This jewellery course is aimed at those, who are interested in trying out the work with metal, some basic goldsmith’s techniques and various techniques of the artistic use of enamel (vitreous enamel). It is designed so that the participants would take home finished, to-be-worn-with-pride jewellery, which hardly anybody can boast of as of their own making. The techniques that we use here are not generally accessible to amateurs. We have tools and equipment at our disposal that are essential for trying out goldsmith’s techniques, which are indispensable for any serious jewellery work. From each run of the course the participants take home 3 or 4 finished jewellery pieces – rings, earrings, bracelets, necklaces, pendants or brooches.
Here are some of the techniques we are going to use:
Every run of the course is eased off by less exacting tasks, such as wiring techniques, innovative work with components, or “Fimo” polymeric material.
The teacher, MgA. Veronika Hilská, graduated from the Metal and Jewellery studio at the Academy of Applied Arts, Architecture and Design in Prague, actively continues in making original jewellery of her own design, and has been teaching the jewellery course for nearly five years.
Due to the fact that she adapted the Kahil studio to her own work and jewellery courses for the public, you will find a suitable background there for your own practice, without being left out of some parts of the process (an exception is the silver casting). The expected number of participants should be around 6, but we can start with just 4.
This course is aimed at interested amateurs, but also at those, who have already had the chance of trying out some of the above mentioned techniques and would like to develop them a little more. There is no age limit for the frequenters, but as the work is rather physically strenuous, it is not meant for children and the recommended minimum age is 15 years.
The cycle is introduced by the beginners’ course and then several advanced courses follow. The themes of each one of the courses are given, but it is possible to change the contents slightly after a discussion at the beginning of the course. Although it cannot be said strictly that separate themes of the subsequent courses necessarily develop from easier to more complicated ones (the techniques interlace and complement one another in various ways), but basically it is the case, and moreover the participants acquire new information and skills with every course, so I recommend to go through all the courses rather than just join some and leave some out. But even that is possible, though only if the capacity of the class allows it. It is not possible to join the advanced group without having passed the beginners’ course. To get acquainted with the programmes of the courses, see left menu.
