It has been 60 years since Mike Ward made his first piece of jewellery. While he knows there are no shortcuts to becoming as good as one can be, from time to time Mike finds himself wishing he had known some of the things when he began that it has taken him a lifetime to discover.

The plan is to explore the skills and philosophy involved in the way Mike makes jewellery, providing a framework for others to get started or develop existing capabilities. This is a workshop for both the beginner and the experienced.

Whether a participant has never made jewellery, or has been fashioning festoonery for decades, Mike hopes that by the end of the workshop, they leave with at least a little something they have never made before, along with new skills. Mike’s reason for doing what he does is to make life more interesting for the people around him; he hopes participants leave feeling fired up about combining what they have learned with what they already know into something uniquely their own—asking the "why not?", "what if?", and "what else?" questions about everything they put their hand to.