This past weekend was the first two sessions of the Squash Blossom Cuff workshop. 

Diane, the workshop shop elf, and I arrived early to setup.  At 10 am the students: Karen, Stephanie, Laurie, Eleanor, Mary, Heather, and Sylvia arrived; ready to start. 

I started by discussing the steps to make the cuff:  Forming the frame, stick soldering the frame to the sheet, transferring the design, the lining, repousse, final chasing, removing the extra silver and clean up of the cuff, polishing,  forming and patina. Then a mention of the bonus enhancements - applying gold or tube set CZ's.

And so we began.

By the end of day one all the frames had been soldered, the designs transferred and the lining done.
For day 2  everyone was working on their repousse with a side discussion of tiny tools and tool making. 
Now they have home work to finish the repousse before the next session which is in two weeks.  To help them get to that point, I am will be available for the 2 Friday evenings at the club shop before that 3rd session. 

Here are pictures from the two day of them working on their pieces. 

In March I will be teaching a chasing & repousse cuff class to the ladies at the Palomar Gem & Mineral club. It is four day and I have 7 students (Mary, Heather, Karen, Laurie, Stephanie, Sylvia and Eleanor) and a shop elf (Diane). 

The goal of this class is described here. 

I was going to make a full set of teaching samples. The frame, the frame soldered on, the designed transferred to the metal, chased and with repousse, and then a final cuff before bending.  But then I got sick and oh, boy was I sick; and I am still recovering. 

Thus I cheated, for now, I did a small section of the design and it is now all finished. You got your chasing; you got your repousse; the texturing; a tube set CZ; a wee bit o'patina; and even some Keum-Boo!

​During the workshop I will be making the teaching samples so I have them for the next time.

Here is the sample all done - a good full shot and after that, lots of process pictures

I have been working on the teaching samples for the Chasing & Repousse Cuff workshop I am teaching in March. The workshop is full and we will be doing a new design. This workshop is less about the chasing and repousse and more about the cuff and finishing it. 

Then I am assembling the design for an etched cuff that will have music on it.   The music has to be redone bigger and fatter lines so they etch really good. 

And lastly, I am also working on a small bowl for the Super Bowl Challenge hosted by Wendy over at Hammermarks. I have a bit more raising to do and then I am going to apply enamels that are torch fired.  

Yesterday was the first week, of four, of a mixed level chasing & repousse workshop. This is the first time I have taught a mixed level but luckily all my students are beginner or just beyond advanced beginners.  The advanced beginners have taken an intro workshop but it was a while ago and never did anything else Or they took a class and was so confused, that they want to do the beginner project. 

So I have two beginners and three advanced beginners.

We spent the morning in "lecture" discussing what metal work they have done and what they want to do with C&R. What is pitch, the bowl, the tools, the hammers and we looked at lots of my work/samples, books for reference and what to gather for accessories/tools beyond the actual tools, hammers and pitch and bowl. 

During this they annealed and placed their copper into the pitch bowl and when it was cool they FINALLY got started on learning to line - straight and curved; postures, holding the tool and hammers and positioning the hammers. 

At the end of the day they pulled their lining sample out of the pitch and put another piece of copper in. This will allow them to start the workshop project next week and we won't have to wait for the pitch to cool.

For the past few weeks I have been making teaching samples for the advanced beginner chasing class I am teaching.  The design is to be a circular panel of a Koi, Flowers and Water, bent and then riveted to a leather cuff

Sample #1 - Just lined
Sampel #2 - Lining and Repousse 
Sample #3 - Lining, Repousse, Chasing
Sample $4 - Lining, Repousse, Chasing and cut and bent and riveted

I say sample #4 is *almost* done because I have not riveted the panel to the leather cuff yet. That will actually be done next weekend. 

But in the mean time, here are all four samples

After much looking at calendars and things that can't be rescheduled, I now have 2 more classes scheduled. 

