This past weekend The Naja had its annual Open House with ongoing demonstrations throughout the day, door prizes, snacks and lots of fun! There were several different demonstrations with something for everyone. The owner of the Naja, Travis Ogden, did a demonstration on Foredom products, including the flexshaft and several of the attachments such as the drill press, belt sander, hand piece holder, & several different hand pieces. Shannon Talian did a demonstration on crushed stone inlay, showing people how to add color to their pieces. Traditionally this method is done with a lapidary arbor, but Shannon showed customers how to accomplish it using the foredom flaxshaft. A big hit at this years open house was Alyssa Edmunds’ Casting Alternatives, where she showed people how to do broom casting, water casting, and bean casting. This quick and easy casting method produces unique, organic shapes that are a great addition to any piece. Another demo we had over at the Denver School of Metal Arts was Soldering Tips & Tricks with school teacher & director Darlene Armstrong.There is always something new you can learn when it comes to soldering and any sort of trick helps. The last, and maybe most important demonstration held that day was the Ergonomics demonstration done by Occupational Therapist Diane Carter. Diane has been an OT for over twenty years and prior to that got her degree in art education. A former Denver School of Metal Arts student, Diane knows her way around the jeweler’s bench. In her demonstration she discussed carpel tunnel, the most common injury for jewelers, along with cubital tunnel and other issues that might arise from repetitive work at your bench. Not only did Diane go over what to do about these injuries, but she talked about multiple ways to prevent them. She said that prevention is key and went over several stretches and habits you should form while working at the bench. The right type of tools were also discussed like wider handles for your hammers, especially the heavier ones, along with padded handles for pliers, hammers and other tools. You can see Diane’s demonstration on The Naja’s Youtube channel!
Another one of the more exciting events at The Naja’s Open house was the announcement of the winner of the 8th annual Design Competition, this year the theme was buckles! There were so many amazing entries both in the student and pro/amateur categories, the quality of work was truly amazing. For the past few years Mary Eckles from Gusterman’s Silversmiths has been coming up to the Naja to judge the competition, and she is one tough judge. I saw her looking at all the entries with a loupe! It took Mary a while to choose the winners, but she did it. In the student category the 1st place winner was Amy Mower, a student from Arapahoe Community College, the 2nd place winner was Emily Carlson, a student from Standley Lake High School, and the 3rd place winner was Bonnie Mattox, a student from the Denver School of Metal Arts. In the Pro/Am category the 1st place winner was Lee Westover, the 2nd place winner was Tim Burnham, and there was a tie for 3rd place between Judy Brown and Tyler Johnson. Visit our website http://www.najatools.com/jewelry-competition-winners-2014/ to see pictures of the winners pieces.
We really appreciate everyone who came out and participated in the festivities of our open house on Saturday and a special thank you to everyone who entered work into our design competition. Your work was truly exceptional and inspired many people. We can’t wait for this time to come around again next year and for YOU to participate in our design competition and our Open House events.
The Naja Tool & Supply, Inc. 