Orchids to Orchid

I have just returned home from Tucson, long drive giving me lots of
time to think about the wonders of what Orchid has become.

Orchid is the realization of the dream of E. Aspler M.D., aka
Hanuman .

Hanuman has made it possible for many with a dream of their own to
commune with others who understand the dream. Art from the Heart and
the Hand.

Up until this week, we have gathered together to personally meet one
another not as strangers, but friends. This has been very meaningful
to all of us, we look forward to the next year and the next meeting.
The friendships forged online now a personal reality. It has been
wonderful.

This year we gathered to honor the man who made this all possible.
230 plus souls in one space with a single purpose, to thank Hanuman
for the gift he has given all of us.

Hanuman is a beautiful soul, but that is no surprise to any of us.
He spoke beautifully and from the heart. There were many standing
ovations, all well deserved. He introduced his associate/assistant
Ton who accompanied him from Thailand, another gentle soul who is
important to all of us communicating through Orchid.

I could write volumes about Hanuman, that is for sure. I want to
publicly recognize some among us, they well deserve that others know
of their contributions, they do not tend to toot their own horn.

Charles Lewton Brain, he has tirelessly contributed to Orchid from
day one. Charles has been consciousness raising for some time now,
reminding us that Orchid is rather costly to maintain, and needs
some contributions from us the beneficiaries of this largesse.
Charles donates his time and products to bring money to Orchid. If
you are not familiar with Charles, his books, please check the Orchid
archives, or Brain Press

http://www.ganoksin.com/kosana/brain/brain.htm

Kenneth Singh, Ken is a frequent contributor to Orchid and has
helped many with his expert knowledge. Ken was a wonderful host to
Hanuman and Ton making them feel very welcome and comfortable with
his marvelous sense of humor and generosity. Ken rarely mentions his
business, but he often can supply just what you are looking for,
check out his site, (oops, lost my bookmark someone please help me
out.)

Daniel Grandi, Dan toured the streets of Tucson with Hanuman and
Ton, he was the chauffeur extraordinaire, they saw far more of Tucson
than they had imagined. Dan with his wonderful sense of humor made
them and us feel very welcome. Check out Dan’s site, he is a master
caster.

http://www.racecarjewelry.com

There were many others who willingly gave of themselves to make this
the wonderful event that it was.

Sam Patania and Pat, they pulled off a great dinner, literally took
over the entire restaurant for Orchidians.

The volunteers who handled the Silent Auction, Sam kept the band
from performing so he could announce the winners of the auction as
the sheets were collected.

All of the Donors to the Silent Auction, there was some wonderful
stuff in there, and many very happy winners.

The donations to the Raffle were very impressive, the lucky ticket
holders were overjoyed.

You, the people of Orchid are an incredible giving bunch. The meld
of people from so many cultures communicating openly, sharing with
open hearts, this is the way the world could be, this is the way we
are.

Hanuman, in his remarks to us all, made mention of this
transcendence, human beings with a focus, openly communicating
without borders. Orchid is indeed a wonderful realization of a
fantastic dream.

Hanuman, Thank You,
Teresa

All; I would like to share my words to Orchid with those who did not
make it to the Tucson dinner. I had the rare privilege to meet face
to face 230 dear Orchidians! You were great. I hope to meet even more
Orchidians next year.

Thank you all for your support!
Hanuman

The 7th Orchid Dinner
Tucson, 7 February 2003.

Good evening, ladies and Gentleman. I want to thank all, Orchidians
and friends, for inviting me here tonight.

When I got on the plane in Bangkok, I asked myself: “Why am I doing
this?” Flying is dangerous enough and meeting so many people that
all those years got to know me just as a virtual figure is scary.

I decided that if I will make it here to Tucson, than I should tell
you about myself, Ganoksin, It’s origins and the idea behind it. I
would also like to talk about us, our community, and what it takes
to bring online and offline environments together.

When we changed planes in Taipei airport I realized that this is
going to be a very special evening for us. A Milestone in a long
and difficult road, that finally brought us here tonight. Like life
itself, this journey was mysterious, some times sad, funny, but
meaningful.

