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Graduates

Gina: Architecture/Jewellery

It seems that the the human body and human scale are central to both architecture and jewellery. A student of architecture at Auckland University visited me and asked if I would be a collaborator for her design thesis.

Sound interesting?


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Maria P

Maria arrived with a strong desire to begin learning how to make jewellery. She started individual tuition with custom sessions here at Bush Jewellery Studio. It became a comprehensive study of jewellery-making skills and materials.

You won't believe what she was able to do!



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Katelyn N

Katelyn started individual tuition with a workshop experience plus custom sessions here at Bush Jewellery Studio. A comprehensive study of jewellery-making skills and materials.



Read her own words on setting up her jewellery business:
Katelyn Nelson article in Craft-Source


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KIDS Classes

GEM on a RING Kids Workshop.
A time to make something beautiful.


The project for this one-day class is to make a silver ring and set a 5mm gemstone onto the ring. Set a gemstone in silver or a pearlshell or pauashell disc cut right from the shell and set it into a ring. It's a fairly intensive workshop: in the morning you make a silver ring in the afternoon you make a small setting and put that onto the ring, then you polish it all up and finally set the gemstone or pearl shell. This is a chance to make a really interesting piece of jewellery.

Suitable for ages 8 to 17.
Monday 28th September 2015
Class duration: 5 hours.
Time: 10am to 3.30pm (incl 1/2hr lunch break)
Approx $75 per person plus (maybe) $10 materials (sterling silver and the gemstone).
Max number of students 6 (minimum 4).


KIDS JEWELLERY 2.

GEM on a RING Kids Workshop.
A time to make something beautiful.


The project for this next one-day class (like the one above) is to make a silver ring and set a 5mm gemstone onto the ring. Set a gemstone in silver or a pearlshell or pauashell disc cut right from the shell and set it into a ring. It's a fairly intensive workshop: in the morning you make a silver ring in the afternoon you make a small setting and put that onto the ring, then you polish it all up and finally set the gemstone or pearl shell. This is a chance to make a really interesting piece of jewellery.

Suitable for ages 8 to 17.
Friday 9th October 2015
Class duration: 5 hours.
Time: 10am to 3.30pm (incl 1/2hr lunch break)
Approx $75 per person plus maybe $10 materials.


KIDS JEWELLERY 3.

SILVER RING Workshop for Kids.


The project for this one-day class is to make a silver ring decorated with your designs and symbols and textures. You get a piece of sterling silver and are let lose on it. Stamp it with your own creative authority, apply your own quirky patterns, distort it with hammers, or be precise and make an elegant-looking ring. It’s not too hard ... the difficult part will be choosing from all the designs you’ll invent on the day!

Suitable for ages 7 to 10.
Date: Wed 7th October 2015
Time: 10:30am to 2pm (incl 1/2hr lunch break)
Max number of students 6 (minimum 4).


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PREVIOUS WORKSHOPS


September 2014 - for jewellers, artists, and other adults.

1. Silver ring. Take strip silver and make a decorated ring. You may have time to add a component. If you're fast set a gem on top.
2. Fold forming. Make symmetrical shapes out of sheet with a fold and forge technique. Included with permission from Charles Lewton-Brain.
3. Bezel-setting. Learn 3-4 ways to construct a bezel and make one. If you're up a level do a freeform shape, or combine 22k/silver.
4. Steel toolmaking. When you can anneal, forge and harden steel you'll be able to make loads of tools, and re-use old car parts. Nourish your skills, build to survive, loosen up.

10am to 4:30pm
Enrol by 10am Wed 3rd 2014

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October 2014 - for jewellers, artists, and other adults.

