[Jewelry making - Article 00214] - Re: [Orchid] Jewelry design - what & where to learn

[Helen Hill]

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>     Some of you are right about being self taught. There is no doubt
>     in my mind that if you are determined enough and have an enormous
>     amount of free time you can teach yourself a lot of things. 

    I suppose as one who keeps harping on about being self-taught and
    how it can work, I'd better explain a little. A few years ago, I was
    signed off work due to illness, although it was a while before my
    illness was actually diagnosed as Addison's disease. It's a rare
    disease that surprisingly my brother and myself suffer from and it
    has left us both with extremely unreliable health where we might be
    able to work for a day or two but can then be too unwell for the next
    few days. Although no one would wish to have such an illness, it has
    been somewhat of a cloud with a silver lining for me in that I have
    lots of time on my hands with which I can now pursue the making of
    jewellery - something I've wanted to do for many years but never had
    the time to do up to now. 

    If I had the money and the health, I'd enroll on a degree course and
    learn goldsmithing but sadly I don't, so I have to do the best I
    can. I don't see it as reinventing the wheel. As I see it, I am
    learning new skills but tailoring the process to fit my needs. I get
    frustrated when I've got lots of ideas but haven't got the good
    health and strength to try them out. But teaching myself (with the
    help of Orchid of course) is the perfect way for me to accomplish my
    goals. In any case, it's a good job I have so much time - how else
    would I be able to read all the Orchid posts and reply to some of
    them?! ;-) 

    I know that teaching oneself has its limitations but I'm doing my
    best not to limit myself too much and am open to new ideas and
    techniques. I strive to be the best I can and don't like anything to
    beat me, which is why I sometimes appear to be trying to run before I
    can even crawl. 

>     The reason I advise people to take courses is that it simplifies
>     the process of learning difficult tasks like soldering and allows
>     you the opportunity to move on faster. 

    I think I've been fortunate in that I picked up the technique of
    soldering very quickly. Sure I had problems with it and sometimes
    still do but I usually find ways to overcome them - often thanks to
    Orchid. In fact I think my first post was asking for such help. But
    I'd been reading about how to do it and the pitfalls and how to
    avoid them, for months before I got my hands on the materials and had
    a go, so the first time I tried to solder two bits of metal together,
    I succeeded in soldering two bits of metal together. I've learned all
    manner of tricks and tips since which have made the job even easier.
    Perhaps it was the scientist in me that meant when I was reading
    about the process, I understood the materials and how they behaved
    and it all made sense to me. Beginner's luck maybe, who knows? 

    Anyway, I'm waffling again as usual. But that's why I'm self taught
    as opposed to taking classes. 

Helen
UK
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