If anyone has any spare tools, materials, equipment, or money that
they would like to see promote the work of an up-and-coming
metalsmith (she is handicapped, disabled and has lost everything in
the studio in the flood waters- so those contents are not covered by
FEMA, or her friend’s homeowners policy of whom she used space to
design and fabricate jewelery and to store her equipment- she
survives on 500.00 a month ande medicaid- she is poor but a talented
metalworker, chemist, fabricator, millworker, consultant,
educator- (she donates her skills and knowlwdge freely- in that sense
she is one of the most generous people i’ve ever met) from torches,
to fluxes, and stones,all this year’s scrap, all raw materials and
metals, portable hand operated forge &bellows,kilns, firebricks,
hoses, rolling mills, drawplates, crucibles…everything, books,
videos, her lifelong collection of design books, chemicals, you name
it-it’s gone- or wet, or covered in rust and contaminated with
mold/rust/etc…in a word- unusable…
she is highly motivated toopen a business as a jeweler in the area
she is currently residing and is also desperate for an investor or
two that want to put cash into a fairly sure thing…about 78,000.00
will get hetr an inventory and in the door with insurance, phone
lines, business equipment, and electricity for a few months…not only
would begining a business potentially get her off some social
services, but it would renew her commitment to her work,a dn provide
a much needed service ( or rather group of services) to a growing
population in the rural area in which she is residing presently.
I know this is a strange appeal, but this is not an ordinary
situation. She is a unique individual with a big future as a
potentiallyhighly successful gold/silversmith/ and jewelery design
and fabricator, and educator but the business would allow for a
successful second start in life. (she has a comprehensive business
plan available for anyone truly intrested that will not take her idea
and implement it in the area).
It is hard for me to ask annonymously for anything from such a group
as comprises orchid, but i have had a feeling that among this group
there would be at least a few of you with tools, or resources, that
need to help, and desire intimately, to help someone rise up and
succeed in this life, in a situation that looks as though there will
never be any ressurection.
THis is not a scam, or anything of that sort, but a genuine
situation, with a very poor, but very talented and ingenious person
that has no hope of assistance from what remains of her family, or
any federal sources, or insurance sources. It will take individuals
that have the means to help, and can use a write off as well as
sincerely believing that individuals can make a difference in the
life of a woman that falls between all cracks in the system, but has
much to share in terms of knowledge, productivity and the motivation
and desire to begin again witha solid plan as to how to accomplish
the task of rebuilding a life, a studio and disseminate her vast
store of knowledge of the metal arts and marketing at a critical time
in both her life and the development of the community that is
currently her home.
Please consider helping. You can write to her at this address:
1398 Dinkins Creek Rd.,
Murphy NC 28906
or send her email at : vieuxcarredesign@lycos.com. or
rerjewelers@yahoo.com.
Again, thank you for considering the donation of tools, equipment,
and any other aid possible. thank you
R.E.Rourke Contact Information:
New Orleans Studio: (504)-666-9795
315 N.Bernadotte St., New Orleans LA 70119