To my fellow Orchidians -
I’ve only been on the Forum a few weeks and everyone has been so
helpful to me. Today, as I emailed a few of you offlist to ask
further questions about the ferric nitrate etch, I realized I really
ought to have introduced myself properly in the beginning, because
it will explain my (possibly annoying) tenacity re chasing down
info.
I am a self-taught jeweler, although not self-taught by choice. For
twenty years I was a school librarian, but was forced into early
retirement by the onset of severe fibromyalgia. I would love to
attend actual course work in jewelery, but there is nothing even
remotely near where I live, and travel is extremely difficult for
me. I began my metal-smithing “career” (not really a career, of
course, but an avocation, and one I do at a very slow pace because
of the fibro and the limitations it places on me, pain and
stamina-wise) when I began dating a man who does copper sculpture
and he taught me how to use an oxy-acetylene torch. I played around
with that for a year, (very slowly) making some abstract mobiles,
and then decided I would rather be making jewelry. And so I began to
learn. I started by deciding what I wanted to make and then got
books and figured out how to do each fabrication I needed. I wrote
to book authors and asked questions. I bugged tech support at Rio.
Now I have you guys to bug. I hope you don’t mind. Believe me, if I
could go learn this stuff from a teacher, in person, I would. Maybe
someday I will. Hope springs eternal.
I just felt I needed to post this. I’m NOT looking for sympathy -
it’s been thirteen years since my fibro onset and I’ve gotten good
at functioning within my little envelope and honestly there are much
more awful things that can happen to a person physically than fibro,
I know that! I simply thought it would explain why I have had (and
will continue to have) so many questions!
Thanks for all your help so far. Guys, you are awesome.
Rachel