[Jewelry making - Article 00979] - [Orchid] How others got started in jewelry making?

[Altana Frantz]

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Hello,

    My name is Altana. I just found this website while I was searching
    online and I'm really excited to get started with this forum. I have
    some questions that I would like to ask everyone and if you have a
    chance if you could get back with me I would greatly appreciate it. 

    I attended the University of Illinois at Chicago for 3 years and I
    am currently looking for an alternative route for my education. I
    studied art and design for 2 years and over the past year I made the
    decision to continue my education focusing on jewelry design/making.
    I've been making jewelry since I was 8 or 9 and I'm confident that I
    would like to make a career out of my passion for jewelry. I've
    never actually taken a class on metal or jewelry but i know i want
    to work with metals. I currently work with wire, fabrics, and
    beads/stones. So, I enrolled at the Gemological Institute of America
    in Carlsbad, Ca. in their applied jewelry arts and graduate jeweler
    programs. My decision to leave UIC was finalized rather abruptly. I
    did however give myself time to think about my move to California
    before uprooting from Chicago. I'm having second thoughts about
    attending GIA because it is extremely expensive given my finacial
    situation. I definitely want to take the metal fabrication, casting &
    mold & wax classes, but am not looking forward to cad/cam and other
    computer work which will occupy at least a 1/3 of my time there. I
    really have no desire to work with computers. I never did at UIC
    when i was designing except in my photography class. I work with my
    hand and design with models. I feel like 30,000 is a lot of money to
    spend on a school where their program is not completely what I would
    like it to be for me. I have looked into jewelry and metalsmithing
    classes at my local art guild and I will be taking a beginning
    metalsmithing class for a few weeks before i move in March.

    I'm curious as to how others got started in jewelry making,
    metalsmithing, etc. How you learned to work in the trade, if you
    went to schools and what schools would be right for someone who
    wants only hands on experience, and what would you recommend to me
    as a I am just starting my education. Where else can I find good
    resources to help me in my pursuit of a career.

    Thank you so much for your time and I appreciate any advice you can
    give me.

Altana

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