Metalsmith BenchTalk: metalsmith and artist Betty Helen Longhi

My guest on Thursday, April 3rd at 3 p.m. PDT on MetalSmith BenchTalk will be metalsmith and artist Betty Helen Longhi.

About: Betty Helen Longhi is a nationally recognized metalsmith who creates finely crafted jewelry and sculpture in gold, silver, and niobium and pewter.  A master craftsman, Ms. Longhi incorporates various texturing techniques with forging, shell forming and die forming in her pieces. Her work is recognized for it's sculptural quality, flowing lines and subtle use of anodized niobium as a source of color.

Ms. Longhi's work has been exhibited at the Virginia Museum, Delaware Art Museum, American Craft Museum, South East Center for Contemporary Art and the Renwick Gallery Museum Shop as well as numerous retail galleries. She has marketed her work through the American Craft Council Fairs and Philadelphia and Smithsonian Craft Shows. 

Ms. Longhi is a Distinguished Member of the Society of North American Goldsmiths.She has received a number of awards including an Individual Artist Fellowship funded by the Delaware State Arts Council and the National Endowment for the Arts. A much sought after teacher, Ms. Longhi has lectured on Shell Forming for the Society of North American Goldsmiths and been guest artist at the Univ. of Wisconsin and the Maryland Institute of Art. 

She has taught at Haystack Mountain School of Crafts, Penland School, Parsons School of Design, Peters Valley Craft Center and many more training centers in the USA and Canada. She maintains a studio and retail sales space in her lakeside home near Lexington, NC.

To learn more about Betty Helen and her work, visit: http://fluidformsinmetal.com/artist.html.