Forging Away Workshop Openings ...

Hi guys, I wanted to tell you a little more about this workshop, which I think is like getting many workshops for the price of one!  You'll learn ...

• the Painting with Fire technique of enameling ... there's nothing cooler than that because it's so fast, affordable, easy and safe. We'll enamel most of the pieces we'll be using in our bracelet, but you can bring special beads of your own with holes that can accommodate 14-gauge wire.
  
• how to forge round copper beads into square or rectangular shapes during the enameling process.
• how to apply millefiori, lump enamel, and cat whiskers to a copper disc while the piece is on the mandrel.  Take a look at this post for how we'll do that.
• how to make this cool link, which you can use as your focal instead of the millefiori disc, if you'd like.
• to use some of these materials to make a bracelet, and
• how to make an S-clasp!

The dedication page of my book showing the bracelet with the link option!

The millefiori focal as an option.

Examples of forged beads

 I'll be offering this workshop at:

Bead Fest Philadelphia, Saturday, August 20 from 8:30 to 4 p.m., Workshop #2633

Art and Soul, Portland, Tuesday, September 27 from 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.

Hope to see you there!

Art and Soul, Portland

Hi Folks, Registration for Art and Soul, Portland begins today, February 1!  I've got a pretty exciting line-up.  I'll be teaching everything I know!  My book, which will be out by then (August 4), will beautifully record what you'll be learning in the workshops with hands-on experience. I can only imagine how creative you'll be with your artwork ... and you'll inspire me to greater things!  That's how it happens you know ... the teacher learns from the student.  It happens every time I teach ... I learn as much as I teach.  Would love to meet some of you out there.  Portland ...  the spot where it all began.  Ten years ago Art and Soul pioneered the concept of art retreats and is still leading the pack!  Come join me!

Teaching at Art and Soul, New Orleans!

I am so lucky to be giving three great workshops at Art and Soul, New Orleans, July 7 -10, 2011. The Art Retreat will be at the Sheraton, French Quarter, right on Canal Street. Besides learning some great art techniques, NOLA is a great place for antiquing! I'm keeping my fingers crossed to make some unusual finds for my jewelry! We could search the shops together!

Two of the projects will be from my book and the third is the Painting with Fire technique, where we enamel 60 beads and several pendants in the workshop. We learn how to embed things in the enamel and talk about the effects of the flame on the color and texture of the enamel. Because I give so much attention to the workshop, students are surprised at how much they're able to accomplish and learn.

Every student has their own torch and work station for all of the workshops. I bring over 35 different colors of enamel for students to experiment with so that they can learn which colors they want to have at their own enamel inventory. We have a blast!

At Forging the Way and Luscious Links we start the workshop by learning the Painting with Fire technique. We'll enamel several beads, some of which we'll use in the project.

Forging the Way will teach how to change the shape of copper beads that we'll be enameling with millefiori, cat whiskers, lump enamel. We'll make this link ...

Luscious Links - Enamel Exploration Bracelets covers decorative techniques such as champleve, the use of stencils, underglaze crayons, graphite, ceramic underglazes, liquid enamels. We'll create 6 discs using these different techniques, which we will then use to create TWO bracelets. It's a really fun workshop and you'll take your enameling techniques to the next level.

We can explore some of New Orleans together or meet for Cafe du Monde and some beignets!

You can find out more about my workshops and those of other great artists by clicking on this link: http://www.artandsoulretreat.com/NewOrleans-2011-artists.php

Oh, any registration starts tomorrow, Friday, September 24th. My workshop at the Hampton Art and Soul Retreat filled in less than a month, with seven months to go before the workshop!

No experience is required for any of the workshops and you need not take the Painting with Fire technique workshop in order to take the other two.

Color on Metal Workshop with Susan Kazmer

It was an enlightening workshop today with Susan Kazmer.  She is masterful at forging different shapes and objects from simple metal sheet and wire.  I can't tell you the restraint it took to not stick a mandrel in my pendant and dangle it in the flame!  Be done with Klyr-Fire and handling tiny shapes and knocking half of the enamel off while getting it to the torch.  I never thought of my hands as being big and clumsy ... but today proved otherwise!

Experimented with some crayons ... forged a cone and some interesting shapes.  For the torch firing I would have to say ... the differences in our approaches is what makes the world go 'round!

Susan had a lot of the pieces on exhibit from her book on cold connections. To be up close and personal to beautiful works of art was a thrill.  She is a very giving instructor and holds back nothing.  It was worth every cent ... and more.

My two table mates ... Britton and Donna ... were wonderful.  Britton, a meeting planner, had just arrived on the red eye from Vegas and got to the hotel at 8:40 a.m.!  Donna Barnanko is an accomplished jewelry artist and treated me to so much beautiful work ... from riveting to woven beaded bracelets that you could stare at for hours and still not see everything.  Donna is a teacher at Stars Beads in Vienna, VA ... so she's only a hour or two away from me.

Here are a few photos from the workshop:

Donna, and her treasure!

The Treasure!  Beautiful Sunset Orange Enamel and Fire Scale! 

One of Donna's pieces of jewelry ... a wonderful ring!

Britton at the bench pin ... filing away!

Our fearless leader!

On to Florida for two weeks where I'll give a semi-private lesson in advanced enameling techniques including use of liquid enamel, graphite pencils, overglaze enamels, liquid enamels with ceramic underglazes ... and to making projects for the book!   Talk to you soon ... thank you for stopping by!