On my right was Ms. Meukens, wearing the sinuous teardrop earrings she had completed. She drew original designs based on concept words — asymmetric, geometric — that she devised at the behest of the instructor beforehand. “I don’t look at things the same way anymore.”Alchimia provides students with brass and copper to work with, but I had brought an outmoded gold bracelet from one of my grandmothers that needed a new purpose. Eventually the caterpillar became a foot-long piece of square gold wire as slender and springy as a daisy stem. “Metal is magic,” Ms. Boieri said.

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Persons: Meukens, “ I’ve, “, Alchimia, Ms, Boieri, Florence Locations: San Frediano