Welcome To The studio
It started a long time ago, in the back room of Minerva Beads on Glastonbury High Street. I was already teaching wire wrapping there and what started as a few workshops grew into something much bigger.
The workshops grew and it wasn’t long before we started thinking about how we could take things further. That was where the idea for the UK Wire Wrapping Retreat came from. We took the Studio down to Middlewick Farm, and it was there that we began bringing designers from around the world to Glastonbury to teach alongside me.
Those retreats became something rather special. Students travelled from across Europe, Asia and America to spend several days at the bench, learning from some of the best wire workers around. The designers brought new, exclusive projects that nobody had seen before, and we didn’t hold much back.
But looking back, I don’t think the jewellery was ever the whole point.
It was the time spent at the bench. The concentration, the conversation, the inevitable swearing when something didn’t work, and the moment when somebody suddenly understood what they’d been struggling with.
People came back because they had a passion for learning, but also because they had become part of the Glastonbury Wire Studio family. Friendships were made at those benches, and for some people the Studio became a place to escape for a while, switch off from everything else and just concentrate on making something.
Sometimes I’ll be the one standing at the front. Sometimes I’ll bring in a designer whose work I think you need to see. The idea is much the same as it was back then: get good people together, put some wire on the bench and see what happens.
The Studio has changed over the years, and this time it’s going to be a little different again.
A new space. New workshops. New designs. Some familiar faces, hopefully, and plenty of new ones.
So if you remember the old Studio, welcome back.
And if you’ve never sat at the bench with us before, welcome to the Glastonbury Wire Studio.
Three days at the bench with LSDesigns
After a few years away from teaching, I’m opening the doors to the Glastonbury Wire Studio again — and this time there are just 10 places each day.
These workshops are built around the way I make and teach wire jewellery with a particular focus on pendants. If you are a complete beginner and you’ve always wanted to learn how to make them, this is a chance to start properly, with me sitting opposite you at the bench and helping you through it.
The workshops take place at Heart of the Tribe, an independent gallery and creative space in the heart of Glastonbury. It’s a light-filled space with a large central worktable, kitchen facilities, good coffee and an undercover outdoor area.
These workshops are all about learning at the bench, with each day built around making a finished piece of jewellery. I’ll show you the techniques, guide you through the design and be there to help you along the way.
And if you want the full experience, you can join me for all three days and take a journey into the realm of LSDesigns.
Ten places. Three days. A proper bit of time at the bench together.
Day One 11th December
DAY ONE
FROM WIRE TO DESIGN
SUITABLE FOR COMPLETE BEGINNERS
Day One is where we get to know the wire and each other.
If you’re completely new to wire jewellery, this is where we start. We’ll spend the morning getting familiar with the tools, learning how the wire behaves and, most importantly, getting yourself used to working with wire and how it behaves.
We’ll start with the basics: how to hold the wire, how to use your pliers properly and which are the best pliers for the job. We’ll look at how to make clean, repeatable shapes. We will start with making our own head pins for earrings, learn how to form spirals, hammer and shape wire, create eye loops and then make those eye loops into wire-wrapped loops. We will also look at making simple wire cages.
It’s all about the spirals.
It might sound like a collection of very small exercises but these are the building blocks. The spiral in particular is one of those deceptively simple skills that will keep turning up throughout your wirework. Learning to control the wire, make the same movement consistently and understand what your tools are doing is far more important than simply getting to the end of a piece.
And I’ll be encouraging you to make things again and again rather than simply watching me make them. The aim is to get those hand movements starting to become natural.
By the afternoon, we take those skills and turn them into something much bigger.
THE TREE OF LIFE
This is where the day changes gear. The techniques you’ve been practising in the morning now become part of a piece of jewellery — but the Tree of Life is also where I want you to start thinking differently about wire.
Because you’re not simply following a pattern…
You’re sculpting.
The frame gives you a canvas and the wire gives you the material to draw your tree. I’ll show you the techniques and guide you through the construction, but I’ll also be encouraging you to make your own decisions about the shape of your tree: where the branches go, how they move, how much space you leave. Whether you make a summer tree or winter tree or use beads or crystal chips — it’s all up to you.
By the end of the day, you will have gone from picking up the tools for the first time, through a series of fundamental hand skills and used those skills to create your own Tree of Life pendant and earring set.
