Jewellery Junkie: Silver Art Clay

Showing posts with label Silver Art Clay. Show all posts

Friday, 3 June 2011

A Small Disaster Averted

It's been a while since I made any earrings at all but recently when working on an as yet unfinished silver clay project I had a scrap of rolled out clay left. Having impressed it with a swirly texture I hand cut two tiny squares and pierced each piece of damp clay close to one corner.

Once dry the result was a bit of a disaster. Sadly I realised that the texture was somewhat marred by my pawprints! The two disappointing squares sat on my workbench accusing and challenging me everytime I sat down to work for several weeks. Silver clay is expensive and I really felt I'd wasted these particular pieces. Then inspiration struck, I could cover up the fingerprints with more clay...

Holding both dangles together I sanded their edges to ensure both pieces were a similar shape and size. Next I brushed the fronts with a little thin paste to dampen them before using a syringe to add some random squiggles to each. Once dry, torch fired and brushed, a little burnishing picked out the top layers of squiggles so they gleam when worn.

There was another small hiccup when I realised that the hole on one of the resulting dangles wasn't quite large enough all the way through for a jump ring. Twenty minutes patient work with a needle file and a beadreamer and this was soon rectified. So all in all my beginner mistakes were overcome, lessons were learnt and a potential disaster averted. And as a bonus I now have a shiney new pair of earrings to wear! I just need to practise my photography...

Monday, 4 April 2011

Silver Clay Delight Part II

Well I finished my four week Art Clay course and, though I say it myself, am extremely pleased with the results. Here are my final three pieces:

Twig Brooch with with blue stones

Initial Pendant with a pearl

Snake Ring (apologies for the fuzzy picture)

The Twig is the one I'm proudest of even though it is not something I would wear. It caused me heartache when it broke not once but twice during its creation, making me realise how fragile unfired clay is. Fortunately the rough bark-effect meant it was easy to mend with clay paste and completely hide the repair. I love the bark effect which was achieved by applying clay paste to my rolled out sausages with a toothpick! Carving out the dried clay to insert the brooch parts was tricky and required not only a steady hand but a certain amount of engineering skill to ensure everything would be lined up when the pin was added after firing. I loved the challenge.

All three of these were fired without the stones in their settings. The pearl was particularly fiddly to slot into its position on the wire stem that I'd inserted into the wet clay, a reminder that you have to think through the design and assembly before making it. And during firing I almost ruined one of the settings on the brooch by heating the fine silver a little too much causing it to melt a bit. Alls well that ends well and there was just sufficient to push around the stone without resorting to the superglue!

It was good too to have Patricia and Rose join me for the last couple of weeks, if nothing else it reminded me of how far I'd come and we were abel to bounce ideas off each other too. Rose had done some silver clay work using PMC previously and Patricia is a silversmith used to working with the solid metal. However now I'm on my own I'm a little nervous that I won't be able to achieve the same quality of workmanship without the watchful eye of tutor Lisle. I have some ideas and am currently thinking through how to approach them (one good lesson I learnt from the past four weeks). Hollow patterned beads, a pendant with a diamond set into it and a star fish are potential candidates for my next project. I just wish I could draw!

Sunday, 6 March 2011

Silver Clay Delight

Silver Daisy - my first ever piece in silver clay

Back in January I met a lovely lady, Lisle Skirker, at an Arte market in Dubai Festival City shopping centre. Desperate for a fix of jewellery making (my beads and equipment were still in transit from Bahrain to Dubai) and wanting to learn a new skill I signed up for her Art Clay evening workshop. Three hours later I had myself a new silver pendant (picture left) and was well and truely hooked!

On a short trip to the UK to renew my passport later that month I visited Hatton Garden to purchase supplies of clay and spent a happy few days acquiring various tools on the shopping list Lisle had given me.

Last month I began a four session certificate course in Art Clay with Lisle* at DUTAC a wonderful arts centre located in the MoE shopping centre close to our home.

So what is silver clay? Its finely powdered silver that has been made malleable by the addition of a clay medium as a binder. It can be rolled, moulded or syringed just like potters clay although it does need to be kept moist as it is quite fast drying. Once fired the silver powder sinters to become 99.9% solid silver. This is finer than sterling silver and in the UK once assayed, pieces can be hallmarked. Similar clays in other metals including gold, copper and bronze are also available and there are several brands, the most well known ones being PMC and Art Clay. I am using the latter. When fired the clay shrinks slightly as the binder burns away so for any piece where size is crucial eg a ring, it's necessary to take this into account. Different brands shrink different amounts and require slightly different firing times for the same weight of clay. Lisle has been on hand to provide all the information and advice needed so I am beginning to feel confident that I can work it out for myself.

The pictures below record the pieces I've made so far - I love the medium and the results, even the slightly wonky heart pendant which was the first and only item so far that I've made on my own at home. Everything I've made has been torch fired. I'll share more about the process as I complete the course.