Virtual classes!! I love them - learning right in your own studio, who could ask for anything more. I have taken many over the Covid time out. Now, its become very popular.
From Ferrous to Fine: Steel for Jewelers Part 2
April Wood
April 8 and 15
Virtual Class
We often think of welding as an industrial process, utilized on a large scale or for structural fabrication. This demo-focused virtual course, part 2 in a 2-part series with April Wood, will introduce students to the Smith Little Torch and oxy-acetylene welding on a jewelry scale, for wire and sheet of the mild steel variety.
From Ferrous to Fine
Burs, Bits, and Beyond: Surface Embellishment for Jewelry
William Vanaria & Lindsay Minihan
April 12
Virtual Class
In this information-dense course, join William Vanaria and Lindsay Minihan as they cover essential surfacing techniques using rotary and hand tools to add texture, intrigue, and visual complexity to your jewelry. In addition to hand tools such as checkering files, millgrain wheels, and hammers, they will also be focusing on rotary attachments you can use on your flexshaft or micro-motor; it’s the perfect opportunity to discover useful tricks to make your designs pop!
Burs, Bits, and Beyond
2024 Virtual Spring Symposium
Hosted by Kristin Shiga
April 1-5
Virtual Symposium
It's not one virtual class... it's TEN virtual presentations by ten incredible artists for the same price as a virtual class! Daily presentations each include an artist talk, studio or workspace tour, and live demonstration of a signature skill or technique. Topics this year include:
Braided Rings
Jill Hurant
April 20 and 21
Virtual Class
This 2-day virtual workshop will focus on an ancient Etruscan style braided ring. The course zeros in on a hand braided ring shank with a shaped bezel and set stone. Students will learn to fine tune their skills in both soldering and fusing, preparing wire for the braiding technique, learning an ancient Roman method of braiding, and reinforce their stone setting skills. We will discuss braiding in other styles of rings as well!
West African Filigree
Matthieu Cheminée
April 30 and May 7
Virtual Class
Join Matthieu Cheminée in this demo-centered virtual workshop, as you learn to make traditional West African filigree rings. Matthieu will teach how to make a frame, how to prepare the wire into small filigree units that will be used to fill the frame, how to properly install them, how to prepare the solder, how to solder everything together, and finally to form and finish the ring. All while using very few tools!
West African Filigree
Bangles! Bangles! Bangles!
Paulette Werger
May 1, 8, and 15
Virtual Class
This demo-focused virtual class will focus on adorning the hand, as students design and make Argentium bangle bracelets while exploring a variety of designs and techniques such as hammer texturing, forging, forming, and fabrication. Proper bangle sizing, gauge choice, experimentation with measurement and length, as well as Argentium fusion will be covered throughout the course.
Bangles, Bangles, Bangles!
Mixed Metal Fabrication with Pewter
Logan Woodle
May 6, 13, and 20
Virtual Class
Pewter’s low melting point present metalsmiths with unique opportunities to create complex compositions by combining it with traditional nonferrous alloys. Add that to pewter's unique property of being workable without the need for annealing and you've got yourself the chance to create some truly unique metal art! In this demo-focused virtual workshop students will learn to solder and fuse pewter to brass, copper, and even itself with the goal of producing dynamic three-dimensional forms.
Mixed Metal Fabrication
Put a Spin on It!
William Vanaria
May 7 and 14
Virtual Class
Ready for a technical jewelry challenge?! In this demo-focused virtual workshop students will learn how to create a ring with a free spinning kinetic element in the center - otherwise known as a "spinning ring"! This sort of challenging project teaches tight tolerance fabrication techniques, selective soldering strategies, decorative surface treatment considerations, and proper polishing protocols.
Draw and Play with Enamel
Aurélie Guillaume
May 9 and 16
Virtual Class
Learn to bring your imagination to life with color! During this demo-focused virtual workshop students will learn how to illustrate with enamel by combining a variety of simple techniques such as wet packing, color gradation by sifting, fine line black, metallic lusters, and inlays with a focus on opaque colors.
Draw and Play with Enamel
Metal Knitting: From Chain Making to Expanded Forms
Cheri Dunnigan
May 10-12
Onsite Workshop
In this 3-day workshop Cheri will present her technique of knitting metal wire chains and the methods that she has developed to create larger expanded forms in precious metal! Once students become proficient with basic weave working, they will begin to explore how to control and expand their three-dimensional forms through a variety of means.
Metal Knitting
Metal Manipulation: Forging Mass Into Forms
Stephen LeBlanc
May 31-June 2
Onsite Workshop
Microfolding and Corrugation
Cynthia Eid
June 26-30
Summer Master Class
In this 5-day intensive, a wide variety of techniques and textural possibilities will be demonstrated, including fanfolds, ribbon forms, smocking, confirming and pleating, fold forming, and making microfolded beads. Each demonstration will be followed by work time. Though process and technique are emphasized in this class, rather than being project-oriented, you may choose to bring silver for making finished jewelry, once you’ve mastered the techniques in base metal!
Microfolding and Corrugation
Fuse, Pattern, Form: Mokume Gane Start to Finish
Anne Wolf
August 14-18
Summer Master Class
In this intensive 5-day course, create a small mokume gane cup form or box from scratch while learning the secrets of this ancient Japanese metalworking technique that creates captivating and unique swirls of metal alloys. Students will first fuse a silver and copper billet using time, heat, and pressure (no solder), then they’ll forge and roll the billet down into sheet. After seeing detailed demonstrations of Anne's metamorphic patterning techniques, students will begin to pattern their own silver billet, while planning out their volumetric form.
Fuse, Pattern, Form