1. Silver ring. Take strip silver and make a decorated ring. You may have time to add a component. If you're fast set a gem on top.
2. Forging basics: a pure silver ring from an ingot. Hammer out a ring to a sturdy one-piece finger ring, forge it to size.
3. Low-tech casting: turn a favourite object into metal using a sand or cuttlefish mold, pressing the favoured object into the mold.
4. Lapidary basics: working with shell, pebbles, concrete, gemstone. Cutting. dopping, shaping and finishing paua, pearlshell, pebblestone, gemstone etc on a diamond waterwheel. You could make a cab to set in silver. Might you do it on the same day?
Flexi-workshop: enrol only for the silver ring project or do the full 6 hour workshop.

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October 2014 - School holiday workshop for kids - class #1.

Learn to have fun with serious tools, and after a bit of work make something fabulous! You get to play with metals like copper, brass and silver, and polish it up shiny. Make something for yourself or for a gift.
1. Silver Ring. Decorate or distort it with hammers and signs and symbols. Do a repeating pattern or haphazard textures. Be as crazy or precise as you are. Practice first on copper, just to check that you have the technique truly sorted out.
2. Bronze Casting. This is an ancient way to make a shape in metal. It's also quite simple: you start with something interesting in some fairly solid material, like a shell, bead, mini-dagger, Roman coin, heart shape. Bring along some shapes you like.

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October 2014 - School holiday workshop for kids - Class #2.

Learn to have fun with serious tools, and after a bit of work make something fabulous! You get to play with metals like copper, brass and silver, and polish it up shiny. Make something for yourself or for a gift.
1. Silver Ring. Decorate or distort it with hammers and signs and symbols. Do a repeating pattern or haphazard textures. Be as crazy or precise as you are. Practice first on copper, just to check that you have the technique truly sorted out.
2. Brass Totem. Bring some designs you have drawn. It's serious work to cut and file out of brass but polished up it looks great. Possible ideas: your initials, star, bird in flight, number, symbol, sign, charm, mini-dagger, skull etc.

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November 2014 - for jewellers, artists, and other adults.

1. Silver ring. Strip silver for a decorated ring. You may have time to add a component. If you're fast set a gem on top.
2. Working with titanium and niobium, interesting metals which can be cut, shaped or even forged, then given rainbow colours.
3. Advanced soldering. Understanding what goes on when we heat metals can induce fear-free soldering. Also, flux technology has made great advances. Modern fluxes have qualities that we will appreciate when soldering difficult joints.
4. Riveting: how to get away with not soldering at all. Join mixed media, put a brooch-back onto almost anything and you're done!
Flexi-workshop: enrol only for the silver ring project or do the full 6 hour workshop.

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generally speaking

Customised tuition allows you to negotiate one or more jewellery sessions to suit you. To make the things that interest you, to learn the processes that will be useful to you, and to learn at a timetable that suits your pace.

Bush Jewellery studio
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teaching emphasis

Practical and lateral is my theme. I offer to teach a fairly wide range of jewellery-making processes applying lateral-thinking to tool and equipment use. It's an approach to materials and processes that tends towards the lo-tech and soft-tech, with a good dose of precision on occasion, and always with a strong thread of humour and fun.

My teaching is based on a variety of subject areas module subjects listed here, primarily oriented to materials and processes. It's a firm belief of mine that we can be more usefully creative once we have some understanding of the ways and things we manipulate. I break my own rules sometimes when I'm experimenting; but I believe I can when the creativity is based at least on some basic practical understanding.

More information about jewellery module subjects, and tuition fees.

A word about jewellery teaching worldwide: skills have been slowly dismantled or watered down from the curriculum. People refer to a de-skilling happening. There is a concern that the basic skills - techniques and processes, an understanding of materials - were being eroded in order to give preference to 'idea' and conceptual creativity. An inquisitiveness of and creativity in processes and materials seems not to be encouraged. The impetus has been coming from those who want jewellery to become a fine art and lose the trappings of a fine craft, and of course the trend is supported by the schools' budgeting administration.

Jewellery has a fascination for people, and it's related to something tangible. I love teaching people, from children to professionals, using the simplest of tools, and watching them get real enjoyment from feeling some physical understanding of jewellery work and making new things.

