Making hooks in blacksmithing is a practical and enjoyable way to hone your forging skills. Whether you are creating simple utility hooks for hanging, or more decorative ones for artistic purposes, the process teaches fundamental blacksmithing techniques and can be applied to a wide variety of projects.

What to Wear in the Metals Studio?

We wish for all students to have a safe and enjoyable learning experience. Proper safety equipment and PPE will be provided for use within the studio.

Please dress safely and appropriately. Arrive for class inall-natural fiber clothing, long pants, and closed-toe, closed-heelshoes with socks that protect up to the ankle. Long hair should betied back. Nylon, polyester, spandex, or other synthetics are notrecommended around machines, equipment, or processes that can producehot fragments, sparks, or flames. Please avoid synthetic blends, as100% cotton is recommended. Layers are encouraged, as the studio canbegin cool then become very hot.

Welding students are recommended to wear long sleeve shirts to preventarc-flash burns (much like a sunburn). 

All students participating in activities involving sparks or hot metal are encouraged to wear leather boots or older shoes.

Please bring a re-fillable water bottle!

Class Policies & Information:

Open Lab: This class includes access to the studio during Open Lab hours. Open Lab is exclusively for students who are currently enrolled in the program. You are allowed to attend one Open Lab session per week, totaling 3 hours during the duration of your class. You may only attend the Open Lab session for the class in which you are registered. This time is intended for independent work on your class project. While studio staff will be present, they are there to ensure you are using the tools safely, not to provide instruction.

Class Make-Up: Our studios are full with adult and youth classes 7 days a week, 48 weeks a year. Typically, every class is full, which means there is simply no space for students to make up classes. If we cancel an entire class due to weather or other emergencies, we can not guarantee we will be able to schedule a make-up class. Individuals who miss a class will not be able to make it up. Please read the Frequently Asked Questions for more information about missed classes.

Studio Clean Up: Clean-up is critical! Please help our hardworking staff and volunteers by beginning clean-up 30 minutes before the end of class, helping out with common areas, and leaving class on time.

Ages: 16+ 

All supplies and materials will be provided. 

Will be available to register on Friday, May 30 at 8:00am. 

Tired of throwing the same old boring forms? Let’s test the limits to see what clay can do. This higher level (intermediate to advanced), 1-day class will explore bottles, closed forms, double-walled pieces and more.

The best part? There’s absolutely no pressure to get any of this right - we’ll be focusing on technique only and not actually making any pieces to keep. So get bold and take those advanced forms all the way to the limit!

This class takes place at Groundworks HILL, 1010 Aurora Avenue, Boulder, CO. 

PLEASE NOTE: This one-time class runs for 2.5 hours. You will not have access to the studio outside of the scheduled class time and all work will be completed during class time. You will also not have access to our other locations.

Ages: 16+

Available for registration Friday, May 30th at 8:00am

Hate glazing? You’re not alone. Join us for this special one-time, higher level (intermediate to advanced) class exploring an alternate surface treatment called Terra Sigillata (Sig - pronounced ‘sij’ - for short). Terra Sigillata means “sealed earth” due to it being a super refined slip that leaves your pieces with a silky, smooth finish.

Terra Sig goes on best with bone-dry pieces, so Groundworks will provide flat tiles or cylinders to practice on. We’ll fire them after the class and let you know when they’re ready for pick-up. Come get a crash course in this ancient decoration technique.

This class takes place at Groundworks MAIN, 3750 Canfield Street, Boulder, CO. 

PLEASE NOTE: This one-time class runs for 2 hours. You will not have access to the studio outside of the scheduled class time and all work will be completed during class time. You will also not have access to our other locations.

Ages: 16+ 

Available for registration Friday, May 30th at 8:00am

The Book Arts League is excited to announce that we will now offer open studio hours! Our shop will be available monthly for you to print your work. Below are the open studio dates for the first quarter. BAL board members will be your hosts and will assist you with your printing projects. Please bring your own paper and get ready to print!

WEDNESDAY June 11th — 4:30-6:30PM 

WEDNESDAY July 9th — 4:30-6:30PM

WEDNESDAY Aug 13th — 4:30-6:30PM

This class will guide you through the fundamental processes of creating a knife, from shaping the initial steel to the final sharpening. You'll learn essential metalworking techniques such as shaping, filing, grinding, and finishing as you craft your own unique knife.

What to Wear in the Metals Studio?

We wish for all students to have a safe and enjoyable learning experience. Proper safety equipment and PPE will be provided for use within the studio.

