Newbie needing some advice re learning about silver

[palo]

Hi,

I am newbie to this forum and want to work with silver. I have done some jewellery making for the past 4 years but very amateur hobbyist I would say. i had booked onto a 1 year silversmithing course in Birmingham, but got chucked off after the first enrolment session because i explained I have certain challenges when it comes to dealing with things. The medical condition I have, which I won't bore you with, means that I have to manage myself very carefully and do risk losing muscle control at times, however this is never without warning and I generally manage it very well, after 13 years I have had a fair bit of practice, as you can imagine.

Now if silversmithing is too dangerous for me, is precious metal clay a feasible option. This is something I have wanted to do for a number of years, and frankly I was gutted when I was asked to not to attend, I know this is not beyond me and I have frankly dealt with far bigger challenges, could anyone suggest any precious metal clay books or silversmithing books to get me started, and perhaps in the future I can look at my budget again and see if I can afford a non adult education course where they may be prepared to teach me!

Thank you, sorry for the long opening post, I am not normally so garrulous, but felt I had to explain.

Sorry to clarify my requirements, I do have weaker hands and arms than probably normal people so heavy and standard size tools are not really very good for me, although I find the travel size or mini sizes ideal and easy to work with.