Hi, from USA (California)

[BarbL]

Hello!

I'm glad to find this site. I started making jewelry about five years ago, progressing gradually from creating bead strands to metalsmithing. Presently I'm about to take a class in foldforming, which I've done myself for about a year. I started jewelry work vowing that I'd never have any metal in my designs. I had an image of metal as hard, mechanical, aggressive. That ended when I discovered fold-forming, and also the colors that could be produced with heat on metal, as well as patina. Next year I'll be using a corrugator, and also an anticlastic spike to enhance my jewelry.
I've sold pieces from the beginning, mostly at an annual art show at a local college, also on Etsy. I love the idea that my work adds to a person's life and that they take it away to keep. I don't like when they literally take it, though. I've had a few pieces stolen at shows, a compliment I could do without.
In January I'm taking a foldforming class from a master jeweler. I've taken classes from him before, despite the fact that they were so advanced I could hardly produce anything. What I did learn from him and the other students, as well as the general tone of the class, is worth it.
The big fly in the ointment at this point is a fear of torches. I'm struggling to get over it, but it's stubborn. The idea of thousands of degrees of heat in my hand scares me. My first experience with a torch was one that was torture to operate, hard and balky, followed by a floppy acetylene torch which did not go where I aimed. I now have a little pencil torch which I will start with, progressing (maybe) if I feel comfortable. I know I can not use glue forever! I want to set stones, and gluing a gemstone is unthinkable.
That's about it...glad to be here.