Small-Scale Metal Spinning at Arrowmont with James Thurman.

It has been awhile since I’ve posted a blog so I wanted to share about a fun experience I had this past summer in Gatlinburg, TN. First of all, there aren’t many metal spinning teachers in the US that I’ve been able to find so I’m always excited when I hear of someone offering a class. I did an internship with an amazing metal spinner, Joe Fertitta, back in 2018 while working on my MFA but I’ve gotten a bit rusty on my techniques and really needed a refresher. My own studio has been packed away for a few years during my transition to a new studio so I have not been able to do any metal spinning for a while.

Arrowmont School of Arts and Crafts is like summer art camp for adults. It is nestled in the heart of Gatlinburg, TN. It started as a settlement school in 1912 providing education & health services to the residents and eventually hired local craftsmen and women to teach handicrafts and thus a craft school was born. You can read about their fascinating history here: http://arrowmont.org/about-arrowmont/our-history/

The class was July 27 - August 1, 2025 and taught by James Thurman. Here is a link to the course: https://arrowmont.org/workshop/small-scale-metal-spinning James is a professor at the University of North Texas’ College of Visual Arts & Design, where he is a Metalsmithing/Jewelry faculty. 

I met some wonderful folks who came from all over the US.

The food was served buffet style and consisted of homemade local cuisine.

Here is a short video of the metal spinning process.

I'll be taken the various spun pieces back to my studio to enamel and create works of art.