At the immigration line in Los-Angeles I looked at my passport
again, Here I am, E. Aspler, a.k.a. Hanuman, born in Jerusalem some
40 years ago, traveling on a French passport, a son to a holocaust
survivor from Romania and a Tunisian mother, a grandson of an
Italian Wine merchant who had 14 wives through out his long life.
Here I am, entering The United States.

The officer asked me what am I doing for living? I told him that I
am a physician. I was granted entry. I do not know if it was the
French Doctor thing, but he let me trough.

Now you can ask yourself, what an Israeli born physician is doing in
Thailand for the last 15 years? When I think about it, not really
much. Back then, I was a young Doctor, in charge of one of the
busiest emergency rooms in Israel, but at the time I felt just too
young to deal with pain and sorrow everyday.

It was clear to me that I need a change. I was dreaming of tropical
climate, palm trees and fresh open air. I decided to go Far East, to
Thailand. Soon, what was lost in long years at the university and
hospitals was gained on the exotic beaches of South East Asia.

I was happy and suntanned, but as usual I was looking for new things
to do.

On the road, traveling, I started dealing with silver Jewelry. I
found myself increasingly involved in the Jewelry trade, and decided
it was time to set up a small workshop.

In Thailand, It is a tradition to get monks blessing before starting
a new business. I thought that it would be a good idea. When I told
the monk that I was born on Saturday, the year of the tiger, he
closed his eyes in deep concentration and made me wait for long
twenty minutes. He was mysteriously calculating my destiny. Than he
looked at me and said, “Your company name should be Ganoksin, and by
the way, you might not become rich, but you will be famous”. That is
how Ganoksin was born in 1993.

Ganoksin sometimes mispronounced as Ganoskin, sounds like a skin
disease? Well, not exactly.

Ganoksin is a combination of two Thai words: “Kanok” and “sin”.
Kanok is pure gold and “Sin” means art. Therefore, Ganoksin can be
thought of as “The Art of Gold”.

Now, Let me tell you about Bangkok of the early nineties. It was a
huge concrete jungle in the making. The Thai economy was rolling in
full steam while foreigners from around the world were coming over
to look for new opportunities.

Thai people are extremely nice and friendly. However, cultural
differences kept many of us, the foreigners, isolated.

In Bangkok of those days, the infamous chaotic traffic made it very
difficult for people to socialize. For example, I could to talk with
my friends everyday on the telephone, but I would meet them twice a
year. I could lose hair, gain weight, even have my eyelids pierced
with weird body Jewelry and they would not know about it.

All this was about to change with the arrival of the most important
peripheral of the decade - the modem.

The need for communication explains why the first virtual community
in Bangkok, The SalaThai BBS, was an immediate success. With the
opening of SalaThai suddenly we had News groups, Chat rooms,
everybody was having fun using fake identities and
‘out_of_this_world’ screen names, but the most important thing, it
was a major source of for us. Members would post
about new visa regulations, New drinking holes and new
cultural events in town.

I have noticed though that the most powerful thing about it was that
people were more then willing to share and exchange information
online. For some reason, more then they would do in real life!!
Everyone felt that they are on a stage, and every one else is
listening to their words of wisdom.

After long years of isolation, we discovered our voice, and we made
sure that this voice is loud and clear.

This was a fundamental observation. Actually this was, and still is
the seed, the concept that made Ganoksin what it has become today.

I was experimenting with the new medium. I wanted to find ways of
promoting my young business. So, after few months, in 1996, the
Ganoksin website was launched. We started as an online Catalogue.
Let us be frank. Catalogues are boring. I tried to spice it up with
bits and pieces of interesting professional Basic
alloys data, charts and stories from the gem trade in south East
Asia, were put together to create the ‘Tip’s from the jeweler’s
bench’ Website.

