[Jewelry making - Article 00355] - Re: [Orchid] A one question interview

[Thorrko]

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    First ring I've ever made, I build from brass strip from old "flat"
    battery and piece of emerald green toothbrush which I cut with
    kitchen bone saw and polished using toothpaste to high luster by
    hand,I was 7 , yes, seven years old.Then came Zorro spades made from
    steal welding rods begged for at autobody shop,aluminum ladle for
    guard and filed with corks shotgun shell for handle Next my mum,and
    sister proudly wore pendants, brooches and bracelets made of cooper
    wire,hammered,twisted,and soldered with tin solder.Then I started to
    use silver cutlery for my creations.By 14 I had basic tools adapted
    for my needs and started to make simple silver jewelry with  natural
    stones,corals,amber, ivory,ebony,mother of pearl and so on.I melted
    in to silver color glass heads from dressmaker pins for
    decoration.In high school I started to collect real jewelry tools and
    I made primitive torch for natural gas and air.Then I took 3 years
    apprenticeship in Wrought Iron shop .After that came Dental
    Technician school ,with all the beauty of lost wax casting.Working at
    dental lab I made Jewelry for my coworkers ,in exchange for
    dentures,and repairs.It was truly symbiotic coexistence.My ladies had
    new jewelry, I was doing what I really wanted to do.After living
    Poland I found work as jeweler much easier then dental technician.
    So here I am making one of a kind pieces mostly in platinum,with my
    own plat. casting in well equipped studio in Toronto.Through all this
    years /from my first ring 36/ I haven't had any formal training 
    except for Matrix course at Gemvision,but this is digital.The rest I
    learned reading books, magazines, asking questions, watching fellow
    Jewelers and mostly on my own mistakes.My mum says that my fevered
    toy as the child wasn't a teddy bear or car , but a hammer!Jewelry
    making hasn't make me rich,but it enriched my live in a great
    way,gave me opportunity to meet great people,learn about metals,
    gems,art and history.Hearing praises from clients for something done
    with my own hands something what some days ago was just a handful of
    casting grain and some lose stones is priceless to me.On the whole I
    wouldn't like to change my carrier even if I could turn back the
    clock.Some of my old creations you can see visiting my site
    www.thorrko.com 

all the best
Rafal

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