Day Two 12th December
DAY TWO
FROM TECHNIQUE TO PENDANT
SUITABLE FOR COMPLETE BEGINNERS TO INTERMEDIATE
Day Two is all about making pendants.
If Day One was about getting to know the wire and getting your hands used to the tools, Day Two is where we start putting those skills together to make a proper pendant.
In the morning we will work through one of my own designs step by step — a design I’ve kept back especially for workshops and which hasn’t appeared on the YouTube channel.
We will start with the frame, learn how to grip the stone and then build the pendant from there. I will then show you how to weave the bail and add the decorative elements around the stone.
I’ll take you through each stage, showing you exactly what I’m doing and more importantly, why I’m doing it. This is your chance to really get to grips with how a pendant goes together rather than simply learning a collection of individual techniques.
By lunchtime you should have a finished pendant in your hands.
Then we do it again.
But this time it’s your design.
In the afternoon we will use what you’ve learned in the morning as the starting point for making a second pendant. I’ll encourage you to start making your own decisions about the design rather than simply following mine.
This is where some of the designs you’ve seen on my YouTube channel might start to appear — but I won’t be asking you to simply copy one.
You will be designing your own pendant and I’ll be there to help you make it work.
That’s an important part of how I teach. I’ll show you the techniques, give you the ideas and help you when you get stuck, but ultimately you’re the one making the design.
And I’ll tailor what we do to your skill level.
If you’re a complete beginner, we’ll keep things at a level where you can concentrate on getting the construction right and building your confidence. If you’ve already got some wire-working experience, I can push things a little further — perhaps increasing the complexity of the weaving in the bail, adding more wire to the design or throwing something a little more challenging your way.
There isn’t a single version of Day Two that everyone has to follow.
I’ll meet you where you are and see how far we can take it.
By the end of the day you should have made two pendants and you will have experienced both sides of pendant making: following a design and then taking those techniques and making the design your own.
Day 3 13th December
DAY THREE
PUSHING THE SKILLS FURTHER
SUITABLE FOR INTERMEDIATE AND BEGINNER
Day Three is where we start pushing things a little further.
This is primarily an intermediate-level workshop. If you’re a beginner who’s been doing my designs on YouTube, this is your next step. And if you’ve joined me for Days One and Two, you’ll already have built up some of the skills we will be using.
You don’t need to have attended Day Two to join us for this workshop. We will start by looking at how to grip the stone securely, then take the construction further by fully wrapping the outer frame and using prongs to hold the stone firmly in place.
In the morning we will concentrate on getting the stone gripped and the frame working properly. There is a bit more precision involved at this stage, and I’ll be on hand to get the construction right before we move on.
Then in the afternoon we get to the fun part.
The bail.
This is where the design can really start to take different directions.
We will work through some more complex weaving techniques to create the bail and finish the pendant, along with perfecting your spirals. The original Deco in Bloom and A Bed of Roses finishes both came from this design, showing just how much changing the bail can alter the character of a pendant.
I’m not going to give everyone exactly the same finish. If you’re still finding your feet, I’ll keep things manageable. If you’ve got more experience, I’ll push you further with a more complex weaves and something to test your skills.
And if you’re a beginner who’s been following the channel, or you’ve joined me for one of the other workshop days, don’t worry — you won’t be thrown into the deep end. I’ll see where your skills are and tailor the project accordingly. If the fully wrapped frame is too much, we’ll take another route and I may even bring out Deco in Bloom.
I’ll show you the steps, then it’s over to you. I’ll be there to help when you need it, but the finished pendant will be your design, at your level.
If you do decide to join me for all three days, then by the end of Day Three you’ll have taken the skills you’ve built over the previous two days and pushed them into more complex construction, wrapping and weaving — with a finished pendant that reflects your skill level, your choices and the way you’ve developed over the three days.
WORKSHOP PRICES
THREE-DAY WORKSHOP
£390 – ALL THREE DAYS
£351 – 10% OFF — BOOKING CODE
£312 – 20% OFF — PATREON SUPPORTERS
INDIVIDUAL DAYS
£130 – PER DAY
£110.50 PER DAY – 15% OFF PATREON SUPPORTERS
