Post
I saw a post by this lady on Facebook and thought her work impressive. She kindly let me include her here:
Unique handmade jewelry with natural stones and ceramic
My name is Anna, I am 37 years old. I was born in a small town, and the moment of the collapse of the USSR fell on my childhood. The 90s were a terrible time, but it affected my parents more than me. I was too young to really feel it.
At 17, I finished school and moved to the city of Kaliningrad, Russian Federation. I graduated from the art lyceum and got my first job: a master of machine processing of amber. It was monotonous mechanical work, and in the evenings, coming home, I drew dotwork pictures with ink and pen.
Then I got my first jewellery job, then a job assembling amber beads and bracelets, then jewellery again ... And so I ended up in a company where I worked for 10 years, creating jewellery with silver and amber.
At the same time, I had a hobby: working with brass and stones, except for amber. I was basically happy with my life, but I was lonely.
At the beginning of 2022, I met a guy from America online, and we fell in love with each other. It was a month before Putin started the war with Ukraine.
What can I say? My page on a Russian social network, ‘VKontakte’, was blocked by the Prosecutor General's Office of the Russian Federation for my anti-war posts. I think if I hadn't left Russia, I would have faced a prison term.
And now, in 2024, people go to prison for 3-15 years for what they posted in 2022. And, there are thousands and thousands of them.
I was lucky, I got to America at the end of 2023. The Universe works in strange ways. My love saved me. However, if not for this, I probably would have left, but not so far from my parents. I guess there is meaning in this for the Universe, that I got here.
Now I have my Etsy store, AmbrielJewelry, where I sell my products.
I try to make the world a better place to the best of my ability, in ways that are available to me. And I believe that love and creativity will win.
