"Who taught you metalsmithing?"

A woman stepped into our booth this past weekend and urgently wanted to know who taught me metalsmithing. I answered that it was about 22 years ago when I lived in Southern California. She went  on impatiently demanding "Give me a name. I need a name!" Honestly, I didn't quite understand where all that came from. And my answer that most are all likely retired and teaching studios closed wasn't a satisfactory answer. But I thought I'd tell a little about my journey here, since we get asked a lot at art shows how we got started. I lived in Southern California for a long time beginning in the early 1990s. It was the era before social media, and arts & crafts brick & mortar studios and shops were thriving. Quilt shops, stamping stores, bead shops, & metal studios offered classes and fun shopping. My formal education is a BA in journalism and a masters in mass communications. (Please forgive my crimes against the AP Stylebook here) I worked in media and public relations, but took some beading classes for fun & relaxation. The joke is that beading is the gateway drug to metalsmithing. The San Gabriel Bead Company, near where I lived, was a large shop featuring several large classrooms for beading, metal clay & metalsmithing. I took my first of many project-based classes there. First beading and soon thereafter metalsmithing. Linda Lemoine-Vios was my first teacher. She was so talented and also taught a metals program at a local college. You had to take her basic soldering class before you could move on. Photo below of that first project. Learned disc cutting, dapping, hammer texturing, basic wire wrapping & soldering the wire in strategic spots. I nearly sent these out for recycling recently, but I'm sort of glad I kept them. It's been so long I don't remember all the workshops, but some that come to mind were hollow form earrings with pierced front & brooch/pendant. I also took some metal clay classes there too.

My other favorite teaching studio was Farrin O'Connor's studio in Pasadena. A small bead, pearl gemstone and tool supply shop in front and in the back a roomy teaching studio. A stable of professional metalsmiths taught there too. I honestly don't remember their names, since it was the days before Facebook and Instagram, which now makes it easy to follow artists and know what they are making and where they are. I really learned a lot there. It was more project based learning, which offered the opportunity to learn a variety of skills, including fold-forming, riveting, bezel setting, reticulation, and so on. The San Gabriel Bead Company & Farrin O'Connor's studio have been permanently closed for years now. 
What I would tell anyone now that wants to get started learning metalsmithing, is to start somewhere convenient to your location and finances. Before you can get fancy, you have to learn the basics. Since the pandemic, there are so many online classes now. But for your very first class or two, I would look for a live teacher somewhere. You will be much further ahead with a teacher looking over your shoulder. And don't drink & solder!