Carefully, she places a small tooth into a shiny piece of silver.

“It’s a little barbaric,” Cindy Kusada said. “But that’s what her mother wants.”

Welcome to the world of Art 75, introduction to jewelry casting, where students like Kusada can create jewelry that would make Mr. T envious-such as earrings for a mother who wants to remember her child’s infancy.

“You can conceive something in your mind and see it through from start to finish,” Kusada said.

The student’s job is to bring a healthy supply of imagination. Professor Irene Mori then helps them create whatever it is that they have dreamed up.

Mori does this by educating the students on the more technical side of the craft-there is, after all, a method to the madness.

“What I teach is the fundamentals of working metals for jewelry, such as soldering, filing, cutting and polishing,” she said.

The class is open to everyone and brings in a wide selection of students, from the retired older ones to the curious younger ones.

“We get the whole range here,” Mori said.

These students are here for a reason-to bring their ideas to life. Creativity is an important aspect of the class.

“I can create anything I want,” said Enrique Ortiz, who was making silver flower-like object with a jewel embedded in it. “If we have an idea, the instructor will help us make it.”

It is somewhat ironic to think that at one time, many years ago, Mori was one of those students who just needed “another class.”

She did not know what she wanted to do, personifying the “clueless” state of mind many students here can relate to.

“I needed a class,” she said. “So I petitioned to take an introductory jewelry and metalsmithing class.”

The rest, as they say, is history. It was love at first sight.

“And I’m still doing it today,” she said.

“I finally found what I wanted to do in my life,” she said.

Mori has seen the creativity of students run wild in her years teaching the class. Students’ imaginations can often lead to results that range from the bizarre to the extraordinary.

Mori wants students to understand it can be done in this class.

“Students learn that they aren’t limited to what’s in front of them,” she said. “If they can imagine it, they can make it,” she said.