Jewelry Courses and Workshops
Ope is delighted to offer jewelry classes for creatives of all levels, taught in collaboration with local Brooklyn studios as well as craft schools across the country. Whether you're a jeweler seeking to expand your skillset or dig into design concepts, or a total beginner hoping to expand your creative world, there's a class for you. My aim is to encourage students to create one-of-a-kind work that reflects their distinct point of view. Join me!
If you're a student interested in private or semi-private instruction, or a studio that would like to collaborate on a class, email hello@octavejewelry.com, or use the contact form below to get in touch.
July 31-Aug 4, 2024: Glass Beads and Jewelry for Beginners, at Snowfarm Craft School
Explore the colorful and exciting world of flameworking and beaded jewelry. Flameworking is an ancient art form with contemporary expressions. Learn how to safely use a torch and melt glass rods onto mandrels. Explore how to use color, form, and pattern when making glass beads. Instruction will include making glass components for jewelry that will make each finished piece unique. Go home with a new handmade jewelry collection to be proud of! Best for beginners.
Register Here!
Register Here!
September 21-22, 2024 Framing the Face: An Earring Design Workshop, at Peters Valley School of Craft
Jewelry has often been described as sculpture in miniature. It’s an honor to adorn the body, and earrings are a particularly challenging field for creative exploration. In this workshop we’ll talk about prototyping, weight, balance, symmetry and asymmetry, and any other questions you may have about making multiples to frame the face. We will discuss stones, findings, and movement, and how addressing all these details communicates your individual design style. It’ll be a lot of fun, and by the end of the weekend you’ll have a suite of experiments to wear and play with. Participants should have some experience and comfort at the torch, but otherwise need only come with a mind full of ideas and a willingness to experiment!
Register Here!
PAST COURSES
Oct. 6-8 2023: Play With Your Stones at Peters Valley School of Craft.
In this workshop, you will be encouraged to imagine a world of new possibilities in stone. While large lapidary equipment can feel out of reach, together we’ll discuss creative interventions in stone using just a flex shaft and hand techniques. You will learn to drill, carve, modify, polish, and even repair stones. Alongside carving, we’ll also cover unusual settings and layering stones. Come prepared to experiment and focus on technique rather than finished projects, and by the end of the class you’ll have an exciting new skill set to weave into your own style. Using tools available at a typical bench, we’ll explore our creativity in color. Participants should be comfortable with a torch and have some basic bezel setting knowledge. (Class closed to registration)
September-October 2023: Merging Glass with Metal with Urban Glass and Brooklyn Metal Works.
In this class, students will integrate the lessons of the flame shop and the jeweler’s bench. We’ll begin at Urban Glass, learning to create glass beads and components, including surface details and coldworked finishes. At Brooklyn Metal Works, we’ll learn metalsmithing skills and fabrication techniques. Throughout the course we’ll discuss design principles and explore our creativity, finishing the session with wearable art that expresses your unique style and skills to fuel experimentation moving forward. All levels welcome. (Class closed to registration)