With his double-lensed, head-mounted magnifying glass worn tightly, Michael Boyd intently focuses in on his task at hand.

His hand steady, Boyd is setting a stone onto a piece of sterling silver. He pays close to attention to each detail of creating the ring. He carries on conversation, yet doesn't miss a beat while crafting the piece of jewelry.

Boyd has been doing this for more than 30 years, and at this point a simple ring design is old hat for the master jeweler.

The finished product is itself a work of art: A green stone placed in 24-karat gold atop a silver band.

There's nothing overtly remarkable about the simple piece Boyd crafted in half an hour, yet there's still a beauty about the piece. The ring is only made as a demonstration of the things one can learn at the Colorado Center for Metal Arts, 625 S. Union Ave.

Boyd's work is more intricate, more advanced and even more stunning.

Day in and day out, Boyd and four other artists create beautiful works at the center, providing them with more than just your ordinary profession.

The Center

Boyd bought the building in which the Colorado Center for Metal Arts exists three years ago. In May, CCMA opened publicly, offering classes, master workshops, open studio and more to the people of Pueblo.

The center provides access to tools and resources needed for artists to thrive.

"Our primary function is studio space," Boyd said. "We have an area where we'll be continually doing workshops. We'll have regular, on-going classes and a studio space where people can come work, either by the hour or by the day."

Along with Boyd, Pattie Parkhurst, Ryan Gardner, Nancy Blair and Josiah Trujillo work at the center.

Each artist brings his or her own special skill, style and knowledge.

Parkhurst teaches metalsmithing classes and gives one-on-one time to interested community members.

Boyd leads the master workshops, inviting people from across the country -- and world, in some cases -- to Pueblo to learn his skills.

"I usually do a one-week workshop with students," Boyd said. "I focus on integrating stone into metal; cutting stone, how to cut for different settings; alternative or nontraditional settings for stones. I basically teach how you use the two mediums together."

The artists help each other, and craft their own jewelry for sale and to be shown.

Currently, the jewelers are helping Boyd crate inventory for a show in New York.

The work

Each piece of jewelry is individually crafted by the artist at the CCMA.

"My primary focus is making jewelry; individual pieces," Boyd said. "I don't do production work. I do couture, one-of-a-kind pieces."

The time and dedication varies per piece.

A ring, earring, necklace, bracelet or sculpture could take weeks or, in some cases, months.

"I can be working on ten or fifteen pieces at a time," Boyd said.

Boyd himself focuses on creating beautifully crafted jewelry with stone and metal.

He looks for unique and interesting ways of placing the two together.

"I like to make things that are out of the norm," he said. "I look at different ways of setting the stone onto metal."

He particularly likes uncut diamonds, captured in more natural form.

"What I do is labor intensive," he said. "It's more of a high-end market."

Each year, Boyd shows his art in one of three galleries in New York, California and Santa Fe. There, he is alongside some of the most famous and creative jewelers in the world.

Boyd himself is renown for his pieces.

He also shows his work, and sells it at shows in Baltimore, at the Smithsonian in Washington, D.C., and in Philadelphia. By the way, these are juried shows.

"There's a circuit of different shows that I usually apply to and do a couple a year," he said. "Right now, we're working on creating inventory for a big show in New York City."

Creating inventory for shows can take weeks, and often other artists will chip in to help him do so.

It's a team concept; one which helps everyone at the center.

The family stone

Working with like-minded individuals who share a passion for jewelry and art creates a perfect community for Boyd and his colleagues.

For Boyd, that community is one of the perks of his chosen career.

"The reward of my job is being around people who are independently working on their own thing," he said. "It becomes family and good friends. It's community. It's so cool; it's so fun."

That, along with his continued passion, have kept Boyd going for more than three decades and will continue to keep him going for years to come.

"Just being in a creative field, that's the passion," he said. "It's the creative passion; it's building things and making things. It's joyful and fun."

Boyd can't imagine doing anything that wasn't creative, and in his words, at this point he really can't see himself doing anything else.

"It's all I've ever done," he said. "I'm unemployable by any other means. I have to do this or I'd be working fast food.

"I'm happy to make jewelry and cut stones."

llyons@chieftain.com