Bonnie Bishoff and her wonderful husband, J.M. Syron are known for their collaborative polymer marquetry on large pieces of furniture.

The Racine Museum of Art in Wisconsin has a wonderful video (https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=26&v=AStj3tndsqI) about the exhibition Terra Nova from 2011, which shows several of their pieces. They have moved forward to make statement jewelry that have elaborate wire and apoxie clay armatures to support their designs. We were fortunate to hear Bonnie speak at Synergy 4 and knew immediately we wanted to share her expertise with our students. She was originally coming on March 29-31, but agreed to add a second class which will be March 25-27(Mon-Wed) to respond to the demand.

She will be doing a survey class to share the mysteries of wire and apoxie clay, to make large armatures for bracelets, earrings and necklaces. This is not going to be a project specific class, but students will be encouraged to design and execute an armature to cover with their own veneers. We will explore ways to create lightweight and simple armatures with wire and apoxie clay that don’t require soldering. We will discuss the different types of wire to use and how to harden and shape wire for projects. Bonnie will cover basic designs formed in wire to make cuff bracelets,

brooches with wire and clay catches, linked chains and several different original necklace closures. The focus will be how to create your own designs from start to finish instead of relying on purchased findings to dictate forms for your jewelry. We will work with thin polymer veneers to cover wire. We will create dynamic forms with apoxie clay that will then be covered with polymer veneers. Students can use pre-made canes and patterns or even simple color block designs to practice these techniques with wire. The emphasis will be on the engineering and sampling of techniques but there will be demonstrations of how Bonnie uses her veneers to create designs in jewelry.