GoldBender
Tenderfoot
Hello everyone, it's good to be here! I'm an artist from the Las Vegas area and a hunter of all sorts of stuff when I get the time. I'm back in school, trying to get a degree in Geology before I get too much older. 
I'm also going after a Graduate Gemologist credential from GIA. I'm mainly a lapidary and jewelry artist, but I also do drawing, photography painting and some work in wood. However, most of my current income comes from doing handyman type stuff. I've always had an interest in rocks. I've always walked with my head to the ground, looking for stuff. Dad got me in to panning early on when we went to Virginia City once and stopped at one of those booths where you pay a buck or two for a panful of soil. I was hooked. We used to drive out in the desert and bring home buckets to go through, but never had much luck. I lived in Colorado for a few years (Ft. Collins), and was up in the hills and mountains every chance I could get, hunting gold and gemstones. I got lucky on one panning trip and hit a good streak, but nothing much before or after that. I've always had an interest in the sorts of stuff talked about here, though. I used to collect coins really heavily. I dont do any metal detecting or CRH, but i'd like to MD. My main interest here is the prospecting- I love looking for gold! I just recently visited a friend in Georgia and it really re-sparked my interests in this stuff. We went up north near Dahlonega and enjoyed the day prospecting. We also spent some time screening for Montana sapphires in gravel purchased from Gem Mountain, MT. It was great fun, found a lot of usable stones, and we did it in his driveway! Some day soon, I hope I can get back out there and prospect, either here or in AZ or CA. I need to join a club or do some research and see what's around here. Anyways, I'm glad to be here, looking forward to it. Thanks for the read!
I'm also going after a Graduate Gemologist credential from GIA. I'm mainly a lapidary and jewelry artist, but I also do drawing, photography painting and some work in wood. However, most of my current income comes from doing handyman type stuff. I've always had an interest in rocks. I've always walked with my head to the ground, looking for stuff. Dad got me in to panning early on when we went to Virginia City once and stopped at one of those booths where you pay a buck or two for a panful of soil. I was hooked. We used to drive out in the desert and bring home buckets to go through, but never had much luck. I lived in Colorado for a few years (Ft. Collins), and was up in the hills and mountains every chance I could get, hunting gold and gemstones. I got lucky on one panning trip and hit a good streak, but nothing much before or after that. I've always had an interest in the sorts of stuff talked about here, though. I used to collect coins really heavily. I dont do any metal detecting or CRH, but i'd like to MD. My main interest here is the prospecting- I love looking for gold! I just recently visited a friend in Georgia and it really re-sparked my interests in this stuff. We went up north near Dahlonega and enjoyed the day prospecting. We also spent some time screening for Montana sapphires in gravel purchased from Gem Mountain, MT. It was great fun, found a lot of usable stones, and we did it in his driveway! Some day soon, I hope I can get back out there and prospect, either here or in AZ or CA. I need to join a club or do some research and see what's around here. Anyways, I'm glad to be here, looking forward to it. Thanks for the read!
