift of your time, advice and talent and the patient explanations and drawings you have provided to me and to others, especially during the past week. I have really enjoyed the friendly conversations we have had and I appreciate the attention you expend on us beginners.

Clearly, the James Meek Award was well-deserved.

It is an honor to know you and an honor to be a member of the Guild and of the profession that you have helped to grow to what it is now.

Mike Fennell

 

[Ron Smith]

Wow!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

You guys are making me cry. But it is tears of joy. Thank you so much for caring. I love you all too, and cannot express how I feel about your passion and loyalty to this beautyful art. You are the ones who will keep it alive, and I am so impressed at your genious, it is truly a joy to know those whom I have met, and those whom I have yet to meet personally.

I sincerely hope that I can meet you all one day.

Remember this!.......... It is your drive, your spirit, and your passion that makes you what you are. I had very little to do with it, but I just happened to be around in one of the greatest periods of greatness for the art.

You would have done it without me.

Thank you so much for the love.

I will post a picture of Mike Dubber's beautiful work, and let me say this. I have done lettering all of my career, and Mike put his heart into this. The time required to do this job would have been monumental.

The inscription is done in shaded letters, but that will be too small to show up in the photo.

 

[gail.m]

Congratulations Ron! I can only echo all of the preceeding best wishes and thoughts. I hope to have the honor of meeting you someday. You represent the very best that is in the human spirit.
gailm

 

[eastslope]

Mr. Smith, I have never met you, but I feel well aquainted with you through your books and this website. All of your writings have been a great influence on me, and I really wouldn't know a scroll from a troll if it were not for books. Thanks, and perhaps I will get to meet you in Reno some year. Seth

 

[ddushane]

Congratulations Ron! God bless you for all you do! Dwayne

 

[rod]

Liz,

Give that man of yours a big hug from all of us! We know he walks tall by your side.

I say Amen to all of these heart-felt postings expressing affection and admiration for Ron. Those of us who have had the privilege of spending time with Ron Smith know that he greets you openly, like ... "Ah, this person ...." without judgment. If you are a new comer, and the talk turns to the engraving arts, you are treated as an equal simply because you share humanity with him. Sure, you might be just starting on the long road to learning the skills and expressing your art, yet you get the feeling that he is aiming at your heart, and gently inflecting at what is between you and fulfilling your goals in engraving, and beyond. He has walked the walk as a loner in the early days and found his own path. He knows what it is like to stand on thin ice. He knows that creativity happens mostly when we are standing on thin ice, with the risk of failure always present. He is a generous soul, and will fan the flame for you, no matter how tiny, if he detects its presence. I like the man. We like to talk about the big picture, and I like to sing songs with him.

I like that FEGA saw fit to make this award to Ron, and it is well deserved.

Michael Dubber has expressed our collective appreciation with his splendid crafting of the award, and we thank him!

Rock on, Ron !

best

Rod

 

[Joe Mason]

Congratulation Ron. Well deserved award.

joe

 

[Tira]

Congratulations Ron! It was a pleasure to see you receive the award - truly history in the making.

 

[ETHELBERT]

thanx a million for your help to all, I understand you are the greatest. A friend of MIne told me when I started to engrave a couple of years ago to pay close attention to what ever articles and or pictures that Ron Smith is a part of. Eugene Koeving was his name

 

[KCSteve]

Thinking about it further, I think this award was particularly appropriate.

Anyone who asks about starting engraving is invariably told "You need James Meek's The Art of Engraving and Ron Smith's books on Scroll Design."