Graceful Customs Lampwork Glass & Jewelry Studio

Saturday, February 22, 2014

Silver Clay Class, Sat., March 22, 20114 at Graceful Customs Studio

Pat Accorinti, instructor for over 30 yrs, will teach us how to master Art Clay Silver as you learn how to texture, set gems, roll coils, form custom balls, set a fire-in-place stone, rehydrate dry material, and other techniques. We will use our kiln to fire your creations! You will take home silver charms! e-mail grace@gracefulcustoms.com for more info. No experience needed!

Thursday, January 30, 2014

Wire-Wrapping & Lapidary Classes schedule changes

We had some calendar changes to these 2 classes, primarily from the students' responses. Generally we will have a wire-wrapping class on the 1st Saturday of the month, and the Lapidary class on the 3rd Saturday of the month, with a minimum of 3 students per class. If there is a Lampworking weekend class, we may have to make further changes, please let us know if you are interested and check the calendar!

Sunday, January 5, 2014

Kristen Franz Orr - Class at GraceFul Customs Studio, Gilroy- March 2014

Kristen will be here March 8 & 9, 2014 Sat & Sunday for a class on "floral techniques." E-mail Grace@GracefulCustoms.com for more information.

Sunday, November 17, 2013

Wire-wrapping Class Dec. 21, 2013, at Graceful Customs Studio, Gilroy, CA

Learn basic techniques of wire-wrapping with Jennifer Le on Dec. 21! You will learn to wrap a natural stone and learn about the necessary wire materials used in wire-wrapping. $85.00 all material supplied;

e-mail Grace@Gracefulcustoms.com

Lapidary class on Dec. 14, 2013, at Graceful Customs Studio

If you ever admired a polished natural stone and appreciated the beauty of its colors brought out by its shine, come learn the very simple techniques of lapidary! We will provide you with a pre-shape stone and show you how to bring out its beauty! $85.00, all materials supplied, grace@gracefulcustoms.com, Gilroy, Ca

Monday, October 21, 2013

BUGS, BUGS, BUGS, WESLEY'S CREATURES WERE HERE

It certainly was a fun class, Wes is amazingly creative in his detailed creatures. We learned many new techniques, the "students" (most already accomplished in their art), made their own little bugs! Thanks to all the participants for making it an enjoyable event!

Tuesday, August 27, 2013

Metal working workshop open house-Nov. 9, 2013

For those who like to solder, form, and create projects out of metal, you are welcomed to stop by on Sat., Nov. 9, 2013 here at Graceful Customs Studio. We will be working on projects, you can ask questions like how to make rivets, products to polish metals, setting cabachons,
electro-forming supplies, and see demos, or demo a technique yourself. Carmen Martinez, our instructor for the silver-soldering classes will be here to show us her latest projects and help you move forward in your metal art. We will have soldering torches available for your use and a huge anvil to hammer! Hours: 12:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m. drop in anytime. No cost. e-mail Grace at Grace@GracefulCustoms.com to let us know what your interest is! And feel free to share with us what you have been working on!

OPEN TORCH DAYS IN STUDIO

Fridays, are open torch days, free use of our torches, fuel and kiln. If you have taken a beginners lampworking class, or have experience to work on your own, you are invited to join us to practice, network, and share techniques, hours are 9:00am to 1 pm, other hours with arrangement with Grace. Bring your own supplies and tools, our torches are Nortel Minors and Mega, with oxygen and propane. You must be able to work independently, only general safety instruction is provided, if you are planning to join us e-mail me at Grace@GracefulCustoms.com. There may be some Fridays we will be closed due to vacations or other commitments, and days available may be subject to change. E-mail us for address and directions

Jennifer Le to teach wire-wrapping here!

Who is Jennifer, you ask? Jennifer lives in Santa Clara, CA, the heart of the Silicon Valley. Her long, successful career in high tech was creative, but not very artistic. Although Jennifer is proficient in many skills, such as cooking & gardening, she never applied herself to art until about four years ago. At that time Jennifer & her husband Jim immersed themselves in rockhounding.

Gems, minerals, specimens and the lapidary arts soon became their passion. After some introduction to the lapidary arts with the help of friends and the local club, they were soon creating cabachons, free-forms, flats and even an attempt at faceting! Those pieces looked just great in a display box, but they needed to be seen more often. Jennifer quickly saw the potential for jewelry! Here was the opportunity to create and enjoy something wonderful. Wire wrap was the best way to bring those bright shiny stones out of the box.

Her favorite subjects are pendants, earrings, bracelets and rings of many varieties, sizes, & colors. One needs only to examine Jennifer's work, her showcase and the jewelry she is wearing to see that this is distinctive art. Jennifer learned the fine art & skill of wire-wrap from her mother only four years ago. Since then she has refined her skill into a signature style that is very clean, elegant & striking. She teaches her skill to others in a straightforward and clear manner. Her teaching style & her patience makes her class a valuable experience!