Please dress safely and appropriately. Arrive for class inall-natural fiber clothing, long pants, and closed-toe, closed-heelshoes with socks that protect up to the ankle. Long hair should betied back. Nylon, polyester, spandex, or other synthetics are notrecommended around machines, equipment, or processes that can producehot fragments, sparks, or flames. Please avoid synthetic blends, as100% cotton is recommended. Layers are encouraged, as the studio canbegin cool then become very hot.

Welding students are recommended to wear long sleeve shirts to preventarc-flash burns (much like a sunburn). 

All students participating in activities involving sparks or hot metal are encouraged to wear leather boots or older shoes.

Please bring a re-fillable water bottle!

Class Policies & Information:

Open Lab: This class includes access to the studio during Open Lab hours. Open Lab is exclusively for students who are currently enrolled in the program. You are allowed to attend one Open Lab session per week, totaling 3 hours during the duration of your class. You may only attend the Open Lab session for the class in which you are registered. This time is intended for independent work on your class project. While studio staff will be present, they are there to ensure you are using the tools safely, not to provide instruction.

Class Make-Up: Our studios are full with adult and youth classes 7 days a week, 48 weeks a year. Typically, every class is full, which means there is simply no space for students to make up classes. If we cancel an entire class due to weather or other emergencies, we can not guarantee we will be able to schedule a make-up class. Individuals who miss a class will not be able to make it up. Please read the Frequently Asked Questions for more information about missed classes.

Studio Clean Up: Clean-up is critical! Please help our hardworking staff and volunteers by beginning clean-up 30 minutes before the end of class, helping out with common areas, and leaving class on time.

Ages: 16+ 

All supplies and materials will be provided. 

Will be available to register on Wednesday, May 28 at 8:00am. 

This class will be a comprehensive overview of the Chop Saw, Jointer and Planer, Including:

The main purpose of this class is to help students feel comfortable on these machines, which are vital to the process of milling lumber for future projects in a way that emphasizes safety, why having fun, and introducing new and exciting processes. 

Each person will get hands-on experience, guided by an instructor, and will have ample opportunity to practice the procedure taught during the class.

Class Policies & Information:

Class Make-Up: Our studios are full with adult and youth classes 7 days a week, 48 weeks a year. Typically, every class is full, which means there is simply no space for students to make up classes. If we cancel an entire class due to weather or other emergencies, we can not guarantee we will be able to schedule a make-up class. Individuals who miss a class will not be able to make it up. Please read the Frequently Asked Questions for more information about missed classes.

What to wear to the wood studio?  

Safety First: Long pants, and closed-toe, closed-heel shoes with socks that protect up to the ankle.  Shirts and tops should be easy to tuck in, with sleeves that can be rolled up as needed.  Tie back long hair to ensure safety.  We offer safety goggles, dust masks and ear protection, and they must be worn in the wood studio.  Feel free to bring your own if you are more comfortable with them.  Jewelry, loose-fitting clothing, or any other items that could dangle will need to be secured while using machines.

Safety Information:

• Closed-toe, closed-heel shoes
• Long pants
• Shirts should be easily tucked and sleeves pulled up
• Hair tied back
• Eye and lung protection are provided and must be worn in the studio

Ages: 16+ 

All supplies and materials will be provided. 

Will be available to register on Friday, May 30 at 8:00am.

Welcome to Quick Print! These one-time classes offer students a crash course in one specific type of print without the commitment of a multi-week class. Perfect for beginners, experimenters, or anyone looking for a fun way to learn a new skill fast!

This class puts the fab in fabric! Students will get an introduction to relief block printing, mixing and applying ink and printing their fun, unique design on cloth. 

Starter fabric will be provided, but if you have plant-based fabric (linen, cotton, hemp, etc.), for example: cloth for sewing, T-shirt, tote bag, etc., at home that you would love to print on please bring it to class.

Ages: 16+ 

All supplies and materials will be provided. 

Will be available to register on Friday, May 30 at 8:00 am.

Are you lazing in your glazing? Sleeping on slip? Craving more carving? Let’s dig into it! In this one-time 2.5 hour class, we’ll do a deeper dive into surface decoration techniques such as sgraffito, mishima, carving through wax, and using slip as texture. 

Groundworks will provide flat tiles in a variety of different clay bodies for students to practice surface decoration on. Students can pick if they want their final pieces clear glazed or left raw, and after a few weeks, our staff will let you know when your pieces are out of the kiln and ready for pick-up.

This class takes place at Groundworks Hill 1010 Aurora Ave, Boulder, CO. 

PLEASE NOTE: This one-time class runs for 2.5 hours. You will not have access to the studio outside of the scheduled class time and all work will be completed during class time. You will also not have access to our other locations.

Your pieces will be fired in our gas kilns to Cone 6 Reduction. 

Ages: 16+

Available for registration Friday, May 30th at 8:00am