Metal Panel on Leather Snap Cuff
The student will chase and repousse a koi fish and flowers on a metal sheet under the tutelage of Laurie Kern. Laurie will lead the students in starting their fish panel on Saturday July 26. The piece is to be finished by the student at home or during Thursday night silver workshop.  Diane will lead the students on cutting out the panel, drilling the holes and then riveting the metal panel to a leather cuff (which can also be textured) and finally adding snaps on Saturday, August 30.  **Chasing & Repousse experience is required as it will not be taught.***

Instructors: Laurie Kern and Diane Hall 
Location: Palomar Gem & Mineral Club Shop
Date & Times: July 26, and August 30, 2014, 10-4 with 1 hr. lunch break.
Cost: 
$100 for club members, 
$125 for non members (includes 1 year single membership). 
NOTE: $25 non-refundable deposit required to reserve your spot in the class.
Material Kit: About $15 - $20 which will include metal (copper) leather, rivets, snaps. The exact price will be know at the first class.  Students are expected to bring their own pitch bowl, support ring and tools unless other arrangements have been made with me.
Class Size: 6 students

To sign up for this class contact me or go to the Palomar Gem & Mineral Club page. 

Chasing and Repousse – Beginner Class
Using a hammer and special tools, learn how to change a flat piece of copper into a piece of art that has volume and detail. Over 4 afternoons you will learn the basic techniques of Chasing & Repousse’ while creating your first peice along with many demonstrations. In this workshop, everything is supplied; you just have to show up with an inquisitive mind!
Instructors: Laurie Kern and Diane Hall 
Location: Palomar Gem & Mineral Club Shop
Date & Times: October 4, November 1, 9, & 23 (4 Saturdays = 15 hrs.) NO LUNCH BREAKS so bring a snack.
Cost: 
$200 for club members
$225 for non-members ( includes 1 yr. Single membership). 
NOTE: $50 non-refundable deposit required to reserve your spot in the class.
Class Size: 6 students

To sign up for this class contact me or go to the Palomar Gem & Mineral Club page. 

Yesterday was the first of 3 sessions for the workshop. 
I have 4 students and Diane is my assistant.  
Everyone arrived on time and ready to learn.  

These pictures show us during our first discussion.

It has taken a few days to sort out but NC Black will be coming to The Adventurous Silversmith's studio in September to give a 2+ day workshop.

They will be teaching the Micro Shell Forming workshop, here at my studio, the weekend AFTER they teach their new workshop Raven Skull Interpretative Raising at Adams Forge in LA. 

Follow this link to find out the who, what, when , where, and how to sign up.  OR look up at the menu and select WORKSHOP.... 

Last Sunday I taught another class, it is only the third time I have taught a metals class and the other two were Viking Knit, so this was my first "real" metals class. For this class, the subject was a Synclastic cuff which is not only an easy technical subject but a fun cuff to make. 

I had 6 students in the class and they were a great bunch. We started at 10 am; took a 45 minute break for lunch and finished up a around 4:30 to 5:00 pm. Unfortunately the shop only had one soldering station set up so everyone had to wait a bit to solder their frames on the silver but since the conversation was good, I don't think the wait was too bad for everyone.

One of the best parts of the day was teaching everyone to do stick soldering. I have to admin that early last year, I was horrible at this technique.; now, 6 months later, here I was teaching it.  I have even heard back from a few of the students that they been practicing and they like this way of soldering for larger items.

Here are pictures of the class and two finished pieces by students. 

Last Sunday I taught part one of the Viking Knit class at the Palomar Gem & Mineral Club. The students learned about making the cap and leader and practiced the basic, single weave with copper before working in silver.  Three students signed up so the small class allowed for more personalized instruction and some great conversation. 

Yesterday was the second part of the class. Everyone arrived with their silver knit tubes and we started by reviewing how to make the leader and then they learned double and triple knit. We then moved on to using the draw plate and seeing how long our knit grew once we had pulled them through the plate. I then discussed with them various style of end caps, how to solder them on and how to make a clasp which we then did.  We finished up by discussing various other metalsmithing topics including having another class to

Below is a picture of the students and I at the end of the class and the double knit choker necklace that I made.