Wood Jewelry Workshop Review

Another year, another bumper crop of new wood jewelers. The students in my second annual "Jewelry that Grows on Trees" weekend workshop at Pratt were an ambitious and hard-working bunch. These are some of the pieces they produced in just two days.

Coldworking Class with Rebecca Chernow

Intro to Coldworking

Pratt Fine Arts Center

As I described in my previous post about Pilchuck, a lot of glass work takes place far from the heat and glamor of the furnace. In a "cold shop" you can cut, grind, or polish glass using tools that stay cool under a continuous stream or spray of water. Coldworking has the potential to make--or break--a work of glass art.

I spent last weekend standing in a puddle and wiping indoor rain off my glasses while learning the ins and outs of Pratt's cold shop from the excellent Rebecca Chernow. The class is a pre-requisite for being able to rent the shop as an independent user, so there were a certain number of hoops to jump through, but Rebecca kept things moving and made sure we had some time to work on personal projects. She furnished each of us with the raw materials for three projects: a square of window glass for a sandblasted coaster (below; and yes, I did blast straight through the middle by accident), a bubble to cut into a candy dish, and a solid blob that became a lens-topped paperweight (above).

Upcoming Class: Intro to Kitchen Table Jewelry

Intro to Kitchen Table Jewelry
4 Wednesdays, October 13 - November 3, 2010
6pm – 9pm
University of Washington main campus
ASUW Experimental College

Two big things happened as soon as I earned my MFA: I started trying to make money from my jewelry, and I stopped having easy access to a studio. Yikes!

Luckily, by that time I had a long history of making jewelry whatever tools, materials, and space I could scrounge up. Now I'm sharing the strategies I've developed over the years in my new class for the University of Washington's ASUW Experimental College.

In contrast to the classes I normally teach in fantastically well-equipped studios (Pratt, Penland, the 92nd St Y, etc), I'll be focusing specifically on techniques that students can practice in the comfort of their own homes. We'll use tools that are affordable, safe, quiet, and won't require you to reinforce the floor or build an addition. We'll share some equipment and materials, and students will bring their own starter kit of personal tools (starts around $25).

This class is for you if:

-you're jewelry-curious but reluctant to splash out too much cash on a brand-new hobby.

-with the holidays looming, you'd like to make jewelry to wear or give to friends.
-you already make jewelry but would like to lighten your studio schedule.
-you'd like to explore the common ground between jewelry and another craft you already practice.
-you want to keep making jewelry while traveling around the world(of course, the easiest solution to this quandary it to take me with you).

Feel free to contact me with any questions!

Details and registration information