Brian Adam
Mon, 22 Dec 08 13:13

[... CV and more info]



Small class sizes mean you get a high proportion of tutor time, and careful supervision every time you need it. It also means the overall tuition time is shorter than weekly classes. The tuition could be for a single session or a series of days. Single sessions are generally tuition only, while a series timetable of sessions may include studio time as well.


Schedule your tuition for any time of the year. Generally I have to say I prefer weekdays, but I can be persuaded to operate weekends - even during holidays.



some studio views








individual tuition

Tuition is student-centred in that you make a choice of the available modules, we discuss variations or initiate new ones, and I deliver instruction at your level and at your pace. I undertake to facilitate your learning according to your stated aims. I'm flexible enough to adapt my modules to your requirements, and to invent new ones when necessary. I'll regularly check with you to make sure we're keeping to your overall objective.




photos.

I'll document your progress on camera and send them to you via wetransfer.com. It'll be a valuable reminder of your time here.



studio time

This may be scheduled after individual teaching sessions and would be useful for you in order to practice newly learned processes, work on your own projects, or any other related studio work. Studio time is an optional extra to individual tuition. For safety reasons, the studio access during self-directed time is naturally dependant on your demonstrated skill level.




evaluation

After each period of studio time or first thing next day I'll conduct a 15 minute evaluation to monitor your progress against the teaching modules and to check it against your overall aims.


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Craft holiday. If you're from a long way away, your time in New Zealand will be a vacation as well.



More information about jewellery module subjects, and tuition fees.

soft technology

'soft-tech' in this context is about hand making processes that are small scale, relatively inexpensive, and localized.

steel

bees-wax

wood

fire

flowerpot 'kiln'

manual burnout kiln

drill_as_lathe

roller printing

steel tools from auto parts

'Flybrows' frame no 250 1991

'Coconut Roughs' frame no 167 1986




experimentation

New work can emerge through hands-on direct experimentation with materials and processes, especially with a wholesome respect for the materials and a keen observation of the effects of what you're doing.



group tuition

Workshops are periodically held at Bush Jewellery studio. Class sizes are usually limited to 6 and tuition is more general in teaching focus with less individual tutor-time per student. They are a way to study with the company of other students and to help reduce the cost of tuition.

Saturdays

advanced soldering

lo-tech casting

nights

jewellery for children




Wedding Rings

The Wedding Ring Experience gives you the opportunity to make your own wedding bands by hand and to make them together. You might even like to make each other's ring, which would show special trust!

This is unique as a wedding ring experience because rather than playing a passive role as trained jewellers make your rings, here at Bush Jewellery Studio you will take the tools and with 'hand technology' you will make your own rings from scratch. There will be plenty of scope for you to apply your own touch and for each of you to make a truly unique ring. In this workshop your rings will be cut, shaped and finished by you.

make your own wedding rings from scratch
The gold.

You'll start with NZ-sourced gold in the form of pure 24 karat granules or 22k, 18k, 14k, 10k, or 9k gold strip. If you want to recycle any suitable gold jewellery we can mix the gold alloys here to boost the gold we buy in.

The time required.

I estimate you'll need at least 4 hours to complete the Wedding Ring experience. How long you will actually need to make your rings depends of many things, and each couple can be different. I've had couples do their rings in 4 hours, but if you do run over time I'll ask you to buy extra hour or two.

The ring-making methods

The hand-technology you will use are considered to be simple and most effective: hammering textures and symbols, bending and melting, sand casting, forging. I will facilitate and be there to assist the whole time and will check things are going your way. You may even request that I do some things if they're too tricky for you.

Two types of ring-making methods are offered, and depending on your ring design ideas I'll suggest you use one or the other. Each offers different possibilities. They are:

Method 1. Fabrication. You start making the rings from a flat bar which you forge and hammer into shape while flat (which offers more texturing possibilities), and then you round the flat bar up into a ring and braze the join. Further finishing will be required to clean up the join, and give the gold the surface finish you want.

