Journey with us into the colorful, 500 year old labyrinth of Istanbul's Grand Bazaar guided by San Diego jewelry student & artist Karen Savel. We'll marvel at the ancient arches, see local jewelers at work in their tiny shop, walk in the footsteps of Rick Steve's and visit a gold smelter, stop to watch a street lapidarist at work and finish off with some classic Turkish delights. Next, we sit back and enjoy an informative how-to by enamelist Kay Yee as she shows us her method for creating blackboard brooches. Kay also shares a great list of resources including an inexpensive starter kit and online classes. Read more for resource links.

We are looking for a few friendly people to help as Zoom facilitators in hosting our free online Sawing Circle. Duties include:

• Log in to our company Zoom account (we’ll provide you with a login).
• Start the Sawing Circle at the appointed time from your own computer. 
• Admit students as they arrive, greet them and make sure they’re in the right place. 
• Facilitate discussions of jewelry and metal arts related topics.
• Monitor participant activity and gently steer users away from discussing topics outside of the jewelry metal arts field. Our goal is to give people a small respite from their daily woes and an opportunity to focus on their creativity.
• Remove any inappropriate users who might wander in.

How it works:

• Our goal is to have four reliable volunteers who can each cover one 2.25 hour Zoom session and serve as occasional alternates if the person who signed up has an emergency and can't make it.
• Volunteers will share contact info to make scheduling and communicating simple.
• Ame will act as the trainer, coordinator and back up relief person.
• The objective of the Sawing Circle is to connect participants to each other, highlight their work and foster meaningful and inspiring connections. We may also have short guest presentattions now and then too!

Requirements:

• Stable internet connection, a reliable computer and basic computer skills. 
• Basic familiarity with using Zoom to attend meetings (we’ll train you as a facilitator).
• You are not expected to teach or demo anything - jewelry metal arts beginners welcome!

Interested? Fill out our Volunteer Form and we'll get back to you.

We are looking for a few friendly people to help as Zoom facilitators in hosting our free online Sawing Circle. Duties include:

• Log in to our company Zoom account (we’ll provide you with a login).
• Start the Sawing Circle at the appointed time from your own computer. 
• Admit students as they arrive, greet them and make sure they’re in the right place. 
• Facilitate discussions of jewelry and metal arts related topics.
• Monitor participant activity and gently steer users away from discussing topics outside of the jewelry metal arts field. Our goal is to give people a small respite from their daily woes and an opportunity to focus on their creativity.
• Remove any inappropriate users who might wander in.

How it works:

• Our goal is to have four reliable volunteers who can each cover one 2.25 hour Zoom session and serve as occasional alternates if the person who signed up has an emergency and can't make it.
• Volunteers will share contact info to make scheduling and communicating simple.
• Ame will act as the trainer, coordinator and back up relief person.
• The objective of the Sawing Circle is to connect participants to each other, highlight their work and foster meaningful and inspiring connections. We may also have short guest presentattions now and then too!

Requirements:

• Stable internet connection, a reliable computer and basic computer skills. 
• Basic familiarity with using Zoom to attend meetings (we’ll train you as a facilitator).
• You are not expected to teach or demo anything - jewelry metal arts beginners welcome!

Interested? Fill out our Volunteer Form and we'll get back to you.

Guest instructor Anne Wolf shared a guide (from the forum on Ganoksin.com) for making a scoring tool to create intricate patterns like the one on her tsuba. After that we delved into diagnosing torch troubles, pondering ways to extract silver from etching solution, shared ideas for bumping up the contrast on etched brass pieces (try burnishing) and  discussed the merits of dental wire as a brooch pin (hint: don't try to cut it, you'll just break your saw. Simply bend it with pliers back and forth to work harden it until it snaps).  In fact, Anne gave away 14" pieces of dental wire to everyone who wanted to try it (I'll pop them in the mail tomorrow). We also had a grand time admiring recent works by Cynthia, Alex Gage, Yoko Rover, Jan Piazza, Sky Paxton, Julia and Marianne Pickett. Oh and there were some great recommendations for classes too - including the hopeful scheduling of spring dates for Metalsmiths in Florence.

Click read more for resource links.

Thursday, January 14th 5-7pm PST
​Meet & Greet starts at 4:45pm
This week, guest instructor Anne Wolf shares a guide (from the forum on Ganoksin.com) for making a scoring tool. Scoring tools are useful for all sorts of things, from box making to adding texture to sheet. We'll discuss how to go about making the tool. Anne will also show how to create texture using a scorer she made while taking an online class from Ford Hallam.
Our monthly Sawing Circle is like a book club but instead of reading, we work on cool stuff, help each other with problems, share ideas and provide accountability for ongoing work. If you've been looking for some support for moving forward on your projects during quarantine then this is the place. Join us from your studio to work in the good conversation and company of like-minded friends. Totally free, no need to RSVP, simply make yourself a nice snack, settle down at your bench and click the link to join in via Zoom.

Hello and Happy New Year! I am excited to announce that I'll be providing online class hosting for Bette's upcoming online workshop Making Magic with Steel and Silver online January 11th through 15th. As Bette describes on her website: "We are excited to offer an online workshop packed with information, hands-on skills and fun. A big focus is on the design aspect of silver and steel jewelry, learning to use silver elements to guide design. You’ll have time to create a mixed metals steel and reticulated silver cuff plus at least one other piece of your own design. You’ll learn to work with mild steel sheet and wire, fuse silver to steel, reticulate silver to create flowing ridges and valleys and much more. Who knew that silver foil could be bonded beautifully to steel producing an amazing contrast between the two metals?" Get the full class description and registration info at StudioMigoto.com.

From November 2018 to March 2020, San Diego Jewelry Lab was known as Anneville Jewelry Lab because it was a brick & mortar jewelry metal arts school and co-work space located next to Anne Wolf's studio in Liberty Station - a part of the NTC Arts District. We offered multi-week classes, independent study and 1-5 day workshops. Topics covered a wide range of the jewelry/metals field, from absolute beginner basics taught by Jessica Andersen and Julie Monroe to advanced specialty techniques such as Japanese metalsmithing taught by Ford Hallam, stone setting by Alexandra Hart, keum boo taught by Bette Barnett and mokume gane taught by Anne Wolf. Many of our students took classes multiple times to perfect their techniques and gain inspiration from each other. Our workshops drew students from around the U.S. and internationally. In addition to classes we had Open Lab time where jewelry metal arts makers worked together, enjoyed our little "Broken Sawblade Cafe" (which became the Peg and Pickle Pub after hours) and shopped for tools and supplies in our small General Store. We also hosted a monthly First Friday Open Studio where makers and the public nibbled tasty snacks, watched live demos and shopped our Gallery Case featuring work by our teachers and students. All of that changed on March 19th, 2020.