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Monday, January 9, 2012

Winter/Spring Workshop Schedule

Feel like learning some fun metals techniques?  Here are the workshops and classes I'll be teaching over the next few months!


Enameling for Jewelry and Beyond

Students will learn basic techniques in enameling, such as sifting and kiln firing. We’ll apply these techniques (plus a few other fun things) to everything from pendants and earrings to items for the home - think drawer-pulls and light switch plates!

8 Tuesdays - Jan 10 - Feb 28
6:30-9:00pm
Visual Arts Center of Richmond - Richmond, VA



 
NC Black Co. Micro Raising Workshop

Raising is a process for forming sheet metal into vessel form using the metal's natural response to hammering. Students will explore methods for creating miniature vessel forms. These methods can be used to create sculpture and jewelry as well as vessels. Students will focus on samples in copper and will create a raised vessel by the end of the class. All tools are provided.  Some metalsmithing experience is helpful, but not required. 

Two 1-Day Workshops
February 4 - 10:00-5:00
February 5 - 10:00-5:00
Cape Fear Studios - Fayetteville, NC

3-Day Workshop
March 22-24 - 10:00-5:00 each day
Radford University - Radford, VA




Jewelry Fabrication Weekend Workshop

This is the perfect introduction to creating jewelry the traditional way, by starting with sheet metal and wire. You'll learn about the basic tools of the jeweler: a jeweler's saw, pliers, hammers, and the torch. We'll cover techniques that will enable you to create beautiful wearable jewelry, such as rings, bracelets, and pendants! We'll work with copper with sterling silver, and will provide all the materials, tools and equipment. No experience necessary - all you need is enthusiasm!

Feb 18-19 (Sat-Sun) 
10:00-4:30 both days
Sawtooth School for Visual Art - Winston-Salem, NC




Galvanic Etching and Champleve Enameling

Galvanic etching, or electro-etching, is a process that uses electricity rather than acid to etch metal. Students will learn forming techniques for their specific pieces, and then we’ll move into champleve enameling, a technique that involves wet-packing enamel powder into the recesses created by etching the metal.

8 Tuesdays - March 13 - May 1
6:30-9:00pm
Visual Arts Center of Richmond - Richmond, VA




Using the Hydraulic Die Press in the Jewelry Studio


Explore the fascinating realm of forming metal with a hydraulic die press. You can easily add dimension to your metalwork with the hydraulic press. Being able to easily create multiples of a simple form is one of its greatest assets. Students will learn to create original dies in acrylic sheet or other material, then use these dies to make puffed metal forms that can be altered using various techniques and textures. You can make multiples for a series of jewelry pieces, each one with the same outside silhouette but finished differently. The possibilities are endless. Basic Jeweler's Saw skills are helpful, but beginners are welcome.

May 19-20 (Sat-Sun)
10:00-4:30 both days
Sawtooth School for Visual Art - Winston-Salem, NC

Sunday, January 1, 2012

The Year in Pictures

January First.  Beginning of a New Year. 

And you know what?  I GOT this.  I am all over it. 

2011 was crazy and scary and amazing.  I worked my ass off, and I feel like I am finally moving in the right direction.  Yay!

I took the last few days off to work on some personal projects that I just haven't had time for with everything else going on.  I spent hours this past week going through all the photos I have taken this year, editing and cropping, and just loving reliving all those moments.  Now, I am my mother's daughter, so I pretty much always have a camera glued to my hand.  And I'm a sucker for sunsets and oceans and clouds.   But I'll try not to get tooo carried away.....


January:  I sent in my portfolio for my graduate school application.



Then Mark and I moved to Richmond.  This is the first day of setting up the new studio! 




February: Buster came into our lives and we all enjoyed exploring Richmond together.



March : I revamped the look of my jewelry business, CopperTide.



April: Worked on tool designs and Micro Raising Workshop development with NC Black Co.



May: Chuck and I taught our first Micro Raising Workshop
at Sawtooth School for Visual Art in Winston-Salem, NC.



Then I went to the SNAG conference in Seattle and worked the 
NC Black vendor booth with Andrea and Les.



June:  I launched my new Reef Jewelry line.



July : Traveled to Colorado with NC Black to do a vendor booth at the CoMA Conference.




August : My first outdoor "craft show," the Watermelon Festival in Carytown.



Then took a little time off for the beach, and got to see a hurricane pass by the SC coast.  Amazing.




September : Mark and I launched our new business, CopperDog Studio.


October: Taught my first enameling workshop at the Visual Arts Center of Richmond.



November : Started teaching an evening course at The Visual Arts Center, then got some more beach time for Thanksgiving.



December : Made lots of jewelry, dog tags, and festive confectionery delights!




So here's to 2011!  It was a hell of a year! 

2012 : BRING.IT.ON.