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49 ORNAMENT 35.5.2012 Her students have included high school kids who want to try out a craft not available in their schools, people who have lost their jobs and are learning a skill to start a new career and seniors seeking an enriching activity in their retirement. About her Art Institute students she laughs and says, "and college kids are just great—full of life and full of themselves." ool Gold launched her own jewelry business in 1983 when she and her husband, Alan Vaughn (also an artist), moved to Atlanta, and she has remained committed to contributing to the jewelry field as more than just a maker. In addition to teaching she has chaired two national conferences for the Society of North American Goldsmiths (in Chicago and Atlanta) and a Southeast Conference for the American Craft Council. From 1984 to 1999 she participated in an artist co-op sband, o Atlanta the country—including Ricky Frank, Ben Dyer, Carol Webb, Liaung-Chung Yen, and Barbara Heinrich—as well as Lena Marie Echelle from Argentina. Gold relishes the opportunity to bring jewelers to Atlanta for the event and to help cultivate a patron base for their work. Gold seems to enjoy all aspects of a life as a jewelry artist—from seeing people wear her creations to the challenges of creating a working business. She adds, "There's abundant creativity in how you define your business." Her favorite part, though, is making jewelry. She loves sitting in her studio and working with her tools, setting aside all distractions and just immersing herself in creative play. She advises, "I think that the best thing you can do is just give yourself permission to play." Because so much of her work is three dimensional and involves moving parts, she typically relies on cardboard models rather than sketches to work out her designs. Early in her career as a teacher, Gold often helped her students get better prices on materials by joining them in their CHARM NECKLACE of sterling silver and colored aluminum; formed, hollow-constructed, pierced, tension fit, 1994. Photograph by Sue Ann Kuhn-Smith. Top: SPRUNG EARRINGS of colored aluminum and sterling silver; hand-engraved, cold-connected, 1992. Photograph by Gary Bogue. 992. gallery she helped found, Ariel Gallery at TULA Art Center in Atlanta, and she regularly serves as a juror at craft shows, teaches workshops and participates in exhibitions and craft markets. Of her community-oriented approach to the field of jewelry she proclaims, "You can't just do, you have to give back." One of her proudest contributions to the jewelry field is the Atlanta Contemporary Jewelry Show, an annual invitational event she and fellow ow jeweler Leigh Griffin established in 2007. This past a year it featured over two dozen artists from around st roun BALANCING ACT NECKLACE of sterling silver, stainless steel and colored aluminum; formed, fabricated, cold-connected, 2004. Below: ZIG ZAG EARRINGS of sterling silver and colored aluminum; fabricated, tension fit, 1992. Photograph by Gary Bogue. 1992. Photograph purchases, to take advantage of volume discounts. Through this process she ended up with multiple sheets of colored aluminum stored in her studio. A few years later, when invited to participate in an earrings-only exhibition, she recalled the material, and thought it would be appropriate because earrings should be light weight. She discovered that she enjoyed using color in jewelry and liked the aluminum as an alternative to the traditional approach of adding purchas Thr