Stone and Gem Cutting with Tarja Tuupanen in Porto

Surely you have been in the situation of having a stone in your hand and thinking; I bet I could use this to make something beautiful. Only to think it was too big, not the right shape or just not precious enough. Or that time when you needed that stone in that shape, but couldn't find it anywhere! Well, the life of a contemporary jewellery artist is too precious not to take these moments or objects or to waste a good idea on a stone that you can't buy.

In this workshop, we will mainly use tools readily available in a regular jeweller's workshop (plus a few others that we will supply or suggest) to transform regular soft stones into beautiful shapes that can be beautifully incorporated into modern and contemporary jewels. Your work will never be the same, as you will truly make unique jewels.

Day 1

• safety regulations, introduction for equipment (micromotor and hand tools)
• cutting and forming with micromotor
• different surfaces with micromotor
• working with hand tools (face grinding, files, papers)
• short theory lesson about stone as material

Day 2

• short lecture about the artist’s work and examples: how the stone is used in contemporary jewellery, how to connect stone to another material
• participants make tryouts and develop their own projects with the tutoring of a teacher

Days 3 and 4

• developing the students’ own projects and tryouts with the tutoring of the teacher
• further readings, information where stone and machinery can be bought

Dates: 4-7 September 2023
Time: 9:30-13:00 and 14:00 to 17:30
Price: 415 + 60 euros ( course + material and tools fee)
Sign-up by 30th of April – 5% discount
Minimum students: 6
Maximum students: 10
Included: all tools and all stones. You are encouraged to take your own stones, to either do something in class or to get suggestions on how to do it at home.
Language: English
Teacher: Tarja Tuupanen


About the instructor:
Tarja Tuupanen has studied jewellery and stonework in Lappeenranta in South Carelia Polytechnic, Finland (BA 1999), and she graduated an MFA from Ädellab, Konstfack University College of Arts, Crafts and Design (SE) in 2013. Since 1997 she has taken part in exhibitions internationally, both in group and solo shows. Teaching and promoting her own professional field have been important for Tarja, along with working as an artist. Tuupanen was one of the founding members of the Finnish Jewellery Art Association, and she acted as the chairwoman from 2005-2013 and 2020. She has been teaching in Finland, and she has also hosted several workshops abroad in different institutions, most recently at China Academy of Arts in Hangzhou. She is a member of Hibernate group.