[Jewelry making - Article 00020] - [Orchid] Introducing - Rachel Rose

[Rachel Rose]

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To my fellow Orchidians -

    I've only been on the Forum a few weeks and everyone has been so
    helpful to me. Today, as I emailed a few of you offlist to ask
    further questions about the ferric nitrate etch, I realized I really
    ought to have introduced myself properly in the beginning, because
    it will explain my (possibly annoying) tenacity re chasing down
    info. 

    I am a self-taught jeweler, although not self-taught by choice. For
    twenty years I was a school librarian, but was forced into early
    retirement by the onset of severe fibromyalgia. I would love to
    attend actual course work in jewelery, but there is nothing even
    remotely near where I live, and travel is extremely difficult for
    me. I began my metal-smithing "career" (not really a career, of
    course, but an avocation, and one I do at a very slow pace because
    of the fibro and the limitations it places on me, pain and
    stamina-wise) when I began dating a man who does copper sculpture
    and he taught me how to use an oxy-acetylene torch. I played around
    with that for a year, (very slowly) making some abstract mobiles,
    and then decided I would rather be making jewelry. And so I began to
    learn. I started by deciding what I wanted to make and then got
    books and figured out how to do each fabrication I needed. I wrote
    to book authors and asked questions. I bugged tech support at Rio.
    Now I have you guys to bug. I hope you don't mind. Believe me, if I
    could go learn this stuff from a teacher, in person, I would. Maybe
    someday I will. Hope springs eternal. 

    I just felt I needed to post this. I'm NOT looking for sympathy -
    it's been thirteen years since my fibro onset and I've gotten good
    at functioning within my little envelope and honestly there are much
    more awful things that can happen to a person physically than fibro,
    I know that! I simply thought it would explain why I have had (and
    will continue to have) so many questions! 

    Thanks for all your help so far. Guys, you are awesome. 

Rachel
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