We opened our site to local jewelers and designers. Content was the
magic word that was driven us these early days. We were fortunate.
We did not have to wait long. One morning I received an email from
Canada. Charles Lewton-Brain a writer, a man with vast knowledge and
experience was offering us what I was dreaming of. Professional,
valuable content, and for free. Charles understood immediately the
value of reciprocation. He got a free platform for his publications

  • We got the content. Over the years Charles become a guide, an
    advisor, the mentor.

Couple of months down the road; we already discussed the possibility
of a mailing list based forum, at that time a cutting edge
technology. That is how Orchid has started.

Back than I could not predict yet, that Ganoksin and Orchid would
become what it is today - A new virtual life form in the Gem and
Jewelry trade. Today, 7 years later we are broadcasting more than
90,000 articles a day through Ganoksin.com and Orchid generates
quarter of a million emails everyday and reaches 6,000 members
worldwide.

I would like to take a moment here to thank again the sponsors and
especially each contributor. Your support is what funds this
operation.

Orchid is moderated. That means that I read every email that comes
in before it is sent back to the list. The reason I go through all
this is to reduce noise, to avoid junk mail, spam and repeated
signatures. I edit every post, and I am doing my best to make the
content as readable as possible.

As a rule, I try to forward Orchid twice a day - at sunrise and at
sunset.

The moderation process is necessary to insure the quality of
material published. The daily task of moderation made me soon
realize that there are patterns in the flow. I found
that the topics of discussion are important as the content itself.
We now can tell what are the issues that interest our trade by
looking at the topic list.

We discovered a second layer of knowledge, the about

70,000 Archived articles are available in almost every aspect of our
trade, but It is not good enough yet. The threads are organized
chronologically, as a searchable list of topics. In my opinion, the
data is still in a primary, unprocessed form.

We must realize that questions are as important as the answers. What
interest our group can be used in many different ways. For example,
we can organize it in a Frequently Asked Questions format and by
doing so we can use the data to set up school curriculum or writing
a textbook. This can be done by groups of volunteers. Each group
will dedicate itself to a specific subject. The groups will monitor
the list, identifying the frequent questions related to its subject.
Once this specific FAQ is ready, In the spirit of Ganoksin it will
be freely distributed through our website.

The first group already exists. Jesse Kaufman from ‘JDK Jewelry’
volunteered to setup the group, which handles the CAD/CAM design
topic.

We also need to reach out and communicate with non-English speaking
artists. Does anybody here can guess how many jewelers are out
there? Can anybody imagine the enormous value of their traditional
techniques?

Our group managed to reach the ultimate point of any cyberspace
community where the people themselves make the group playground
rules, recognizing its value and feeling belonged.

Orchid is the place to make friends, to hear diversity of opinions,
it teaches how to deal with conflicts, it’s facilitate business and
trust, bridges over race, age, experience and ones socioeconomic
status.

It sometime even offers members a psychological extension to their
own mind and personality, Orchid reflects ones taste, attitudes,
interests, fantasies, anxieties and desires. A path, which leads to
a road of exploring and learning.

We are standing here today proud to make some difference. Today,
when the winds of war are blowing in many parts of the planet it is
our duty to spread out our message of constructive cooperation and
sharing.

Let us always remember that a world of differences unite us.

Thank you.
Hanuman

I have just printed copies of this message and plan to give them to
my friends, Orchidians and not yet Orchidians. I am so impressed!!!
I have the double privilege of having taken workshops with Charles
Lewton-Brain at the 92nd in New York City. THANK YOU ALL !!!

Dear all, The dinner was fantastic. What a great time. I had more
fun this year than last since I knew many more of you and was more
relaxed with running the show and had lots of help from hecklers
which was invaluable, as it turns out. Next year I want more hecklers
to help me out. We did have some problems with the silent auction
which would be easily solved my more volunteers next year.

Now, this was the first time I met Hanuman and had a chance to hang
out with him and Ton and Charles Lewton-Brain. This time was
electrifying for me. I have known all along ,subconsciously, that
Hanuman and Charles work was from the heart, Orchid reflects that on
a daily basis. To meet the two of them and have the time to talk was
more of the same and I now know , explicitly, why Orchid is the
honest and open forum that it is. Hanuman, thank you for coming to
Tucson. My organizing the dinner with Pat was a joy in view of the
results.

