Some teachers use yoga to unwind; others might take to a trail or just tinker around the house to blow off steam.
Chapel Hill High School’s online learning facilitator Daniel Reinholz has found a different avenue to collect himself.
“Sometimes I find it difficult to stop processing negative thoughts, so I use [jewelry making] as a form of meditation to calm and focus myself,” Reinholz said.
Though Reinholz does not have a formal business or even an Etsy page, he sells his earrings, necklaces and bracelets to friends and others who know of his penchant for making jewelry.
“When I do make a sale, often this money will either be used in purchasing additional jewelry-making material, or I will donate it,” Reinholz said. His interest in creating jewelry began long before his teaching career.
Reinholz found his passion for making jewelry in high school when he started making personalized gifts for his peers.
“The processes of making jewelry has drawn me back since then, meaning different things at different times. Other times, I use it to channel and grow my curiosity and creativity,” he said.
After dabbling in several forms of crafting jewelry, learning by taking classes and watching YouTube videos, Reinholz has become comfortable with several techniques.
His techniques depend upon “what the material is and listening to where it wants to go. I’m comfortable with copper, brass, bronze, pewter, silver, reclaimed wood and fiber,” Reinholz said.
He is currently teaching himself how to create bezel settings, which are the rims around precious stones in rings, and is hoping to begin engraving within the next year.
Reinholz uses proceeds from his sales to help raise money for the Carolina Abortion Bowl-A-Thon, which occurs every year around the beginning of spring.
The fund, a volunteer nonprofit, helps individuals across North Carolina who would choose to have an abortion but are not able to afford the full cost of an in-clinic abortion procedure.
“It is my belief that every person should have the ability to access a safe abortion and accurate family planning information free from fear of reprisal, degradation, misleading information from crisis pregnancy centers and financial concern,” Reinholz said.
Reinholz is thinking about offering jewelry making classes through the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer Center in Durham or the Durham Arts Council in the future once he has enough free time.
