Jewelry and Beading » precious metal clay

Glass and PMC artist: Liz Rowe

Cyndi Lavin — Mon, 14 Sep 2009 12:00:25 +0000

Glass artist Liz Rowe from Milwaukee sent me this fabulous image of a winestopper she made. I hope that someday Liz will have a website so that we can see more of her gorgeous work!

Liz writes:
The Lampwork glass vessel wine stopper is made with Italian glass 104 coe. After annealing the vessel, Lily pads, and top I applied my PMC3 design and re fired it according to the PMC3 schedule. The vessel is sitting on 3 Lily pads, one of PMC3 and two of glass. The Top that looks like a the sorting hat in Harry Potter is glass with a PMC3 collar. The top is glued onto the top of the wine stopper. I then assembled the pieces, screwed on the top. PMC3 and glass are great combos!!

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Metal clay artist: Kristi Bowman

Cyndi Lavin — Thu, 25 Jun 2009 12:00:48 +0000

Kristi Bowman is the owner of Dream Some Designs, a lovely shop on Etsy. Amazingly, Kristi has been working with metal clay for less than a year…I know you’ll be surprised when you see her work! She is enjoying working color into her designs by incorporating different stones and beads. Nature and rustic artifacts are a big influence on Kristi’s work.

Kristi writes about her pieces:

The Blue Topaz and Metal Clay earrings were a special order for a friend on Mothers day, they turned out so beautifully that I will surely make some similar pieces.

The necklace titled Artifact is a rather free form piece with 3 different textures. I used Amazonite and Metal Clay beads strung on a Sterling chain to finish the piece. This is one of the pieces that is meant to look ancient and somewhat rough like it was found buried in the earth.

The earrings titled Arrow are made out of Bronze Clay. They are 2 parts so they are fun to wear, only the wearer can hear the tiny jingle of the 2 parts moving against each other.

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Metal clay artist: Barbara Daoust

Cyndi Lavin — Thu, 18 Jun 2009 12:00:14 +0000

Barbara Daoust, creator of Soul Notes, likes to share her upbeat take on life with all who come in contact with her. Heartbreak in her own life led her to look for the type of healing that would transform her own life, and the lives of others. PMC is one of the media that Barbara uses to spread her message.

Ladder to your Heart: The Ladder to Your Heart is a reminder to keep climbing higher and and to take life one step at a time. The intention is to live from the heart and connect to that place of loving.

Affirmation Vessel Kit: I created this piece to have a place to hold my personal affirmation. After the loss of my husband to lung cancer six years ago, I entered a very dark night that limited my hope. I attended a program in spiritual psychology where I discovered the power of affirmations and decided to create an affirmation vessel to hold close to my heart. My intentions helped me to transform my life.

Big Swirl Heart: This piece is a hollow form with a ruby and garnet dangles. The intention for this piece is Room for Love. The spirals represent the unlimited possibilities where love can show up. We are living in a spiral universe and all things are possible.

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Another metal clay collection from Shahasp

Cyndi Lavin — Sun, 14 Jun 2009 12:00:11 +0000

I shared Shahasp Valentine’s Modern Artifacts Collection with you last week. Normally I don’t turn around and post about the same artist again the following week, but Shahasp’s mastery of this material is such that I felt a second post on a separate collection was warranted!

This collection is called the Organic Series of Naturally Inspired Forms. It is inspired by nature and natural forms, including Waves, Freeform Organics, Lilies, Habitats, Knife Edge and most recently Twigs. Waves represent the cleansing and regenerating abilities of the sea. Freeform Organics are inspired by the rich shapes found the deep forest and celebrate nature’s embrace. The Lilies are flower inspired forms, beautiful and elegant in their simplicity. Habitats are a representation of tide pools with marine creatures living amongst the nooks and crannies, symbolizing harmony with nature and one’s surroundings. Knife Edge represent the purity of life itself. And finally, Twigs represent birth and new growth as buds form, grow into leaves and flowers refreshing our world. Each piece in the Organic Series is signed and numbered in a series with no two pieces being alike.

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Metal clay artist: JJ Singh

Cyndi Lavin — Thu, 11 Jun 2009 12:00:43 +0000

JJ Singh is a metal clay artist based in Northern Virginia. She creates gorgeous pieces that she says are all about the passion! Couldn’t we all use more passion in our lives? Well, JJ is inspired by those who enjoy boldly proclaiming who they are and who make no apologies for it. Just look at these beautiful pieces:

Ileana earrings – fine silver metal clay plated in 22k gold with green tourmalines.

