What made me get into metalsmithing? Well, I was in between jobs and looking for a more creative outlet. Honestly, I cannot for the life of me remember why I decided to sign up for that beginner metalsmithing class through the City of Fort Collins, but I am so glad that I did.
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The City of Fort Collins has this really amazing program called "The Recreator" and three times a year, they release classes, outdoor activities, and more all for a reasonable price. Well, one year, I decided to sign up for Intro to metalsmithing. At the time, I was working for Avid 4 Adventure, which was a summer only outdoor camp for kids, I loved it, and wanted to continue on, so I needed to find something to do in the winter. The class met once a week for six weeks and I was able to get the basics down of sawing and soldering. After the class was over, I signed up for open studio, so I could keep going to practice and learn more. I started getting better and falling in love with the craft more, so I decided to start investing in some basic tools. The biggest issue was finding a place to work. Our house was so small, that I just couldn't take up any space and metalsmithing is so toxic, I really didn't want to do it in the house. I've had SO many different studio spaces over the couple of years, most of them unheated or cooled. I started in a friends garage, then my parents garage, our unheated and uninsulated back porch, and old vintage camper, tiny house camper we bought from a friends, finally rented a heated space in downtown Crested Butte and now my latest space is in our heated garage and I'll stay at this one for a while. I've come a long way.
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I decided to not go back to Avid 4 Adventure in early 2020 and I started working at the Boys and Girls Club for a while and continued working on my jewelry skills. I started making some pieces that people were showing interest in, I graduated from brass and copper to silver and was watching many youtube videos to learn more. I was also wire wrapping and beading at this time, which require no metalsmithing experience. Then in February of 2020, a cool opportunity popped up where a local jewelry store, called Old Town Metals, was looking to make her store a co-op. I jumped on the opportunity and joined Old Town Metals on March 1st of 2020. We all know what happened 2 weeks later in March. So Old Town Metals closed until June of 2020. We decided to reopen and it was so scary for me, having to manage people wearing masks, working in a really small space where we were so close to people, but luckily the other ladies we're supportive and we put up plexiglass and mask signs and all the other covid things. After a while, it was too much for me and I decided to leave Old Town Metals. I learned so much with my experience there and was so grateful for the time i spent there. I can't thank Maggie enough for helping me embark on my jewelry career.
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Fast forward to today May of 2023. We have moved to Crested Butte and are loving it here. I have an amazing studio space in the garage of our home. I have done a bunch of collection releases, markets and attended gem shows. My knowledge of this craft has grown so much and I still have so much left to learn. I love metalsmithing and creating wearable art with my hands, especially art that is inspired by the outdoors. Stay tuned for my updates on my journey and thank you so much for being here!
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