Art Jewelry magazine Editors' Blog : metal clay

Friday Highlights from the Subscriber Gallery: Round 2, Jill's choice

Jill Erickson — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 16:19:00 GMT

Time flies! I'm up again to choose three favorite posts from our online Subscriber Gallery. I'm going for a theme here this week that I like to call, Keep on a-Rockin' it (work that incorporates some kind of stone in its design).

From the Wire/chain mail gallery: "Basia Mille" by Aden Angier. This necklace shows off a polished drop chalcedony, and a pair of faceted blue topaz stones. Simple and elegant.

From the Metal Clay gallery: Patrik Kusek's wrapped jasper pendants. Patrik is firing the metal clay with the stones in place!

From the Metals gallery: A lovely brooch by Monika Roos. The use of mixed metals in cool and warm colors provide a striking complement to the lapis focal stone.

Keep posting your work. The gallery "doors" are always open for new submissions! Happy Friday, Jill :)

Friday Highlights from the Subscriber Gallery: Jill’s choice

Jill Erickson — Fri, 23 Oct 2009 18:54:00 GMT

Last Friday, Hazel got our new "editor's picks" weekly blog post rolling. We'll be aiming the spotlight on three pieces of jewelry made by our subscribers who've generously posted work in our online galleries. Today, it's my turn! Without further ado, here are my selects:

From our Alternative Materials Gallery: Long Stone Bracelet by Shelly Daly. I really like the scale and simplicity of this piece. And of course there's that whole beach stone thing going on.

From our Enamels and Glass Gallery: Juicy Earrings by Juice Glass. That cobalt blue is marvelous.

From our Metal Clay Gallery: Arbol de Vida pendant by Lorena Angulo. Lorena's interpretation of the "tree of life" motif employs hand-sculpted bronze metal clay.

Enjoy and have a great week. Keep posting your wonderful work on the Subscriber Galleries! Cheers, Jill

New metal clay technique: Catherine Davies Paetz teaches you how to make inlay designs with bronze clay and copper clay

Jill Erickson — Wed, 14 Oct 2009 15:25:00 GMT

Getting your hands on new materials is inspiring for artists. The newest additions to the metal clay family (bronze clay, and copper clay) inspired artist Catherine Davies Paetz to push this medium into new territory. You can learn about her techniques for creating inlaid designs with these clays in the November 2009 issue of Art Jewelry magazine. Subscribers can download instructions to Catherine's bonus technique, read Art Jewelry's editors' experiences when we tested bronze metal clay, and brush up on kiln terminology with our kiln diagram. All registered Web users can check out Mardel Rein's 20-page primer on working with BRONZclay.

While I'm on the subject of metal clay, here's a link to our latest technique series video on metal clay basics. This series walks you through the basics of working with silver metal clay, and includes a PDF of a beginner level project to get you started. As always, let us know what else you'd like to see us demonstrate and write about here at Art Jewelry magazine. Cheers, Jill :)

Jennifer Kahn's Etsy video

Jill Erickson — Mon, 29 Jun 2009 15:31:00 GMT

Jennifer Kahn is a young, accomplished jewelry maker who works in traditional metals and metal clay. When Hazel found a snazzy video that Jennifer made, I just had to call dibs on it for blogging! Check out Jennifer's fast-paced, syncopated Etsy video that features the creation of a metal clay pendant.

For a slower paced video on how to use a handheld butane torch, go to the Art Jewelry magazine video demos!

Have a great week. Cheers, Jill :)

Move over silver, bronze, and copper metal clays — aluminum clay is here!!

Addie Kidd — Wed, 01 Apr 2009 19:30:00 GMT

Alternative metal clays are all the rage right now: bronze clay is very popular, and copper clay is so new that everyone is clamoring to get their hands on some.

Well, aluminum clay has just been announced!!
It's not for sale yet, but you can see some prototype photos and sample shots on Pam East's blog.

I can't wait to get some in to test here at the Art Jewelry headquarters.

~Addie~

Think about visiting Tucson for the gem and mineral (and jewelry, tools, metals, wire...) shows! The Art Jewelry editors are.

Kristin Sutter — Fri, 07 Nov 2008 19:55:00 GMT

It's November, and here in the Art Jewelry offices, our thoughts are turning to the Southwest — not because our Wisconsin locale means we've already got snow in the forecast, but because in February, the city of Tucson, Ariz., is inundated with countless vendors from every facet of the jewelry world. Every year, we make the trip to scout for new products, new discoveries, new contacts, and new friends. If you've never heard of the phenomenon that is Tucson, check out "How to Tackle Tucson." The article, written by editor and veteran Tucson-goer Hazel L. Wheaton, is a practical guide to what "Tucson" is, why you should go, and how to enjoy the experience.

