Refresh Your Permanent Jewelry Event! March 20 from 4:00-8:00.

Samantha Chang is from Buffalo, NY and recently moved to Louisville, CO after spending ten years in Brooklyn. She's a multidisciplinary artist & jeweler who has studied various jewelry processes including beading, wire wrapping, pearl knotting, fabrication, wax carving, and most recently, welding! She taught her first jewelry making class when she was 16 and fell in love with sharing knowledge & techniques. 

Samantha learned jewelry making through classes at local bead stores, lots of trial and error, and has taken metal fabrication classes at the Jewelry Arts Institute in Manhattan. She then was an apprentice for an independent jeweler in Brooklyn. Most recently, she was a bench jeweler at Catbird NYC before moving out to Colorado with her husband. Samantha now has a jewelry line that she sells on Etsy and in art festivals. 

A few of Samantha's favorite this are: painting, drawing, and spending time with her dogs and husband.

About the instructor, Jen Lesea-Ames:

A former exercise physiologist and triathlete, Jen retired from her fitness career after receiving a diagnosis of hip dysplasia and decided to go full-time with her jewelry business in 2014. 

Wanting more of a challenge after stringing beads for three years, she studied metalsmithing at the Denver School of Metal Arts (now called Denver Jewelry Studio) from 2012-2016. She decided to go full-time with her jewelry business in 2014 and opened Silver Peak Studio in July 2020.

She is the owner, designer, and metalsmith of Jen Lesea Designs, (2009-present); her jewelry is sold in over 50 stores, including Fallingwater Museum Store, the Denver Art Museum Gift Shop, and the national catalog Uncommon Goods. Her experience and work has landed her local and national press. Jen is an Applied Jewelry Professional from the Gemological Institute of America GIA.

Her fun and friendly nature is apparent in everything she does, whether its teaching metalsmithing, talking to art show patrons, or motivating people to try something new, like stand up paddleboarding!