When Idaho silversmith Dave Alderson was accepted into the Traditional Cowboy Arts Association (TCAA) in 2002. The prestige and recognition this honor entails were well-deserved for an artist who has spent much of his life doing exquisite work under someone else's name.
Alderson grew up on the prairie of South Dakota. From an early age, he was interested in pretty things that came from the earth. As a teenager, he collected beautiful rocks and even panned for gold. Then when he was 16, Alderson befriended a silversmith in Deadwood. Without a car, he would often spend several hours a day walking to and from her shop. She taught him to silver solder.
Alderson's first project was a ring - a Mother's Day gift for his mom. He got a pretty stone and set it in a ring. He even ornamented the piece with some gold he had panned in a South Dakota creek. Finally, it was finished, and he set off for home afoot to present his gift to his mother. "I lost it on the way home," Alderson recalls with a smile. "Fell right out of my pocket." Retracing his steps, Alderson found the ring. It had been run over by a car, but he fixed it up and his mom still has the ring.

The Alderson family moved to California. In 1978, in Atascadero, Alderson saw an engraving ball for the first time in the saddle shop of his uncle, Don Moe. Knowing of his nephew's interest in working with metal, Moe introduced Alderson to Gordon Hayes, owner of Bits of Silver. "Gordon asked me if I could solder," Alderson remembers, "then he asked me, 'what time can you show up in the morning?' I said I'd be there at eight."
Alderson worked at Bits of Silver for about ten years. When he started, he was mostly confined to soldering. Alderson longed to engrave but no one would show him how. "Finally one day I cornered Hayes' son," Alderson said. "I asked him how he made those cuts. He showed me and for the next six months I practiced at home very night for hours. I would nail a piece of copper to a block of wood and practice on that. After I like what I say, I showed Gordon. Then he let me engrave."
While working for Hayes, Alderson had the opportunity to meet and learn from Tracy White. He credits White with teaching him more about working with metal than anyone else.
Since leaving Bits of Silver, Alderson has done silver work for jewelry stores and Bob Schaezlein. Because he worked under someone else's name for over 25 years, Alderson's personal reputation as an exceptional  craftsman was slow in coming. Ernie Marsh, a founding member of the TCAA, recognized the beauty and quality of Alderson's work and encouraged him to apply for membership in that prestigious association. His bid was successful and the talent of the boy who loved beautiful things from the earth was finally recognized.
Today Alderson works from his home in Twin Falls, Idaho, where he turns out exquisite silver pieces. His work is prized for its fins hand engraving that is remarkably three-dimensional. He credits his longtime partner Debora Easterday for his success. he says of Debora, "She took me seriously and encouraged me. That meant a lot."