Your Guide To April-June 2023 Classes!

Color and Pattern – Stamped and Enameled Jewelry

NEW! Throwing in Sections

In this continuing-level ceramics class, you will learn to create large ceramic vessels by throwing your piece in sections. Learn to measure, attach, and finish your piece with glaze.

20 Shades of Grey: Medieval Enameling Techniques

Often associated with medieval French enameling, grisaille (grey) is the application of white enamel to a black enamel background, creating halftones and shading. Light areas of the design will have more white enamel layers than gray areas, creating an impression of low relief. Students work with silver foil and touches of gold to enhance the pieces. We will also explore sgraffito-style grisaille and other experimental approaches.

Design and Make Your Own Waffle Iron

Each student will create a 7” diameter stovetop waffle iron with a waffle pattern of your own design. We will make sand molds and use a cupola furnace to melt the iron. At the spectacular iron pour event, students prepare iron and coke charges, operate the cupola, and pour molten iron into their new mold.

Enamel with Mesh, Wire, and Foil

In this class, students will work with lightweight metals such as copper foil, mesh, and wire which can easily be formed by hand and enameled to make dimensional objects. Learn the secrets of folding, bending, tabbing, sewing, and weaving to give seemingly fragile materials texture, weight and heft. If you know some origami it can be put to good use. Our enamel will not only add color to our formed objects but act as a glue and a strengthener for the structures we make. No prior enameling experience is necessary.

Family Baubles and Bling

Join The Crucible for some family fun while learning about jewelry making! In family groups, you will learn to make customized and engraved pendants by creating a collage pattern encased with plexiglass and copper. Then work together to create decorative polymer clay baubles that may be used as ornaments, window hangings, or accessories.

This workshop is specially designed for children ages 5-7 years old with accompanying adult(s).

Fire Eating I

Amaze an audience with your new skills as a fire eater! You will learn the science and safety behind basic tricks so you can fearlessly perform with open flame. You will learn tracing (how to run fire along the surface of your skin), transfers (moving flame from one source or position to another), various extinguishes, and tips for putting on a great show. You also will make your own set of torches to take home.

Iron Casting

In this course, you will complete a finished iron sculpture. You will explore mold construction and preparation while building your own sand mold with resin-bonded sand. Learn the steps required to prepare the cupola for an iron pour. At the spectacular iron pour event, students prepare iron and coke charges, operate the cupola, and pour molten iron into their new mold.

The Bandsaw Box

You don’t need a fully equipped shop to enjoy woodworking! In this class, you will learn to design, make, and finish a unique wood box. With an emphasis on tool safety and material exploration, we will use a combination of power tools and hand tools to make boxes of all shapes and sizes. Beginning with a solid block of wood, you will learn how to lie out, cut, sculpt, and reassemble the block into the form of a box. Demonstrated techniques will include hidden hinges, small drawers, pull knobs, and fitted lids, as well as texturing, carving, burning, painting, and finishing. Suitable for beginning and intermediate students, all materials provided.

Women’s Blacksmithing I

Learn blacksmithing taught by women, for women! This class covers the fundamentals needed to forge steel and understand blacksmithing tools. We will introduce tapering, upsetting, flattening, dishing, and bending of hot steel – all the same skills and techniques as in Blacksmithing I. You will make small projects, such as spoons, knives, forks, and hooks. This class is an inclusive, welcoming environment for women and gender-expansive individuals.

Women’s MIG Welding

Learn welding taught by women, for women! We will teach you the fundamentals of MIG welding and plasma torch cutting, including metallurgy, preparation, joints, technique, and safety—all the same skills and techniques as MIG Welding I. Come with ideas for a simple project. This class is an inclusive, welcoming environment for women and gender-expansive individuals.

Woven Wire Jewelry

Spend a weekend weaving wire into beautiful works of wearable art. When properly softened, wire can be used to emulate thread and then woven into jewelry, basketry, woven tapestries, clothing, and more! You will learn to manipulate copper and brass wire—changing the size, shape, and hardness to fit your needs. Then using basic weaving patterns, you will create a bracelet, pendant, or ring of your own design.