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.

Instructor Website

Workshops

Fold-forming Basics

Luann Smith began making jewelry to help with school expenses while studying figure painting and illustration at the American Academy of Art in Chicago. After moving to Madison, she worked as a freelance illustrator, portrait painter, and taught watercolor for the UW Extension.

Years of painting realistically has morphed into more sculptural work, which incorporates vintage and found objects into her jewelry, mosaic water pieces, and bird sculptures. Luann’s jewelry can be found at River Arts on Water Gallery in Prairie Du Sac, and Longbranch Gallery in Mineral Point.

Instructor Website

Workshops

Repurposed Charm Bracelet

Micro-mosaic Pendants

Sherry Viktora is a senior instructor in silver metal clay. She brings a love of nature and gardening to her art and an enthusiasm for sharing to her teaching. She combines metal clay with glass and organic materials to create unique work. After receiving PMCC certifications and art clay instructor certification, Sherry retired to become a full-time senior instructor. Sherry’s work has been published in national art and jewelry magazines and can be found at Longbranch Gallery in Mineral Point.

Workshops

Intro to Silver Metal Clay

Fine Silver Rings in a Day

Fine Silver Leaves from the Garden

Fine Silver Rings in a Day

Natural Stones Set in Silver Metal Clay

Reversible Fine Silver Hollow Bead

Denise Anton Wright has made three really good decisions in her life: becoming a librarian, marrying her husband, and dabbling in jewelry-making. Since retiring from Library Land in 2015, Denise spends her days creating, taking care of two high-maintenance cats, and watching lots of classic old movies while working on jewelry projects. Her growth as an artist and creator has been helped immeasurably by the wonderful classes that she’s taken at Shake Rag Alley (a big shout-out to Lorraine Reynolds). Her jewelry business is Salve Regina Tchotchkes; the name is a combination of Latin and Yiddish and can be very roughly translated as: shiny objects with no practical purpose for our Heavenly Queen.

Instructor Website

Workshops

Messy Memory Wire Bracelet