| Janet Alexander [More Info] Janet has over 38 years’ experience in jewelry metal arts as a bench jeweler, designer, and instructor. She has a BFA in metals from the University of North Texas. Janet has taught at Bead & Button, Interweave Bead Fest TX, AdornMe Houston, PMC Connection Conference, and many other venues. She also appeared HGTV Crafters Coast to Coast and That’s Clever demonstrating jewelry making techniques. | |
| Ed and Martha Biggar [More Info] Between the two, Ed and Martha Biggar have over 40 years glass experience and over 20 years with metal clay. They exhibit and teach nationally and at home, and believe good teachers can make the difference for any student. They live in southwest Virginia with their herd of horses, mules, and donkeys. | |
| Marti Brown [More Info] Marti Brown was always interested in the arts. As a child, some of her fondest memories included art camp, painting in her basement, art classes in summer school, and involvement in choral music. Marti became a professional artist and craftsman after completing her BFA in jewelry making. She has been designing jewelry for over 30 years and loves creating jewelry and teaching. Marti has worked in a variety of traditional and contemporary jewelry metals and processes. She currently works in niobium, a colorful metal, and of course beads. | |
| Steven James [More Info] Steven James, a refugee from one of the nation's flyover states spent his childhood breaking his art teacher's rules by coloring outside the lines, peeling the wrapper off crayons and making glue skin in the palm of his hand. Now that he is older, wiser and craftier he still wants to break the rules, but he needs you to join in the fun. Put aside the responsibilities of your life and get back the creative connections you made as an 8-year old. A full-time elementary school teacher, who has made appearances on the DIY and HGTV networks he loves taking a break from his own routine and spending a few hours with adults who will hopefully avoid picking noses, scabs or fights and focus on being as creative and inspired as possible. | |
| Joe Korth [More Info] Joe Korth is a jewelry artist and metalsmith from Denver, Colorado. He was born in Berkeley, California in 1979. His first exposure to jewelry creation was in a high school art class. Joe continued his education at Eastern Michigan University where he earned a B.A. with a dual major in Philosophy and Literature. After completing his degree in 2002, he moved to Denver and began to explore his love for the arts. He has devoted himself completely to jewelry since 2004. Joe has been an instructor at the Clear Creek Academy in Denver as well as the Armory Art Center in West Palm Beach, Florida, where he was an Artist-In-Residence from 2011-2012. Joe is currently the President of the Colorado Metalsmithing Association. | |
| Beth Kraft [More Info] Beth teaches at several national bead shows in addition to teaching bead-weaving and wire-work in Rochester, Minnesota. Beth's designs have been in several national publications and she has presented on Beads, Baubles, and Jewels and Bead.tv. Beth was a Saul Bell Design Award finalist and a BeadStar finalist. | |
| Heidi Kummli [More Info] Heidi has been beading for over 35 years. Bead embroidery her main focus, she has recently been making epoxy clay center pieces to incorporate into her work, making each piece more unique. She has written two books; the first with bead artist Sherry Serafini "The Art of Bead Embroidery"; her second book "The Spirit of Bead Embroidery" is closer to her heart and is a reflection of her world, being close to nature and true self. Heidi has been teaching for the last 10 years and enjoys sharing her beadwork and design skills to her students. | |
| Linda Larsen [More Info] Metalsmith Linda Larsen has been designing jewelry for many years. She finds the whole ‘construction’ process fascinating and challenging, and is constantly looking for new techniques to play with. She teaches internationally and blogs frequently about projects and techniques. | |
| Susan Lenart Kazmer [More Info] Susan’s work is built from a unique combination of art school, metalsmithing, extensive cultural research, creating and repairing ethnographic adornment, and a strong fashion back round. Her work on Expressive Adornment is a unique voice in the industry. She builds talismans, prayer boxes and amulets for the fashion, museum, gallery and commercial world for over 20 years. Susan’s early handmade collection began at Henry Bendell, Banana Republic, Nordstrom, Ann Taylor and more, where she began building a handmade and a commercial line of jewelry. Susan’s work participated in numerous museum exhibits including Smithsonian and Art Institute of New York. Author of her second book, Resin Alchemy, an Amazon 2013 best seller list, includes a pioneering ten year body of work combining metal and resin. She also creates a successful commercial line of components called, Industrial Chic. Susan’s innovative new work can be seen in March 2014 issue of U.S. ELLE as she reenters the fashion world and on the runway in New York. | |
