At 16, he dropped out of school with no intention of going to college — he planned to work jobs and support his mother after his father developed arthritis.

Paley taught full-time while a graduate student, and had stopped experimenting in sculpture, focusing all his time and energy into jewelry work.

After receiving his MFA from the Tyler School of Art, Paley worked with metal as a jewelry designer.

He eventually stopped making jewelry completely, collecting any pieces in the possession of galleries, and selling all his tools.

[9] During his last year in the Philadelphia area, Paley began experimenting with metal again, specifically forging iron.

He hired a past student, Richard Palmer, as a full-time assistant, and they spent a year creating the famous Portal Gates for the Renwick.

After the Portal Gates, Paley's career in metalworking took off, with a focus in functional design: tables, lamps, and other usable forms of sculpture.

But after the gates were finished for the Renwick, Paley was left with a much larger work-space, in addition to a full-time assistant, supplies, and machinery.

[16] Paley's career move from Goldsmith to Metal Sculptor is well explained in an interesting interview by Cathleen McCarthy.

He worked there for a year, where he practiced furnace-working and cast Corning Code 7056, a specific type of glass that can form bonds with a metal alloy called Kovar.