Virginia - Unable to land a prep school teaching job Ofiesh an English literature graduate from the University of Virginia traveled to Chatham Virginia to try to sell some of the silver jewelry he made as a hobby. His unprecedented “commercial success” sparked the beginnings of a 30-year career as a jewelry designer. Largely self-taught Ofiesh took workshops along the way with noted metal workers Heikki Seppa and Ronald Pearson. Gabriel studied gem-setting at the Revere Academy in the mind 1980_s but mostly continued to work on his own moving from silver to gold refining techniques and developing his interest in jewelry that moves.