Intro to Southwest Silversmithing and Open Studio with Jamie Halpern & Patte Ranney – G26070402
An Introduction to Southwest Silversmithing 2026
Learn the basic skills of Southwest-style silversmithing in the awe-inspiring Ghost Ranch jewelry studio. Experience hands-on work in sawing, soldering, stone-setting, and finishing beautiful jewelry. Techniques are demonstrated but learning will come from actually doing the work. Problem solving is a significant part of this learning process. Studio work will be supplemented by demonstrations and discussions and guest instructors. Students will learn to safely use the basic tools of silversmith work. Students will leave with multiple pieces of wearable jewelry art and a discovery of their own creative potential. For beginning or experienced students. Serious-minded youth 14+ are welcome.
The fully-equipped Ghost Ranch jewelry studio provides a wonderful opportunity for students to learn the skills and techniques of silver jewelry-making in a beautiful location with a long history in the creative arts. Ghost Ranch is a place of beauty and serenity that nurtures the creative spirit. Silversmith students come away from this class with unimagined creations, a proud sense of accomplishment, and a personal connection to the arts of the Southwest.
The studio is equipped with all the needed tools, supplies and equipment. Students may bring their own hand-tools, stones, and silver supplies, if desired. NOTE: Silver metal and some special rocks used in class projects can be purchased at the Ghost Ranch studio. Students should expect to spend between $150 – $300 on silver for the week – this cost is NOT included in the class fee. All other materials, including most rocks used in class are included in the course fees.
Learning Outcomes:
– Students will learn basic skills needed to construct silver jewelry: sawing, soldering, stone-setting, and polishing/finishing
– Students will learn to safely use silver-making tools: saws, torches, hammers, rolling mill, Foredom flex shaft, sanding belts, grinding and polishing wheels
– Students will acquire confidence in their creative abilities and skills
– Students will learn about the history and styles of southwest jewelry-making
– Students will create wearable and sellable jewelry art
Instructors
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Jamie HalpernJamie Halpern is an accomplished silversmith, lapidary artist and metalsmith instructor. His work reflects southwestern art and jewelry-making styles and is influenced by travels throughout the United States, the South Pacific and Europe. Working with silver and colorful semi-precious stones through metal fabrication and inlay, and through his teachings with beginning and advanced jewelry students and artists, Jamie celebrates creativity and personal exploration and nurtures artistic expression. His jewelry is sold through private commissions. He has taught silversmithing and lapidary art at Ghost Ranch for a number of years to rave reviews and testaments to how professional pieces can be crafted with focused time. Examples of Jamie’s work can be found at: Jehalpernjewelry.com.
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Patte RanneyPatte Ranney has been coming to Ghost Ranch since 2009 and has enjoyed a wide variety of workshops through the years. Admiring the end-of-week display of a silver class, about a decade ago, rekindled her long lost love of smithing – a craft she had dabbled with in high school. Actually, it lit the torch!
Since that awakening, she has dedicated nearly all her ranch time to the silver studio. She credits Jamie with teaching and guiding her to develop her smithing and lapidary skills. Though she once claimed that her trips to the ranch in both January and July were enough to quench her thirst for all things silver, she now has a complete studio at home. Her work is recognized for excellence in craftsmanship.
Patte spent her career as a licensed boat captain, interpretive naturalist, and environmental educator in the lowcountry of South Carolina. In her retirement, she has become a full-time artisan working in silver, leather, fiber, and paper. She is an exhibiting artist with the Art League of Hilton Head and sells her pieces at local markets and by commission.
You can find her at https://www.instagram.com/thesetwohandsstudio/