Program of classes 2012
Free Form Artists Institute in Montreux

Gemstone Safari in Tanzania. Visit the Umba valley and dig for sapphires. January 4th - 21st 2012.	US$ 2166.-
Gemstone Safari in Tanzania. Visit the Umba valley and dig for sapphires. July 4th - 21st 2012.	US$ 2166.-

We look forward welcoming you as a new student and
watching your career, and life, develop to full potential.
"Your inspiration remains with me" by Simon Zaletel

Lodging in Montreux

Foreign nationals need valid travel documents, recognised by Swiss authorities, to visit Switzerland. In certain cases, a visa is also required.

The classes are intense and available as independent modules. Choose the themes you desire or follow the complete program. The classes are limited from 3 - 6 students depending the theme. Main objective of all classes is the technical background, the correct manipulation of the tools and the security in the workshop. The intense training is supposed to allow you to express yourself artistically with the new acquired knowledge and allows living up to the high expectances of professional workmanship. Experience and creativity can't be taught, but their importance is acknowledged and will be stimulated especially. The 3 week long cycle is a very intense initiation. To accumulate experience will be your homework.

It is possible to rent Benchtime and accede to the fully equipped atelier or to train the newly acquired skills in an other jewelry workshop. The group of FREE FORM ARTISTS is strongly engaged in adult education and their member's work as independent artists in the lapidary and jewelry field. Both professions interact positively. Since 17 years, at the pace of one new theme per year, the two initiators Katerina Kestemont and Hubert Heldner built a compete program of classes. Today we teach 10 different themes, in 3 cycles per year, each cycle lasting 3 weeks. The classes are offered in 3 languages and all class documentations are available in English, German and French.

Références We were selected amongst the 100 best adresses for creative classes in europe. Publication by the journal COUNTRY in Hamburg. Edition 2/2000 fall-winter Katerina Kestemont received a honorable mention in 1996 at the international contest of the INNUNG DER EDELSTEIN GRAVEURE of Idar-Oberstein, Germany. Hubert Heldner is one of the three winners of the first " Swiss Jewelry Design Contest " in September 2002 by the edition TRES OR and is in the possession of a certificat of capacity as a jeweller of the Swiss Confederation in 1985 / Curriculum Vitae Hubert Heldner signs responsible for the sucessful installation of a lapidary training center in Tanzania, at the Southern and Eastern African Mineral Centre (SEAMIC) headquarters in Dar-es-Salaam. November 2005. Lapidary training in Tanzania at SEAMIC. Organization of several Gemstone Safaris in Tanzania in collaboration with SEAMIC. From September 2007 until today. Gemstone Safari One month assignment to design a new jewelry collection for Kirmena Gold in Cairo Egypt, June 2008.