| Donna Lewis [More Info] Donna is an award winning metal clay artist who has twice been a Saul Bell Award finalist. Her work has been included in several publications by Lark Books, Brynmorgen Press, and Wardel Publications. She offers workshops at Bead & Button Show, ART Unraveled, Adorn Me!, Sonoma Glass & Bead Festival, Bead Fest Santa Fe, and Bead Fest Texas. Donna grew up in Milwaukee, WI and now lives in Scottsdale, AZ. She holds BFAs in Art and Telecommunications from Mount Mary College. Donna invented the LiL BeLLA humidifier which has eased the work stress for many metal clay artists around the world. | |
| Sara Lukkonen [More Info] Sara has always been doing one kind of craft or another. About 39 years ago she discovered torch fire enameling. Sara had done some kiln work but did not like how long it took. Tried out the torching technique and has been working with enamels that way ever since. In 1999 she was wearing some of her beads in a bead store and they wanted to know where she got the beads. That is when C-Koop Beads was established. She has been teaching enameling for about 8 years. Sara has taught at national shows, bead stores and in her studio. | |
| Debora Mauser [More Info] Debora Mauser has been creating jewelry for more than 12 years. For the past six years Debora has been teaching at national venues such as Bead Fest, Bead and Button, local bead stores, William Holland School of Lapidary Arts, Wild Acres and Sawtooth School. Her passion is sharing techniques including wire, metal, enameling, forming and cold connections. Her work has been featured in Step by Step Wire and she is a certified instructor in the Painting with Fire immersion method of enameling. Debora's classes are fun and packed with information but maintain a low key approach to learning. | |
| Anne Mitchell [More Info] Anne started her creative career over 25 years ago as a professional lighting designer. Looking for another outlet for her artistic energies, Anne began teaching chain making and metal working approximately 14 years ago for just pure enjoyment. During those years, Anne found that the creative outlet provided by teaching as well as a consistent demand for her classes was too alluring to deny. Leaving lighting behind in 2003, Anne is now a full-time designer, teacher, and author. | |
| Laurel Nathanson [More Info] Laurel is a mixed media artist and jeweler from Oakland California. Her crafty objects have been featured in American Craft Magazine, Lark Books 500 Necklaces, and 1000 Ideas for Creative Reuse. She has a jewelry line called Sugarcoat which combines her roots as a metalsmith with her passion for surface design and illustration. When not creating, teaching, or writing how to articles for Jewelry Artist Magazine, Laurel is cuddling with her two Bichons, Bailey and Bonnie. And, she is always looking for an 80's night dance party. | |
| Kieu Pham Gray [More Info] Kieu Pham Gray has been creating jewelry for over 15 years. She started from the need to look the part while working in retail management for Neiman Marcus. Since then she has sold to over 30 stores in 10 states and participated in numerous juried art shows. For eight years Kieu owned Bead Q! in the Cleveland area. Today, with her husband Andy, they run TheUrbanBeader.com, working to provide the industry with specialty goods. Kieu teaches a variety of classes throughout the Midwest and East Coast. Detailed instruction and personal attention has been her key to success. | |
| Maria Richmond [More Info] Artist Maria Richmond draws her inspiration from the possibilities she sees in ordinary objects and materials. While she plays with wire, she often envisions unique ways of combining traditional, repurposed and found objects into her creations. She regularly teaches in Western Pennsylvania, as well as other venues throughout the country. She teaches basic and intermediate techniques in a relaxed atmosphere. Her goal is to help her students find their own creative voice and the endless possibilities in the seemingly mundane. | |
| Sue Ripsch [More Info] Sue is a chain maille artist, designer and author who teaches chain maille classes around the country. She has taught at many Bead Fest Shows and at Bead and Button shows. Sue is the author of two chain maille books and will publish a third in 2015. She has written clear and beautifully illustrated instructions for over 150 chain maille weaves. Sue likes to teach students from all levels of chain maille experience. | |
| Richard Salley [More Info] Richard has been working in metal for over 40 years and teaches metalsmithing classes around the country covering a variety of topics. | |