Sam Patania, Tucson

Well said Teresa…The Tucson gathering must have been a very
affirming experience for all. Hope to make it one of these years,
assuming we can get the “alligators” down to a manageable level.

Best to all,
Mike Dibble
Black Horse Design
www.black-horse-design.com

Hi All,

Just wanted to say what a great week it was in Tucson, how lovely to
meet Hanuman, to share time with him, Ton, Sam, Pat and the myriad
others who work together to make Orchid, and Ganoksin, the special
place, the exquisite moment that it is. The dinner was great!

There was a definite feeling that a tide had turned. Rio Grande
(whose upper echelons truly impressed me), Swest, a bevy of European
magazine writers and company owners and numerous others were there,
were keen on what we are doing, were excited enough that subtle hints
of real support were bouncing around. Very exciting. We all need to
pull together for a while yet for a solid financial future to the
project ( it is still early days), but we were definitely noticed,
and what the Orchid and Ganoksin project have become were given
respect. We held good meetings about the site, future plans, ways to
build and priorities in the construction. The word ‘family’ was
bandied about repeatedly. Andrea Hill of Rio Grande gave a very
pleasant speech at the dinner in which she recognized the importance
of the project, and thanked us for our (ascerbic) discussions about
them last summer while their computer system troubles were big. She
apologized and pledged to do better in the future. And thanked us for
the critical discussion! And more…

All in all a great time, lots of movement and project decisions
underway to benefit us, a bunch of new advertisers coming on board,
great all around.

So, thank you to all the Orchidians out there, your support is
really important, both in participantion and in knocking down those
$30,000.00 a year server fees the project pays to exist.

Hint: donations at: http://www.ganoksin.com/donate/

Cheers to all the great people who have made this happen, and to all
the volunteer work that has gone into organizing dinners, auctions
and more. And to those who are currently volunteering for email
working groups as we build the project together.

best
Charles

Charles Lewton-Brain/Brain Press
Box 1624, Ste M, Calgary, Alberta, T2P 2L7, Canada
Tel: 403-263-3955 Fax: 403-283-9053 Email: @Charles_Lewton-Brai1

Metals info download web site: Learning Center - Ganoksin Jewelry Making Community
Book and Video descriptions: http://www.ganoksin.com/brain/gallery.htm
Gallery page at: http://www.ganoksin.com/brain/gallery.htm

An addendum to my message of yesterday.

I mentioned those who had given of themselves with no agenda. Now I
would like to give you my impression of the efforts put forth by Rio
Grande.

Rio’s Catalog in Motion is a wonderful offering to all persons
within the jewelry category. For those who do not get to Tucson, let
me explain it a bit. You see a product in a catalog and wonder if it
is right for you. There is a cost involved and you prefer knowing you
are making the right decision. Catalog in Motion makes that possible.
Many manufacturers major and minor are given booth space in the
Tucson East Ballroom. There they freely demonstrate their products
and give you the opportunity to see them before buying. Even a small
user such as myself benefits greatly from this. Last year I purchased
Bonny Doon’s Metal Corrugator because I was able to see it in action.
Year prior, I wanted to wear my vintage Orchid earrings, but hated
the screw back. I was able to buy posts, took the earrings and posts
to the Sparkie demonstration and presto, they are now post earrings.

This year I took Loren Damewoods class on hand knotting a fine
silver bracelet. Completed it needs one solder joint and proved to be
stubborn. I took the bracelet back to Rio’s Catalog and showed it to
Lee Marshall of Bonny Doon, he put it in his hydraulic press and gave
it a anticlastic shape, looks great. I then took it over to the Laser
Welder and zap, it was welded. You can well imagine I am rather
grateful to Rio for these opportunities.

Charles mention Andrea Hill’s talk. It was really excellent, there
was nothing shoved under the tablecloth. We were given the whole
scenario, warts and all. Rio held Focus groups to give people the
chance to express themselves. They listened, apologized, and will go
on from there.

