Instructor Directory

Our instructors are drawn from a wealth of talented teachers, including nationally known artists from across the country and across the street. They are innovative craftsmen and artists who enjoy trying new techniques and love sharing what they do with their students.

If you are an experienced art, craft, writing, or performing arts instructor and are interested in teaching at Shake Rag Alley, click here for more information.

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Julie Raasch

Photo of Julie Raasch

Julie Raasch is a jewelry artist who works in copper, often using a technique known as fold-forming. She has always been a creative person, loving art and making since she was a child. Julie studied anthropology and biology in college, but after graduation realized she enjoyed creating the covers and making the graphics and diagrams for the papers she turned in more than writing them. With that in mind she returned to school to study graphic design. Julie has worked for years as a graphic designer. While working as a designer she began making jewelry for herself as a form of self-expression. She started making rosery-style chains to combine with and embellish repurposed vintage jewelry. She soon found she enjoyed making them and couldn’t possibly wear (or gift) everything she made, so opened an Etsy shop in 2008. While working as a designer/artist at UW-Madison she took her first metalsmithing class. The 8-week course set her on a path to working with metal. After exploring traditional metal techniques, Julie started to slowly build a home studio. She started only with a few basics and therefore was limited to what she could make. These limitations led to the exploration and discovery of a fairly young form of metalsmithing…fold-forming! Julie now combines her love of nature and her love for fold-forming to create nature-inspired handcrafted jewelry. She may include etching and traditional metalsmith techniques in conjunction with the folding, but at the heart of much of her work is fold-forming. Through the use of fold-forming she is able to create small sculptural pieces of wearable art that celebrate the natural world.

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Fold-forming Basics