Gary Lee Noffke was born on August 27,1943 and is an American artist and metalsmith.
17 Facts About Gary Noffke
1.
2.
Gary Noffke has produced gold and silver hollowware, cutlery, jewelry, and forged steelware.
3.
Gary Noffke has been called the metalsmith's metalsmith, a pacesetter, and a maverick.
4.
Gary Noffke is an educator who has mentored an entire generation of metalsmiths.
5.
Gary Noffke has exhibited internationally, and his work is represented in collections around the world.
6.
Gary Noffke taught for many years at the University of Georgia.
7.
Gary Lee Noffke was born in Decatur, Illinois and grew up in the small town of Sullivan, Illinois.
8.
Gary Noffke's family being poor, Noffke made his own toys out of whatever materials were at hand, scavenged from the farm, the factory, and construction sites.
9.
Gary Noffke's mother was later able to help pay for his education by working at, and then becoming the owner of, a shelter care home business.
10.
Gary Noffke enrolled at Eastern Illinois University, getting his BS in 1965 and his MS in Education 1966.
11.
Gary Noffke had already been exposed to metal in a course he took from Garret de Ruiter while at Eastern Illinois University.
12.
Gary Noffke learned to forge steel and was particularly impressed by a simple knife made by his mentor, Kington.
13.
Gary Noffke first taught at Stetson University in DeLand, Florida, and then at California State College at Los Angeles.
14.
Gary Noffke was awarded a faculty research grant in the early 1970s from the University of Georgia to explore the cold forging of fine silver from sheet.
15.
Expert opinion said that the hot forging of fine silver was impossible; but Gary Noffke discovered an alloy that made it easy.
16.
Gary Noffke discovered that by eliminating some of the copper content in sterling silver he was able to cast his own billets of 969 silver.
17.
For thirty years Gary Noffke taught at the University of Georgia and then retired from active teaching.