Charles was right on, Rio had a great staff working this show, they
were helpful and supportive. Catalog in Motion is Rio’s gift to all
of us. Thank you Rio, Teresa

I think my head is still spinning from the last week or so. This is
my first year in Tucson…came here to apprentice with Sam Patania.
I=92m sure I was walking around wide eyed through the shows. I
couldn=92t believe the amount of wonderful people, I met during this
short time. Thanks to everyone who gave me valuable tidbits of their
knowledge. The dinner was incredible. It takes a lot of work so I=92=
m
grateful to everyone who volunteered and helped make it as fantastic
as it turned out to be. I never felt so much support and part of a
community.

I especially want to thank those who made (and are still making)
Orchid happen…Hanuman, Ton, and Charles. They all have heart AND a
great sense of humor.

~Molly

Teresa, I couldn’t have said it better. It was such a joy to meet
Hanuman and Ton, two lovely souls to be sure. Charles showed his
endless energy, stayed focused on the task at hand, and kept a smile
on his face. Sam and Pat, wow, they must be congratulated on the
beautiful job they did in organizing the dinner, raffle, etc. Thank
you so much! To all the other Orchidians I had the pleasure of
meeting, it was truly a treat. Until we meet again…Lisa –
Lisa Hawthorne @Lisa_Hawthorne

Hanuman, in his remarks to us all, made mention of this
transcendence, human beings with a focus, openly communicating
without borders. Orchid is indeed a wonderful realization of a
fantastic dream. Hanuman, Thank You, Teresa 

I would like to echo what Teresa so eloquently said. Meeting
Hanuman and fellow Orchidians was wonderful. You can be sure we are
in good hands.

Here’s to a truly blossoming future, my best to all,

Marta Irvin, Sacramento Orchidian

I’m only beginning to recuperate from a whirlwind week in Tucson and
I do want to take the time to thank all those who worked so hard to
bring together a magical experience there for some of our Orchid
"family". I can’t begin to express how special it was!

To the bouquet already blooming here I add my thanks especially for
the contributions of Hanuman, Charles and Ton and for the openness
and gifts of each of Orchid’s members.

I believe that Hanuman’s concept and the ongoing realization of his
dream are an awesome testimony to the common bonds of all people.
Having had the opportunity to meet so many of you face to face has
only deepened my appreciation for the magnitude, diversity and
substance of our online community.

I gotta go make jewelry now but I don’t feel so alone in the studio
anymore. :slight_smile: Thanks again.

Pam Chott
Song of the Phoenix

Good day to all I’ve been reading all the wonderful words of
“orchid”, and decided that I too must tell to all of the warm and
open experience both in Tucson and the dinner I received. It was my
first time to both, mind overload but the dinner made me feel like I
was with old friends that I have not seen in years. Thanks Sam,
Pat(2), Molly and Marc and all the volunteers who made it happen. If
I did not mention your name please accept my apologizes. Also, I was
fortunate to make some new friends, which was a direct outgrowth of
Hanuman’s vision. Thank you!

The experience charge my “batteries” far greater than I ever
imagined and the personal exchange focused me as never before. Thank
you Hanuman, Ton and Charles!

Looking forward to next year and hoping that the weather will be
warmer! -9 degrees last night and I’m getting tired of the cold!

All the best to both my old and new friends (and to those who could
not go as well… it’s what is all about!)

Barbara Smith McLaughlin of www.taylorriverjewelrydesign.com soon to
have up and running www.barbarasmithmclaughlin.com

Remember to do your part and support this great venue by Making a
Donation to Orchid: ~ Membership - Ganoksin Jewelry Making Community

Just back from Tucson, and digging out from mountain of emails,
phone messages and snail mail. The Tucson Glow will last a mighty long
time. It was an extreme honor to meet Hanuman and Ton. From what I
saw and heard- every one who met them fell a little bit in love.
Their warmth and enthusiasm boundless, and their commitment to Orchid
is heartwarming. It was delightful to spend a few nights with Hanuman
and Charles Lewton-Brain (co-founder of Orchid)- I felt I was in the
presence of greatness.

