Meet Avery Malone

We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Avery Malone. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Avery below.

Avery , so good to have you with us today. We’ve got so much planned, so let’s jump right into it. We live in such a diverse world, and in many ways the world is getting better and more understanding but it’s far from perfect. There are so many times where folks find themselves in rooms or situations where they are the only ones that look like them – that might mean being the only woman of color in the room or the only person who grew up in a certain environment etc. Can you talk to us about how you’ve managed to thrive even in situations where you were the only one in the room?

I’ve always been the one who was different from the others in the room. It took me many years to realize that I didn’t need to be like everyone else. I could do things differently and still do them well.
Now I know that I have a certain degree of autism, but as a child, I didn’t understand that. I’ve always been quiet, introverted, withdrawn. At that time, I didn’t fit in, not at school, not at family gatherings, not in friend groups. I didn’t know how to be part of anything. I wasn’t loud, or funny, or cool. Even my hobbies were different from those of the others. While others went to parties or played sports, my favorite thing was dismantling old electronics at home, taking them apart, putting them back together, taking them apart again, and putting them back together. People called me weird. Some still do.
It wasn’t until one day, when I was dismantling a circuit board like I often did, that I noticed some leftover solder clinging to the back. I picked up an old soldering iron and gently heated it. It melted, and a single drop slid down, forming a long, sharp spike, like liquid silver. It flowed like living metal, forming, then freezing into something unexpectedly sharp, chaotic, and beautiful. In that moment, something clicked in me. It felt like the solder was speaking in a language I had never dared to use. It was sharp. It was aggressive. It was imperfect. It was raw and real!
From that moment on, I became obsessed with soldering art. I began studying soldering techniques on my own, researching the impact of different tools and alloys, and experimenting with various temperatures. I was completely absorbed in it. At that time, I was still the “weird” guy in the room, but over time, I stopped paying attention to anyone else. I became fully immersed in my own world.
It’s the sense of immersion that defines it. When you find something you love, everything else fades away. I felt inspiration constantly bubbling up inside me. I looked at anything and all I wanted to do was attach a sharp spike to it. The spike became my expression. It became my language. Maybe many people couldn’t understand it, but it was my language, and there was no better way for me to communicate what I was feeling. In the beginning, many people didn’t understand and called it “garbage”. But I gradually stopped caring. I focused on the sharp spikes, the gleaming metal, the flowing, burning heat that consumed everything. This is me! I no longer care about those who still call me “weird.” I’ve found my voice, and I know that someone, somewhere, will understand it!
I don’t know if, by others’ definitions, I’ve learned to be “effective” or “successful”. What I do know is that in my world, I’ve found something I love, something I’m deeply invested in. And I’m doing my best to make it perfect!

Great, so let’s take a few minutes and cover your story. What should folks know about you and what you do?

I am a soldering artist, and my work is all about turning raw, molten metal into unique, handcrafted pieces of art. I specialize in creating jewelry using soldering techniques, where I melt tin alloy and shape it into intricate, sharp, and striking designs. The most exciting part of this process is the unpredictability of molten metal. Watching it flow and freeze into something chaotic yet beautiful is incredibly satisfying. It’s like capturing a moment of raw energy and transforming it into something permanent.

What sets my work apart is that it isn’t just jewelry. It’s an expression of imperfection, rebellion, and rawness. I embrace the flaws in my designs, and I believe that’s what makes them real and relatable. As I wrote on my website: No replicas, no polished lies, no pieces made to blend in. This is not only my standard for my work, but also my standard for myself. I don’t want to be shaped by society, molded into a “standard” person, living a predictable and monotonous life. I don’t want to “polish” myself, or hide my true self behind lies. I don’t want to compromise who I am.

If you had to pick three qualities that are most important to develop, which three would you say matter most?

Looking back on my journey, the three qualities that have had the greatest impact on me are: passion, the ability to ignore criticism, and the courage to take bold action.
Passion: My journey as a soldering artist began with a deep love for the craft. I didn’t start out thinking about making a living from it, I was simply drawn to the process. Passion has been the driving force that keeps me moving forward, especially during challenging times. Even now, I can only sustain my life and my art, and from a business perspetive, I’m not exactly “successful”. But that doesn’t stop me from loving what I do.
Ignoring Criticism: When I first started creating solder art, not everyone understood what I was doing. Many called my work “weird” or even “garbage”, and even now, some people still say that. But I’ve learned to ignore these comments. If I had listened to those who doubted me, I wouldn’t be here today. The truth is, when you do something unique, many people won’t understand it.
Courage to Take Bold Action: The first step is always the hardest. In fact, every step is difficult, uncertain, and risky, but you have to take it anyway. When you do, you’ll discover that you’re capable of much more than you ever imagined.

Alright so to wrap up, who deserves credit for helping you overcome challenges or build some of the essential skills you’ve needed?

I choose to answer this very specific question because I am truly grateful to Orion for the expertise he brought, which I could never have mastered on my own in such a short period of time. He helped me experiment with the addition of different metals to tin to create various alloys, and test those changes affected their properties. Without his formulas, many of my techniques wouldn’t have been possible. He also assisted with a lot of ingredient testing to ensure that the materials were safe and non-toxic. I always remind soldering enthusiasts to at least choose lead-free and rosin-free solder, and if possible, to send their materials for lab testing to ensure the ingredients are as safe as advertised.

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