Spiculums Workshop with Visiting Instructor Matagi Sorensen

CLASS DESCRIPTION:

This three-day intensive workshop is designed for beginner/intermediate jewelers who want to expand their forming skills while working efficiently with precious metal. The focus is on spiculums—tapered, hollow forms made from thin sheet metal that combine strength, lightness, and material economy.

Participants will learn three distinct methods of spiculum construction, each offering different structural and aesthetic possibilities. Instruction begins with straight spiculums, formed as tapered tubes and prepared for bending through strategic seam soldering. Students will then explore open-seam spiculums, shaped using anticlastic hammering so that the tube and curve develop simultaneously, leaving the seam visible along the exterior. Finally, the workshop covers synclastic spiculums, in which the seam falls along the interior of the curve and may be left open or soldered to accommodate tighter curves.

Each technique will be demonstrated step by step, followed by substantial studio time for experimentation and refinement. Emphasis is placed on controlled hammering, efficient forming sequences, and understanding how seam placement affects curvature and strength. While this workshop assumes comfort with core jewelry tools—such as the torch, jeweler’s saw, and files—advanced forming experience is not required. Instruction includes guidance on hammer use to support precision and endurance at the bench.

This workshop is ideal for jewelers seeking to deepen their forming vocabulary and apply hollow construction techniques to jewelry, hollowware, or sculptural work.

DATES:  Friday 4/24 – Sunday 4/26, 9:30 – 5:30

INSTRUCTOR: Matagi Sorensen

MATERIALS FEE: dependent on materials chosen to work with

SKILL LEVEL: Intermediate