WEEKEND WORKSHOPS
April 2019
Listed Chronologically
ALL WORKSHOP TIMES ARE 10:00 - 4:00
*Unless Indicated*
-- Please sign up 1 week in advance to avoid cancellation --
Sat 4/13 Wax Working Basics
(Raychel Wengenroth) Blue Room
Casting dates back to the bronze age and is still used today, although there have been many advances since then. This class will focus on the wax aspect of the process. Learn how to carve, file, melt and manipulate to create designs for rings, pendants, pins and earrings. The wax can be cast into the metal of your choice (including sterling, gold. platinum, brass or bronze) in a variety of ways, including the sand casting workshop on Saturday 4/27. Casting is an excellent way to explore jewelry making without investing (pun intended) a lot of time or material in the process.
Skill Level: No experience necessary.
Tuition: $100
Lab Fee: $5
Materials: $15
Sun 4/14 Thick Walled Bezels
(Lissa Queeney) Blue Room
Confident with making bezels and want to make them more dramatic? Learning how to make a thick walled bezel can expand the look and weight of your work. This workshop features different thicknesses of bezels, how to decorate them, and how to set your stones with a hammer hand-piece. You can concentrate on a stone you love, or practice on separate stones of varying sizes. Whichever style you choose, this class is for those of us who love stones, and love setting them in interesting ways.
Skill Level: Basic 101, Basic 2 (including soldering)
Tuition: $100
Lab Fee: $10
Materials: $15
Sat 4/20 *Noon - 4:00* Ring in the Family
(Raychel Wengenroth) Blue Room
Feel the excitement and pride of making a beautifully polished ring from start to finish. Using sterling silver wire, students will cut, file, solder, hammer, sand and polish a ring. This is a perfect mini workshop for people who already make jewelry using beads & components, but haven’t worked with more advanced techniques in a fully equipped studio. This short class will open a window to the possibilities of working with metal and also put a ring on it!
Skill Level: No experience necessary
Tuition: $65
Lab Fee: $10
Materials: $15
Sat 4/27 Sand Casting
(Hannah Wilson) Blue Room
Cast jewelry allows the artist to create a wider range of shapes and forms than constructed jewelry might tolerate. During this sand-casting intensive, you will learn how to create a mold, pore in molten silver creating a one-of-a-kind pendant or ring. You can even use the mold to cast multiples of the same piece! This workshop will cover the basics of sand-casting. All skill levels welcome!
Skill Level: No Experience Necessary
Tuition: $100
Lab Fee: $15
Materials: Sterling sold by weight/market price in class or bring your own clean scrap (no contaminants including solder)
Sun 4/28 Finishing Intensive
(Hannah Wilson) Blue Room
This workshop is for students who have basic skills but want a concise understanding of how to complete professional quality pieces. Learn a variety of techniques (both hand & machine) to de-sprue, grind, file, sand, tumble, satin finish, texture and polish to bring your designs to life. "Clean up" can make or break a piece; a beautiful design can lose appeal if fine craftsmanship isn't applied, a plain design can be exquisite with attention to detail. Demystify the range of finishing options by hand (files, sandpaper) or machine (belt sander, polishing machine, tumbler and the incredible versatility of the flexible shaft). Depletion gilding, antiquing and texturing will also be discussed.
Skill Level: Basic 101 or equivalent
Tuition: $100
Lab Fee: $10
Materials: Bring castings, any unfinished pieces you might have, or use scrap metal to experiment with the techniques.