Method 2. Forging. With this method you make a ring shape with jewellers wax and we make it into a ring-shaped ingot using sand-casting. Then you forge this one-piece ingot/ring to shape and to your size. Often people like to leave the hammer marks visible, so your shiny hammer marks become the surface finish.

Photos

I'll record your journey as you make the rings, and present you with the images on a CD or through a file-sharing place like DropBox. It's a nice reminder for you, and also a way to prove to any incredulous friends that yes you really did take a hammer to the gold!

The cost.

The Wedding Ring Experience with Brian Adam at Bush Jewellery Studio will cost a set fee plus the wholesale cost of the gold.

What will the gold cost? I supply gold to you at wholesale cost so that it will be an less expensive cost to you.
As a rough guide allow $1,100 to $3,000. It depends firstly on the dimensions (solid and wide vs. narrow and thin) and the finger sizes, then comes the overall weight and the current gold price. We'll know more when we meet to discuss your rings but you can send me your ideas and describe what you want and finger sizes and I will estimate the cost. This will help me estimate and organise to buy in the gold. I ask a deposit to secure the booking. The balance will be required two days prior to the day.

What happens next?

Many people simply turn up on the day and get right into it.
Otherwise come to the studio and look over the studio, the tools and equipment you'll be using. We'll discuss ring designs, and the parameters inherent in making gold rings as beginners, and also talk about the delightful spontaneous possibilities, and the fun you'll have working together on a shared goal. I'll ask you about ring dimensions and we'll measure the finger sizes. When all is considered we'll make a date.



module subjects

Choose what you do with help from some of my regular teaching modules:

* the finger ring
* advanced soldering (flux tech, holding devices, heat control, binding wire, laminating, stick, dissimilar metals)
* practical alloying (gold-, silver-, copper-based alloys)
* stone setting (bezel, hammer and claw setting)
* pouring Satsuo Ando ingots
* setting free and organic shapes (pebble, shell, etc)
* lo-tech gravity casting (Delft sand, cuttlefish)
* model-making for investment casting (sling and steam)
* eyeglass frame-building for prescription spectacles and sunglasses
* titanium and niobium (texturing, heat-colouring, anodising)
* tool-making from recycled steel and tool steel
* roller printing, roller texturing
* cold joins (riveting)
* fold-forming
* wedding ring experience (make your own rings)
* cnc design preparation (computer milling)
* setting up a studio workshop
* safety in the small studio

More details, tuition fees.

ring making (1hr silver ring)

soldering (fluxes, heat control, binding)

setting stones, organic shapes

a gold ring ingot

forging the gold

cold joins

lo-tech casting (sand, cuttlefish)

investment casting (modeling wax)

casting

cast toy shapes

wax modelling

silver casting

gem setting

fold forming

cnc preparation (computer controlled milling)

practical alloying (gold, silver, copper)

eyeglass history - leather

wig glasses

Richardson design

'Aga Khan' sunglass frame no 277 1984

eyeglass frame-building

A special interest of mine is eyeglass frame building for prescription spectacles or sunglasses by hand-technology common to the jewellery craft industry. This involves designing and making one functioning frame or parts of a frame in a variety of optional solutions. Optical industry trade findings may be used (German or Italian brands) or totally hand-build alternatives constructed. Frame or eyewire will be fitted with demonstration (plano) lenses in a manner that conforms to the lens-fitting requirements of the optical industry. Fitting prescription lenses will be discussed so that the optometrist who will provide the prescription lenses will not be unpleasantly surprised.




'Aviator Replica' frame no 409 2004

eyeglass designing

'Tonto' sunglass frame c. 1984


an eyeglass intensive

This acetate frame was made by a student from USA and made in a very fast and intensive workshop, a series of days at Bush Jewellery. He was accommodated in the self-contained room above the studio.
The material used was Mazzucchelli cellulose acetate sheet, black and tortoise, and we used hand technology to saw, shape, heat-form, fit CR39 plano lenses and rivet on hinges.

More photos ...





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Brian Adam - www.adam.co.nz/workshops - Auckland, New Zealand


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