About Chris Ploof:

Growing up in a small town in Massachusetts, award-winning master jeweler Chris Ploof was a skinny boy lurking around the local living history museum and watching, awestruck, as the craftspeople manipulated materials that had previously seemed unyielding: glass, tin, iron. 
After traveling the world trying a variety of hands-on careers that spoke to his historical influences and technical skills, Chris found himself back on his boyhood path, attempting to improvise a forge using a 55-gallon drum, some firebricks, and a hairdryer. Eventually, his knowledge-seeking lead him to jewelry-making classes. At last, he was home.
Chris has studied with many well-known artists and apprenticed under a master goldsmith. He has an insatiable curiosity and drive that leads him down long roads even after the challenges at hand have been met. 
The Santa Fe Symposium has chosen Chris twice to receive the Industry Leader Award; his work is seen on the cover of Showcase 500 Rings: New Directions in Art Jewelry (Lark, 2012) as well as in countless other publications; and he travels frequently as a consultant to the jewelry industry. He loves sharing the knowledge he's accumulated over the years with students. And Chris watches for the wide-eyed "I get it!" look in students' eyes; those are the teaching moments he remembers. 
Chris's studio is located in Massachusetts, where he works with a carefully chosen team of fun-to-work-with, like-minded talent.

Visit Chris’s website http://www.chrisploof.com/

Listen to Chris’ interview on National Public Radio: “Day in the Work Life”