Below are a list of upcoming courses that I will be teaching in-person. If you are interested in signing up, simply click the link for each class and follow that website's instructions for signing up. I hope to see you there!
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The symbolic dogwood flower meets metal + stone
”Don’t wait for someone to bring you flowers. Plant your own garden and decorate your own soul." -Luther Burbank
Well, in this case… let’s smith our own garden & wear it!!
Dogwoods symbolize rebirth as it is one of the first trees to bloom during early spring, representing new life. It is also known for its durability, able to endure and survive in hard times. A fitting flower choice for the recent storms we have weathered and our strength to preserver.
In this class, we will construct a pair of earrings out of a Dogwood casting & a matching pair of cabochons.
What techniques are involved?
Stamping, forming, working with castings, perfecting your bezel techniques, sawing, and so much more!
A modern take on a classic hoop
In this 4-hour class we will create a pair of earrings with ball embellishments that go around each entire hoop.
What is not included… frustration while adding ball embellishments to a round surface.
I will take you through my process to avoid balls falling off of your circle as you go.
First night FUN in Tucson
POV: You are in Tucson for the gem show and It’s the first day of classes at Vivi Magoo Retreat in the Desert. You’ve been looking forward to this retreat for months. And now that you are here, you are READY TO PLAY!
This fun relaxed and friendly class is the answer. This 3-hour evening class is designed to allow students to have creative freedom.
You get to choose the final design and the function of the piece all while learning some fun techniques, sharing laughs with friends and playing.
You can stretch your imagination with shapes such as hair forks (which make some pretty fancy bookmarks when not holding your hair back), wrist cuffs, neck cuffs, upper arm bands and more!!
We will cover the FUNdaMETALS such as forming, wire wrapping, texturing and finishing. You will for sure walk out of class with at least one finished piece… most likely more!
double up on your sawing game
Sawing is hands down the one process in metalsmithing I hear the most grumblings of dislike for from my students. Frustration runs high and student’s enjoyment takes a dive.
Those who know me, know that I LOVE to saw.
It wasn’t always that way.
I started out with those same frustrations.
Then I found techniques and tools that worked for me to find my rhythm which turned into a love of my saw and a pure enjoyment in the process.
It took time and trial and error that I would love to help you skip over and get right to the good stuff.
When you think about sawing doubles for things like earrings or matching embellishments, are you thinking… Twice the work?
Varied outcomes?
Sisters, not twins?
Well, I have a really cool NEW technique to show you that will be a game changer for you!!
In this class, I want to not only teach you to love your saw AND enjoy the process, but I want to share how to create matching pairs that are TRULY IDENTICAL TWINS!
And let me tell you… these detailed pieces are not only for earrings, they can be used in so many ways.
You’ll be sawing your time in half (pun intended) while creating twice the amount of usable pieces!
In the later part of the day, once your pieces are sawn out, you will have the opportunity to stretch your imagination and use them in whatever way you would like.
Time permitting, I will demo some or all of these depending on student interest: techniques for soldering to backplates, embellishing with beads, earring wire techniques, or other requests you might have on how you can utilize these amazing cutouts.