what they've been up to

we had our first big project critique yesterday. last week we tackled soldering and the students learned to make rings and chains, among other things. i gave them a choice of ring and necklace projects with accompanying sketchbook assignments. for our discussion, i asked everyone to talk about why they chose their project, what they liked about their piece(s) and what they thought could be improved. i also asked them to comment positively on someone else’s work. i was very impressed with their finished pieces and could tell they had worked hard. now that i think about it, they did so well! they just learned the very basic stuff in the last 10 days.
raina lee scott (asheville, nc) steel link chain necklace with river rock off-set pendant
collin blackmore (hamilton, ny) – architectural chain necklace in stainless steel and brass
marianne dages (penland core student, philadelphia, pa) - found object sterling silver rings
kate schroeder (new york , ny) - sterling silver and brass rings
hillary woedl (oxford, oh) - copper and brass ring series
caitie sellers (richmond, pa) "memories of guatemala", steel and sterling silver chain
linda paine (me) - copper, sterling, and found acorn ring
claire buck (new braunfels, tx) - copper, brass, rawhide, and sterling silver ring series
eve singer (san francisco, ca) - brass necklace
kallie kosta (asheville, nc) - copper toggle necklace

in the afternoon i demonstrated acid etching on metal. then we piled into the school van for a field trip to asheville where we had dinner at an indian place and then heard a lecture by jeweler phil carrizzi at unc asheville.

for the rest of the week we are working on hollow forming metal with scoring and folding and the hydraulic press, as well as hinges, and pin stems.

thanks for reading.