Call it the selected set, the sweet spot or the middle ground, the strongest part of a system lies in the overlap, the areas of intersection between varying sets. At least that’s what one Seattle jeweler and metalsmith thinks. 

Andy Cooperman will talk about his work and career and how he aims for those fertile and dynamic points where the head meets the hands, careful plans engage chaos and where gold, pingpong balls and 12 inch porcupine quills mate for life --while balancing a studio practice that blends commissions, custom, production and exhibition work. 

Andy makes all sorts of things from all sorts of things and is known for applying the rigor of High Craft Metalsmithing to a wide variety of often disparate materials. He has been a jeweler and metalsmith for over thirty years and a writer and educator for close to that.

Andy’s work has been exhibited nationally and internationally and can be found in public and private collections as well as books and publications that include Art Jewelry Today (I, II & III), The Penland Book of Jewelry, Humor in Craft and many more. Recent exhibitions include Refined IX at Stephen F. Austin State University, Protective Ornament: Contemporary Amulets to Armor at the National Ornamental Metals Museum in Memphis, a solo exhibition at the Appalachian Center for Craft and most recently The Rabbit Hole, a large body of work created for the Bellevue Arts Museum Biennial Exhibition. 

Andy teaches and lectures nationally and has spoken at the Society of North American Goldsmiths conference, the annual CoMA (Colorado Metalsmithing Association) conference and as keynote speaker for the International Society of Glass Bead Makers and the Material Topics Symposium at East Carolina University.