Instructional Videos from UNT Metalsmithing & Jewelry Program

University of North Texas’ Metalsmithing & Jewelry Program is creating an ongoing series of instructional videos related to metalsmithing and jewelry techniques. These first three videos were created to help beginners as they learn the introductory techniques. They star Lara Asam, current MFA candidate, demonstrating basic sawing, soldering, and finishing.

Thank you to James Thurman, Lara Asam, and UNT’s Metalsmithing & Jewelry Program for sharing these videos.

Sawing

This video introduces beginners to the basics of sawing. Best used as supplement to in-person instruction, it can be a great reference to those just learning so they don’t forget some of the finer points while using their jeweler’s saw.

File Sand Polish

This video introduces beginners to the basics of filing, sanding, and polishing. Best used as supplement to in-person instruction, it can be a great reference to those just learning so they don’t forget some of the finer points while refining their small-scale metalworks.

Soldering

This video introduces beginners to the basics of soldering. Best used as supplement to in-person instruction, it can be a great reference to those just learning so they don’t forget some of the finer points while soldering.

Member Achievements – June 2019

Jim Cohen was recently the subject of an article and video regarding his Judaica. Jim works in Durham, where he has a studio at Liberty Arts. He describes his work as taking items and “slightly change their appearance, so that you would not expect it, but nonetheless find it interesting, beautiful, intriguing.” Read the article here

Congratulations to Luci Jockel for being selected as a shortlisted artist for the 2019 American Craft Council Emerging Voices Awards. Luci is located in Philadelphia. Her work explores the memorialization of nonhuman animals through the intimate format of jewelry.

Debbie Sheezel was awarded Best of Show in the 2019 Saul Bell Design Awards. Debbie’s piece “Lineal Alchemy” is shown at the right. Debbie is an Australian enamel artist.

Work by Matt Lambert is included in the exhibition “PRIED,” being held at the Society of Arts + Crafts April 25-June 30, 2019. Matt is interested in exploring the body’s potential to push the traditional preconceptions of jewelry and adornment. Matt collaborates with an array of multi-media artists to reconfigure the current cultural systems of queerness and body politics, while challenging the boundaries of craft.

Rosario Garcia was awarded 2nd Place Design Excellence (4+ Years in Business) in the 2019 MJSA Vision Awards. Rosario’s Yellow and Green Gold Ring (at right) features a natural sphene at the center of a unique ring that the 18k yellow and green gold was hand-forged and engraved, and then soldered to add the granulation. Dewdrops of diamonds added the finishing touch.

Congratulations to Cassandra Adame and Galen Boone for receiving 2019 Windgate Fellowships. Each year, the Center for Craft awards ten graduating college seniors with exemplary skill in craft a Windgate Fellowship. Awardees receive $15,000 — one of the largest awards offered nationally to art students.

Anna Johnson was recognized by the 2019 Smithsonian Craft Show for focusing on sustainability and the environment. Anna creates nature-inspired jewelry with ethically sourced stones, recycled metals, and found material in a conscious effort to shift cultural values toward respect for the planet.

SNAG would like to take this opportunity to recognize our Corporate Members for their support: Clara Williams, Gemological Institute of America, Halstead, and Steven Jacob, Inc.

Member Achievements – March 2019

Congratulations to Brigitte Martin, SNAG member and former SNAG Board President, for being named as the new Executive Director at the Society of Arts + Crafts in Boston.

Pam Robinson is the recipient of the 2019 SNAG Volunteer Recognition Award. She will be recognized for her service to SNAG at the Membership Meeting at the SNAG conference in Chicago.

Kim Nogueira will be at the Museum of Arts and Design’s upcoming show LOOT: MAD About Jewelry in April 2019 with her enameled jewelry. Kim is from a small Caribbean island and is looking forward to meeting other makers and customers. Other SNAG members at LOOT are Tara Locklear and Brooke Marks-Swanson.

Nineteen SNAG members are included in the exhibition The Art of Metalsmithing Exposed at Artlink Gallery, Fort Wayne, IN, May 17-June 21, 2019. Betty Helen Longhi, Cynthia Eid, David Barnhill, Carol Warner, Alison Antelman, Cyd Rowley, David Huang, Harlan W. Butt, Ana M. Lopez, Michael B. Hays, Ruth Laug, Steve Shelby, Logan Woodle, Randy Stromsoe, Jack da Silva, Julie Sanford, Genevieve E. Flynn, Di-Ann Pitts Hand, and Tom Muir.

Wesley Harris met with Canadian silversmith Lois Etherington Betteridge last fall. Lois and her husband, Keith, visited Wesley’s Mentor & Metalsmith exhibit when it was on display at the Wellington County Museum & Archives near Fergus, Ontario. This photo captured the moment.

SNAG would like to take this opportunity to recognize our Corporate Members for their support: Gemological Institute of America, Halstead, and Steven Jacob, Inc.

