Presenters
Rick Smith
Rick Smith is known for his research into laminated and forge-welded steel, patterned surface treatments, and large scale repousse. He has taught at craft schools and institutions across the US, Europe, Australia, and Asia. His work is in the permanent collects of The Mint Museum, Metals Museum, and the John and Robyn Horn Collection, among others. Smith heads the oldest and largest metals and blacksmithing program in the United States at Southern Illinois University Carbondale (SIUC, Carbondale, IL). SIU Carbondale’s research and development played a notable and strategic role in the manufacturing techniques that made mokume-gane available to the contemporary metalsmith.
Alex Boyd
When Alex Boyd was a young boy he stole an enchanted ring from a powerful bruja. That night his slumber was disturbed by a tapping at his window. When he slid the window open a huge raven rushed in, flew around the room and perched on his bookshelf. "I know what you have taken from me," the raven cawed. "I don't know what you’re talking about," Alex lied, hiding his bejeweled finger behind his back. "No matter. It is your problem now. The wearer of that ring is indentured to create more talismans of power, either for 1000 years or until he makes something so sublime, so perfect, so beautiful that the spell is broken and he is freed." "1000 years it is," Alex said as he thrust the raven out the window and slammed it shut behind her. He has been making jewelry ever since.
Erica Moody
Erica Moody is a metal craftsman working in midcoast Maine, where she cultivates her line of forged and fabricated serving utensils, and continues her craft’s foundation of fabricating custom metal hardware commissions for architects and designers. Erica teaches metalworking classes and workshops at locations such as Massachusetts College of Art & Design, Wentworth Institute of Technology, Harvard Graduate School of Design, Penland School of Crafts, Haystack, Center for Metal Arts, and The Center for Furniture Craftsmanship. Her utensils have been featured in publications such as Bon Appetit, Saveur, Metalsmith, Maine Home & Design, London’s Financial Times, and New Yorker’s The Cut.
Photo credit: Bryan Coppede
Pat Flynn
Pat Flynn’s work is a perfect marriage of blacksmithing and goldsmithing. His iconic square-cut nail bracelets and neckpieces combine blackened iron with high karat gold, diamonds, colored stones and pearls. Each piece of jewelry is hand forged and meticulously crafted, often featuring 22 karat gold fused onto iron surfaces. Hinges and clasps are perfectly incorporated, functional and beautiful. Flynn is a master of subtle texture and form. His attention to detail and technical control sets him apart. He lives and works in High Falls, New York.
Pat Pruitt
Working exclusively in stainless steel, titanium, and zirconium, Pat Pruitt is known for his intricate and colorful pattern work and exacting precision. Pruitt fuses innovative materials and pioneering fabrication methods to stretch the boundaries of conventional Native American jewelry and produce work that seamlessly blends heritage-inspired aesthetics with contemporary and industrial elements.
Renée Zettle-Sterling
Renée Zettle-Sterling received her MFA in Sculpture and her MA in Metalsmithing from Edinboro University of Pennsylvania. Zettle-Sterling is a Professor and Area Head of Jewelry/Metalsmithing at Grand Valley State University. She has exhibited and lectured nationally and internationally and her work has been featured in numerous publications. Zettle-Sterling also served as President of the Society of North American Goldsmiths from 2012-2016. She co-authored, with fellow artist Jen Townsend, the award-winning book CAST: Art and Objects Made Using Humanity’s Most Transformational Process (Schiffer Publishing). Over the last couple years, she has been studying the art of shoemaking and in her past time loves to forage and learn from the plants in her environment.