Class Listing

In this course, students will elaborate on basic techniques learned in Jewelry 1 and use them as a stepping stone to create more complicated pieces and designs. Topics covered will include intermediate to advanced soldering techniques, piercing and filing skills, creating settings for stones or other objects, fabricating hollow forms and/or boxes, scoring, and of course, finishing. The instructor will also demonstrate tricks and shortcuts she's learned over many years of experience in the field. 

Are you a jewelry lover ready to break into making your own shining jewels? This class will introduce the fundamental metalsmithing skills you need to let your creativity flow! Students will learn to saw and pierce, file, make cold connections such as rivets, basic soldering, and finishing techniques. Basic stone setting will also be introduced. We will focus on making samples as well as finished pieces such as pendants and rings.

Explore ways of adding color, dimension, and texture to your work with stone layering techniques taught by a master in the field! Students will learn important tips for creating custom fit bezels, see steps for drilling holes into stones, and learn to create mountings with tube rivets and epoxy. 

Get a glimpse of jewelry history and learn how to put a contemporary spin on a variety of settings for rose cut gem stones and beyond!

Students will learn how to construct the Byzantine chain maille weave and the Mobius unit by making 2-3 pairs of earrings during this workshop.

During this one-day course, participants will be turning a found beach treasure into a new and beautiful, wearable piece of jewelry. Students will learn how to cut, drill and carve into their glass or stone, while adding silver accents to make a pendant.

In this live, online workshop, students will learn the process of microfolding. Otherwise known as corrugations, the wavy undulations created by this metal-manipulation method add strength to thin sheets of metal and make it possible to create large, yet light and sturdy, pieces of jewelry.

Confused by the dizzying array of rotary burs, bits, and mandrels on the market? Ready to invest in a flexible shaft machine, but don’t know where to start? In this essential skill-builder, we will cover all the flexible shaft machine basics, from choosing the right motor, handpiece, and rheostat to maintenance and choosing the right bit for the job at hand.

This two-day workshop aims to teach the fundamentals of jewelry making through a project driven curriculum, with the ultimate goal of building a foundational knowledge of all things metalsmithing, while working to create a ovular bezel-setting with a textured band. Students will learn fundamental fabrication techniques, hot connections, texturing methodologies, finishing, ring sizing, and bezel setting.

This demo-focused virtual workshop will incorporate Michael's technique for fusing gold patterns onto Argentium silver using torch-work and rolling mills.

This virtual course focuses on techniques that elevate and work in collaboration with the enameling process, such as stamping methods, die forming with and without a press, burring, and forming metal to enhance enamels and settings. Participants will learn to emphasize their textures by layering with opaque and transparent colors, incorporating liquid enamel and P3, grinding through layers, pencil drawing, firing alternative materials into the surface, and more!

Learn how to master the hand file and add embellishments to your work through decorative filing techniques. Students will explore this deceptively simple tool in depth and will learn about the various types of files on the market, their applications, and how to get the most out of their function. 

Explore all the ways that metal can be used to create one of kind settings that will “trap” all your precious objects from gems and stones to found materials. Learn techniques and tricks of tab setting using basic tools like a jeweler’s saw, drill, and files to create your own unique settings in sheet metal. This two-day workshop will cover making patterns, sawing, filing, sanding, and setting stones.   

Learn a quick and easy way to make textured bangle bracelets! This course will focus on forming a stack of embellished bangles utilizing copper and sterling silver. Students will texture and forge their metal into different shapes and patterns using numerous metalsmithing hammers.

Learn to add dramatic movement and satisfying functionality to jewelry and small-scale metalwork of all sorts in his technical workshop designed to introduce students to spring-based mechanisms that can be used to make lids pop open, make catches easier to use and more secure, as well as to make mechanisms last longer.

In this live, virtual workshop, students will join master jeweler Kristin Mitsu Shiga to learn gypsy setting and easy tube setting for production. Students will create their own custom tools, cover alternative methods for holding pieces, and proper preparations and use of rubberized abrasives. 

This fun and fast paced workshop will cover two techniques for creating silver earrings that are simple to make and striking to wear.

Pulse arc welding lessons open from July through December.

Micro pulse arc welding is widely known to be a useful tool to increase efficiency with basic bench tasks such as ring sizing, connections near heat-sensitive stones, and repairing porous castings. It works well on gold, silver, stainless steel, titanium, platinum, and copper, whether connecting tiny jewelry components or larger elements for small metal sculptures. Our pulse arc welder can go well beyond these general jobs to include tacking complex pieces before soldering, welding long seams for hollow construction, and connecting