There was much talk of the importance of fund raising- do you all
know the internet sever fees alone are over $30,000 per year (this
does not include salaries and other expenses)- and that Hanuman has
paid for most of Orchid’s operating costs over the years out of his
own pocket? Please make a donation of what ever amount you can, in
order for this community to continue (and if you have a boss- show
your boss your donation, give him or her examples of how Orchid has
helped you with your work, and ask them to make a matching
donation)… http://www.ganoksin.com/donate/

It was a pleasure to meet so many of you at our demos at AGTA
(thanks Frei and Borel for bringing the bench and tools for our
demos) and at Rio’s Catalog in Motion. Thanks for introducing
yourselves- it is nice to have faces to connect with your posts.

Rio Grande, as usual, put on a great show at Catalog in Motion. Many
of us are extremely grateful for their generosity in support of
education. They donated booths to schools, set up and promoted free
educational seminars. Rio easily could have used this space to set up
more tools displays. Their commitment to education is commendable.
Every one of their employees was gracious and helpful- what a class
act! More thanks to Rio for being Orchid’s largest sponsor.

Major thanks to Sam Patania and Pat Kulla of Patanias for your many,
many hours of work in arranging the Orchid dinner. Best Regards, Kate
Wolf, Wolf Designs, Portland, Maine- where the actual temp was 17
degrees below zero Fahrenheit last night (another reason why I don’t
schedule classes in the winter…)! http://www.katewolfdesigns.com

Hello Orchidland, I’ll briefly say that Orchid was well represented
in Tucson and it was such a pleasure to meet so many at the dinner.
Now I can picture more faces to match names.

The highlight of the evening was a talk by Hanuman/Dr.Aspler.  He

gave us a short biography and talked about where Orchid can go from
here. I only hope he and Ton survived the Tucson experience without
harm. The local Tucson paper carried a feature about the show and
colored gems, with lengthy quotes from Hanuman.

The silent auction was a winner... I can say that because I won the

bids on some magnificant tools from Steve Satow. Lost out on the
tools from Miland Suess, so I had to fight my way to his booth and
step on many other Orchid toes to buy them. That struggle was worth
it since I got to visit with Miland himself and have a personal
demonstration.

My advice for future attendees: be sure to write on the back of each

business card the reason you collected the card! It’s sort of a blur
now and my notes help me compile and organize.

Thanks Hanuman and Ton for coming to Tucson.  I hope you had a

wonderful time. Special thanks to Sam Patania and Pat for organizing
everything. It was extraordinary. Judy in Kansas

Judy M. Willingham, R.S.
Biological and Agricultural Engineering
237 Seaton Hall
Kansas State University
Manhattan KS 66506
(785) 532-2936

Helloooooo Orchid ,
Wow!!! what a great evening, It was wonderful to meet so many
Orchidians. Thank You , Thank You, Thank You! Peace Karl

Dear Orchidians -

It was really so great to see such a turnout for the Dinner! What a
wonderful time we all had talking with Hanuman, Charles Lewton-Brain,
Karen Christians, Andrea Hill from Rio Grande and on and on and on.
So many interesting people and not enough time to talk as much as one
wanted. HOWEVER - there is next year and it’ll be bigger and better
than ever because that’s the way Orchidians are – always growing.

Hanuman has already announced who won the J2R casting machine and
that winner was drawn by Andrea Hill. The 20-ton Bonny Doon press
was won by George Rodriquez and his name was drawn by Lee Marshall of
Bonny Doon.

The Silent Auction, run by Pat Glover and a host of marvelous
volunteers was as successful as always. Registration was run by Barb
Atkinson with the assistance of Cindy Moore. Sam and I were so glad
to be surrounded and supported by all of you generous volunteers.
The Dinner is a success because of all of you and there’s no way I
can thank you enough.