| Debra Saucier [More Info] Debra Saucier is a mixed-media artist who has been crafting since summers spent with her grandmother in Japan as a child. Debra was named one of the initial Create Your Style with Swarovski Elements Ambassadors early in 2009 and has taught at the Create Your Style Events in Tucson as well as other shows across the world. Debra and her husband operate a small bead store in New England. In 2011, Debra launched a new product called Crystal Clay two part epoxy clay. Her work has been featured in numerous magazines and books. | |
| Cooky Schock [More Info] Cooky Schock is the retired owner of The Shepherdess in San Diego, CA. She has been teaching wire jewelry classes since 1999 and has taught at Bead Fest Philadelphia, the Best Bead Show Tucson, To Bead True Blue Tucson, Parson School of Design: Altos de Chavon Campus in the Dominican Republic and Art Unraveled in Phoenix AZ. Her focus for the last eight years has been on metalwork, primarily silversmithing, and most recently, has been exploring the use of metals of the less precious variety (such as copper and brass) and alternative materials including resins and acrylics. Cooky is a proud graduate of the School of Serendipitous Learning aka Life! Articles have been published in Altered Couture, Belle Armoire Jewelry, Expression Magazine, Designer Felt and Showcase 500 Beaded Jewelry. She is currently working on a series of wall sculptures that include metals, beadwork and Navajo weaving. | |
| Eva Sherman [More Info] Eva Sherman began beading as a way to spend time with her daughters but soon became hopelessly addicted. In 2005 she traded her architectural career for the opportunity to spend all her time among beads, and opened Grand River Bead Studio in Cleveland, Ohio. Eva now happily spends most days in the studio creating, writing and teaching, but has been known to take her show on the road. She has discovered an affinity for working with wire and metals, and prefers to design in an organic and unstructured style. Eva and coauthor Beth Martin published Organic Wire & Metal Jewelry in 2014 and are currently writing a second book titled Cool Copper Cuffs scheduled for release in 2015. | |
| Gail Stouffer [More Info] Young and oblivious, Gail Stouffer earned a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree from Long Island University. Today, older and wiser, Gail is a lifelong-learner who recently completed her Masters of Art Education degree at Texas Tech University. Gail is an enthusiastic adjunct faculty member at The Southwest School of Art in San Antonio, where she teaches glass media as part of the sculpture department. She also teaches workshops in kiln formed glass at Texas Tech University, Junction Campus. At her studio, Roadhouse Arts, in the Texas Hill Country, Gail teaches kiln formed glass, metal clay, and printmaking/design. Instead of sleeping, she serves as the Director of Educational Content for KilnFrog.com, an online resource for kiln education, equipment, and supplies, serving the glass, metals, and clay communities. Always an adventurer, Gail has served as visiting instructor at The Houston Center for Contemporary Craft, The Pittsburgh Glass Center, and The Phoenix Center for the Arts, The Las Vegas Glass Craft Expo, and The Fired Arts Academy at Jen-Ken. | |
| Betcey Ventrella [More Info] Betcey opened Beyond Beadery in 1987 in Woodstock, NY. She and her husband regularly load 5 tons of beads and crystals into their truck and haul them cross-country, setting up shop for a few days before packing it all up again and moving on to the next bead show. When not on the road, she can be found in her Colorado mountaintop home, selling crystals and beads via the Internet. Betcey's life as a traveling bead gypsy was featured in Beadwork Magazine in April 2009, and her Swarovski-rich designs have been showcased in a number of books. | |
| Merry Warner [More Info] Merry comes from a family of women who have always been making things. Her mother always sewed our clothes and then made hand sewn quilts that she received many blue ribbons for from the county fair. Merry’s earliest memory was teaching herself how to crochet as she had wanted to make herself a new top. Her idea of happiness is sitting with a handful of beads, hammering metal, baking bread, forming clay into a bowl, threading yarn onto my loom, altering fabric, and the list continues to grow. | |
| Laura Zeiner [More Info] Laura has been beading and teaching beadwork for about thirteen years and has a passion for putting a contemporary spin on traditional stitches. Nature is a constant theme in her beading and she loves to incorporate uncommon objects and old things into her work. She lives in Austin, Texas with her husband, John, and Ginger, her spoiled-rotten shelti. In her spare time, she can usually be found training for triathlons or playing poker. | |
