Page 24 - the NOISE August 2013

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24 • AUGUST 2013 • the NOISE arts & news • thenoise.us
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FROM LEFT: Havasu Falls by Georgia Michalicek, a new artist in Z House Gallery; an Anastasia Topaz from Shelley Claude, silversmith artist at Gallery 111.
now and a schedule of possible classes for those who want group work. New in my stu- dio are cheese cutting boards and tiles, and both are attracting attention. My goal for the rest of the year is to paint smaller paintings and develop a show around miniatures up to 11x14 in size for First Friday in December. This will be a real challenge as I love to paint large.”
On the First Friday ArtWalk, August 2, Ms. Matthew’s paintings can be seen in her own studio, 13 N. San Francisco Street, number 3, and at Mountain Oasis International Res- taurant, 11 E. Aspen. Ms. Matthew’s studio will also be open for the Flagstaff Open Stu- dios August 24 and 25. LynMatthew.com.
Setting StoneS
Originally from Vancouver, Canada, Shel- ley Claude has been in Flagstaff for eight years. Besides being an avid climber and a mother of two young children, Ms. Claude has taken on the role of silversmith, and is the only person in Flagstaff to offer lessons in this beautiful art.
I visit Studio 111, where Ms. Claude shows me her one of a kind and ever evolving cre- ations. Using a variety of precious jewels, silver and gold, she makes elegant pieces of jewelry. She shows me new jewels that will soon be incorporated into her designs.
I ask how she first became interested in becoming a silver smith. “I have been doing bead work for three-four years and it seemed like the natural next step,” Ms. Claude tells me.
“I looked around Flagstaff and there wasn’t anyone around that taught it, so I had to go out of state to learn silver-smithing.”
She found a teacher in Albuquerque and has been studying with her, learning about cabochon stones and soldering, “I just went and saw her again and she taught me how to do a step bezel, prong setting, and a whole bunch of different techniques. I went to San- ta Fe after that to learn how to do this flush setting, which is also called a gypsy setting, and is probably one of the more advanced
techniques. ” Ms. Claude tells me as she shows me a beautiful piece of Labradorite set in sliver beside a band holding three small blue sapphires.
After learning and practicing the art of silversmithing, Ms. Claude now passes on her knowledge, offering instruction here in downtown Flagstaff, at a cost that makes it accessible to those who have the desire to learn. One-on-one instruction or classes with two students at a time are available. “I’m open to teaching youths, my youngest student so far is a twelve year old,” she says. “She’s about to start her second series, and after that she can begin to come here for open studio time.”
Ms. Claude’s silversmithing and stone set- ting lessons begin with the very basic con- cepts of working with silver to create jewelry, starting with two silver rings, one set with a stone. As the lessons progress, students will learn different bezeling techniques, prong settings, and in the fall a flush setting class will be available. Once a student has studied for 20 hours they are invited to come hone their skills on their own during open studio time in a place that has all the tools needed for creating silver jewelry. The cost of classes includes the materials.
While teaching silversmithing is her main focus, the idea for opening a gallery space on site is developing. For now the silver cre- ations of Shelley Claude can be seen during the First Friday ArtWalk and by appointment at 111 E. Aspen, between Gallery One13 and the Artists’ Coalition of Flagstaff’s Gallery. ClaudeContemporaryBeadedjewelry.com
caSting WiSdom
The Flagstaff Birth & Women’s Center
opens this August, and to celebrate the open- ing a very creative installment of painted and decorated casts of torsos will be taking place there. “The show in August is display of torso castings representing the beautiful, strong and diverse women in our commu- nity,” Sonja Henricksen tells me. “This first week in August is World Breastfeeding Week