Carnival Gypsy Ring – fine silver metal clay. Colored resin, with faceted pink sapphire
Carnival Gypsy Earrings – fine silver metal clay, faceted pink sapphires and PMC granulated silver balls.

Etruscan Ring – fine silver textured metal clay with bezel set blue sapphires

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Books on Metal Clay

Cyndi Lavin — Tue, 09 Jun 2009 12:00:54 +0000

Awhile back, I compiled a list of the best books available to help you get started with metal clay. Since we’re going to be focused on metal clay this month, I thought some of you might end up inspired enough to try a new material

Silver leaves I made for Tammy Powley’s book, listed below

Making your own beads
In the middle of this list is a section on PMC with several wonderful beginner books listed

Enameling on Metal Clay by Pam East
Learn how to add a whole new dimension of color to your metal clay projects

Metal Clay and Mixed Media Jewelry by Sherri Haab
How to combine this magical material with everything from resin and concrete to fibers and polymer clay

Picture Yourself Creating Metal Clay Jewelry by Tammy Powley
Disclaimer: one of my projects is in this book, so of course I’m biased. I also think it is an excellent beginner’s book which will answer practically any question you have about working with low-fire silver clay…a huge bonus if you don’t have a kiln!

Silver and Bronze Clay by Hadar Jacobson
A wonderfully inspiring book from one of the pioneers of BronzClay work

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Metal clay inspiration

Cyndi Lavin — Mon, 08 Jun 2009 12:00:46 +0000

As we get set to enjoy an entire month of lovely metal clay work, I thought I should reach back and pull forward some links for you drool over. But beyond drooling, many of these also have great advice and information on how you can get started yourself!

Please enjoy these inspirational links responsibly: be inspired, be very inspired…but do not copy the designs of other artists!

Getting started with BronzClay
A YouTube video that will show you what you need to know

BronzClay Flickr pool
Be inspired, and share your own work

All Things Metal Clay
Elaine Luther’s most excellent site: this is a link to Elaine’s round-up post of clay resources.

Metal clay and bead artist Melissa Lee

Metal clay artist Linda Kaye-Moses

Metal clay artist Lorena Angulo

BronzClay pieces by Andrew and Cynthia Thornton

Metal Clay artist Sherry Eckert

Image: Andrew Thornton

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Metal clay artist: Joe Rissin

Cyndi Lavin — Sun, 07 Jun 2009 12:00:08 +0000

Joe Rissin, owner of Rissin’s Jewelry Clinic in Manhattan has been making and repairing jewelry since he was in high school. Now his clinic is the destination for people who want their fine jewelry or even their costume pieces repaired or upgraded. Joe also enjoys working with metal clay, and sent me a couple of shots of some custom work he’s done.

Joe writes:

These are pieces that I have designed and made. Above is a genuine butterfly wing encased in an 18KY gold frame and back with a quartz crystal on front. Below is a back view showing a removable and interchangeable necklace.

A custom designed silver “Hummingbird”

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Metal clay artist: Shahasp Valentine

Cyndi Lavin — Sat, 06 Jun 2009 12:00:37 +0000

I received some images from one of the true masters of Precious Metal Clay. Shahasp Valentine has been creating jewelry since before her first formal jewelry class at the age of thirteen, professionally since 1993 and working with Precious Metal Clay since 1999. Her work with PMC has been recognized in books and magazines, on television and has been featured in numerous gallery shows.

Shahasp’s Modern Artifacts Collection is a historically inspired collection. The designs are based on great jewels of the past, places visited, architectural details, stained glass windows of great cathedrals and elements taken from virtually every period of history. This collection is intended to appear ancient as if the jewelry has been excavated from an archaeological dig, found in a sunken treasure chest or handed down for generations. Each piece is of fine silver and/or 24-karat gold Precious Metal Clay and signed and numbered by the artist, no two are alike.

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Jewelry artist: Sherry Eckert

Cyndi Lavin — Wed, 22 Apr 2009 12:15:01 +0000

Artist: Sherry Eckert
Website: Moondrops Jewelry

I work with several natural materials and I also work with Precious Metal Clay which is pure silver recycled from the film making process. It is then mixed with an organic binder and water and I can then roll it, cut it, texture it, mold it etc to make rings, pendants, earrings, bracelets etc.

I use concrete and rough cut or raw stones in some of my designs and well as molds of shells and corals, leaves and branches. I do beadwork with semi-precious stones, pearls, wood, glass, recycled jewelry, just about anything I can get my hands on.

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