See you next year - Pat Kulla @ Patania’s

Hi Sam,

Yup. It was great. I have looked forward to the Orchid Dinner
every year. First Dave Ahrens and now you, have organized a
wonderful experience. Visiting with Hanuman was enlightening as
well… and Ton’s pretty cool too.

I enjoy the info-trading that cuts down on searching at the shows.
Not to mention the exceptional opportunities to bid on nifty tools,
etc. at the silent auction.

To anyone who didn’t make it, put the Orchid Dinner on the top of
your list for next year! Food’s good too. (Sigh) Now I’m back in
winter weather and show shoveling.

Judy in Kansas, who is significantly lighter in the bank account,
but infinitely heavier in friends!

I just came home from a busy week in Tucson.

One of the major reasons that I went was to attend the Orchid Dinner,
and it was everything that I expected and more.

MANY thanks to Sam Patania and everyone who helped. It was great to
be able to ‘attach’ faces to the names of the folks on Orchid, who I
have come to regard as family.

All week long, people would come up to me and introduce themselves,
saying “YOU’RE the Lord of the Rings?!?!?” “I read your posts on
Orchid all the time.” (I guess I will have to learn to live with the
fame.)

It was a wonderful week, and I thank Hanuman and Ton and Charles
Lewton-Brain for creating this family.

David Barzilay
Lord of the Rings
607 S Hill St Ste 850
Los Angeles, CA 90014-1718
213-488-9157

Hello Orchidans,

Just back from the land of Tucson. I am still reeling from
meetings, shaking hands, and hugs.

Thanks to Rio Grande, our Metalwerx booth received much attention.
Many of you had heard of Metalwerx and those that didn’t, took our
brochure to hand off to daughters and sons. Again I gave my talk on
Marketing for Artists, and each time I do, I learn something new.
I’m not used to speaking in front of people, but I find that I am
fairly comfortable now.

Once again we brought out our cases loaded with Sumner Silvermans’
amazing gold jewelry and the new Orchid pins. Look for the Orchid
pins on the Ganoksin shopping site in about three weeks.

Sumner Silverman, our wax working and repousse Metalwerx Faculty,
gave a great talk on his gold repousse work. He is presently
working on a beautiful 24K Orchid which will also be on the site.

Metalwerx is making a mark on the jewelry making world. Two of my
studiomates flew here to attend the show and I felt so proud
introducing them as part of the Metalwerx community.

During this trip I was fortunate to see Metals-Edge in Scottsdale.
They have a very impressive facility with Carol Berger Taylor at the
helm.

The Celebration for Orchid (aka The Orchid Dinner), was the best
yet. What an amazing bunch of people these Orchidans are. Thanks
to Sam, Pat and Pat for organizing the event!

The last few days were spent in quiet reflection staring at the
Grand Canyon. I had never taken a post trip after the event, and I
am glad I did. This gave me an opportunity to clear my head and get
ready for the next events.

Somebody asked me, “What is it like being part of the Orchid
Community”?

The answer was in the Grand Canyon. To me, being part of Orchid is
a rich diversity of colors, textures and sounds. Some are bold,
some are subtle, some are deep with passion, and some sit on the
ledge and watch. It’s bigger than ourselves; it’s so wide and
spread out, that to contemplate how large, it hurts my brain.
Sometimes the opposite edge was so visually clear, you felt like you
could touch it. Miles away, a single cry from a bird was heard with
stunning clarity. Most important, even in its vastness, I feel part
of something extraordinary and magical.

Karen Christians
M E T A L W E R X
50 Guinan St.
Waltham, MA 02451
Ph: 781/891-3854
Fx: 781/891-3857
www.metalwerx.com
email: @Karen_Christians

Hi Karen.

Thank you for sharing your beautiful metaphor about Orchid and the
Grand Canyon.

As I mentally viewed the canyon again through your words, I felt the
inexpressible experience wash over me but with a more palpable
intimacy than ever before. I am able to grasp the universal
connections more personally, . . but my brain still hurts trying to
take it in!

Your eloquence has brought me greater insight.

Pam Chott
Song of the Phoenix