Member Achievements – November 2018

CAST: Art and Objects Made Using Humanity’s Most Transformational Process, a book by Jen Townsend and Renée Zettle-Sterling, will have an exhibition at Wayne Art Center, December 8, 2018-January 26, 2019. The show will include 86 artists from the book, including many SNAG members. CAST also recently won in the Art category of the Best Book Awards.

Tom Herman and Patsy Croft have created a Mendocino Poppy brooch which will be auctioned at Sotheby’s “Magnificent Jewels” in April 2019. Proceeds will benefit the Mendocino Art Center. Learn more

Boris Bally completed Converging Ripples, his largest work to date, for the facade of the Jewish Community Center of Omaha. It is made from upcycled traffic signs, machined aluminum, anodized, stainless steel hardware and cable. In addition, one of his Transit Chairs was acquired by the Saint Louis Art Museum.

For 46 years Karen Lorene has been curating heirlooms and modern jewelry art. Facèré, the iconic gallery she opened in Seattle’s City Centre building in 1992, will move in January 2019 to the studios of Green Lake Jewelry Works in Bellevue and north Seattle.

Pittsburgh International Airport is featuring work through November 30th from the Allegheny Metals Club in their transit level art cases. Some of the artists in the exhibition include: Jim Bove (at right), Cappy Counard, Brian Ferrell, Adrienne Grafton, Joshua Kosker, Sharon Massey, and Stacy Rodgers.

$Tex Gieling$ Elizabeth Shypertt is the guest curator for the exhibition “Tex Gieling: Sixty Years” on view at the Museum of Craft and Design in San Francisco through February 24, 2019. Tex Gieling is the founder of the metal arts departments at the University of California, Berkeley and San Francisco State University. Primarily known for her work in sterling silver, Gieling often incorporates gold, pearls, semi-precious and precious stones into her designs.

Dawna Gillespie, a metalsmith in Lubbock, TX, will be the “Designer Collection” in the Winter 2019 issue of Belle Armoire Jewelry, to be released in December 2018. Gillespie hand-fabricates copper and brass wearable artwork.

Susan Coddon’s entry Shuhaidai-Sake Serving Tray has been selected for inclusion in the 2018 Itami International Craft Exhibition. The exhibition is being held in Itami, Japan November 17-December 23, 2018. The theme this year is sake-ware.

Art Jewelry Forum has announced a new Executive Director, Yvonne Montoya, who follows AJF’s first ever Executive Director, Rebekah Frank. Montoya holds an MFA in metals from the University of Wisconsin at Madison and a BFA in art history and criticism from the University of California, San Diego.

SNAG would like to take this opportunity to recognize our Corporate Members for their support: Gemological Institute of America, Halstead, and Shapeways.

Member Achievements – October 2018

SNAG Editor Emily Zilber was named as an up-and-coming leader in the field by American Craft Council. You can read more about Emily in the October/November 2018 issue of American Craft.

SNAG sponsored an Award of Excellence at Peters Valley Craft Fair. Alexandra Lozier was the recipient of the award. Congratulations Alexandra!

Emily Shaffer has won the 2018 Halstead Grant for new jewelry businesses. Emily Shaffer Studio started three years ago in Franklin, Maine, and will be moving to a new location in Ellsworth, Maine, in October. Emily received her BFA in crafts – fine metal jewelry and BS in art education from Kutztown University.

Steven Brownlee and Jewelry Creations Workshop were featured in VoyageMIA. Jewelry Creations Workshop is located in North Miami and offers jewelry classes which are tailored specially to each student. Classes are taught by trained professionals, Steven Brownlee, resident instructors, and visiting instructors on a rotating basis that cater to all levels and interests.

Claudio Pino presents new creations at Where I Come From: A Celebration of Cultural Diversity in Jewelry at Aaron Faber Gallery from October 4-25, 2018. In addition, this exhibition will be presented at SOFA Chicago.

“Ariamuara,” a neckpiece by Linda Kaye-Moses, has been accepted and will be shown in the national exhibition Under Fire 2. The exhibition will be held at the Krikorian Gallery of the Worcester Center for Crafts from October 18-November 17, 2018.

Adrienne M. Grafton from Western PA, has a solo show, entitled Departed, open from October 1-26 at the Anne Rudd Galyon Gallery on the Greensboro College campus.

SNAG member Marjorie Simon and Biba Schutz have curated a show of NY artists for the NYC Jewelry Week entitled LOUD AND CLEAR: Voices from the Empire State. The participating artists, including the curators, are all studio jewelers, representing a range of age and working styles. Gallery Maison Gerard, November 12-16.

Judy Wukitsch is helping organize an Open Studio for New York City Jewelry Week, November 12-18 at Studio 135: Jewelers at Work. It will include a demo of alloying gold and silver, various fabrication techniques, stone setting and a special feature will include an enameling demo.

SNAG would like to take this opportunity to recognize our Corporate Members for their support: Gemological Institute of America, Halstead, and Shapeways.