For dates of the 2009 Tucson shows, go to www.visittucson.org. If you can't make it to Tucson, you can look for shows near you in our Events Calendar. You can also discuss shows, including Tucson, in Going to a Show? on our forum.

Enjoy!

—Kristin

Templates for hollow-form lily brooch and Arts & Crafts metal clay necklace

Kristin Sutter — Fri, 10 Oct 2008 20:53:00 GMT

If you're interested in re-creating the lily brooch project or the Arts & Crafts metal clay necklace project from the November 2008 issue of Art Jewelry, having the templates might make your life a bit easier.

To find the template for the hollow-form lily brooch ("From Flat to Flower"), click here.

To find the template for the metal clay necklace ("Construct an Arts & Crafts Necklace"), click here. Remember, you can use the blank panel template to draw your own designs.

Enjoy!

—Kristin

Find out what tools you need for working with metals, metal clay, bronze clay, enamel, wire, chain mail, stone setting, engraving, finishing, polymer clay, and more

Kristin Sutter — Fri, 03 Oct 2008 20:16:00 GMT

Tools, tools, tools! Do you wonder what tools you should get if you're going to take up metalsmithing? How about metal clay, or polymer clay? Or, maybe you want to know what tools you should have on hand no matter what medium you're working in. Well, here's your answer: In the November 2008 issue of Art Jewelry, we published an eight-page bonus poster that tells you what tools you'll need to have in order to work in a given medium or for a given task.

We were so excited about the poster that we put the info up online too! (If, for some inexplicable reason you haven't picked up your issue yet, you can find a PDF of "The Right Tool" here.) Of course, the print version has its advantages: it's a pullout, so you can proudly display its glossy pages on your studio wall. And, it's one continuous sheet of paper, so you won't need as many thumb tacks to get it up there, and you won't have to spend time with your level making sure all eight pages are aligned. Of course, the biggest advantage to having the print version means that you have the rest of the issue surrounding it.

We hope the poster helps you as a shopping list, a quick reference (what do parallel pliers look like again?), and as a vision of beauty that only a tool junkie could love.

Enjoy!

—Kristin

P.S. Subscribers, if eight pages of info isn't enough for you, you might want to check out our archive of Product Reviews.

New Video! Learn how to make lavender-oil paste for metal clay.

Katie Streeter — Wed, 10 Sep 2008 20:47:00 GMT

If you work with metal clay, you probably use oil paste to join fired pieces of metal clay before refiring. In our newest video, Jill Erickson demonstrates the process for making oil paste at home using lavender oil, metal clay slip, and distilled water. This is a great way to reclaim low-shrink-formula metal clay filings. Even if you aren't usually a do-it-yourselfer, you'll want to keep this formula in mind for the next time you run out of commercial paste and can't wait for the mail man to drop of your latest order of supplies. Click here to watch the video; or check out the print version.

Don't forget, we love hearing from our readers (and viewers), so let us know what you think of our videos. And if you have a suggestion for a video we don't offer, let us know that, too!

—Katie

Send in the results from your creative jewelry experiments with fine silver flakes!

Addie Kidd — Thu, 28 Aug 2008 21:03:00 GMT

On page 25 of the July issue of Art Jewelry magazine, I reviewed a product intended for metal clay —fine silver flakes.

You can read my review here. In it, I asked our readers to send me photos of any pieces they've created using the flakes. These photos are being collected for a special online gallery section of our Web site designed to inspire other readers' creativity.

I've gotten a number of fantastic responses so far. I had no idea there were so many unique ways to use simple fine silver flakes!

But here's where you come in. I'd love even more photos. So delve into your creativity a bit and see what you can come up with. Then email me photos of your designs and tell me a bit about them. My email address is akidd@artjewelrymag.com.

I look forward to seeing what you make!

~Addie~

New Videos! Learn how to add a liver of sulfur patina to metal and how to refill a handheld butane torch

Katie Streeter — Wed, 27 Aug 2008 20:08:00 GMT

We've just posted two new videos on our Web site. In the first video, Associate Editor Jill Erickson teaches you how to add a liver of sulfur patina to metal and metal clay. In the second video, Jill shows you how to refill a handheld butane torch with butane fuel.

If you'd like to see a how-to video on a topic we haven't covered yet, send us an e-mail to let us know.

Also new online this week is an article by Associate Editor Kristin Sutter about the charm bracelet raffle at the 2008 PMC Conference. Over $12,000 was raised for charity through the raffle. Check out the PMC Conference Web site to view images from this year's conference and to see the charm bracelets.

—Katie

Art Jewelry magazine new instructional videos posted

Jill Erickson — Mon, 25 Aug 2008 18:42:00 GMT

That's right, we've got two new videos on the AJ site under the metal clay category. One video demonstrates how to roll out and cut wet metal clay, and the other video shows you different ways to add texture to wet metal clay. We'll keep adding new videos in the various categories (metalsmithing, wire, polymer clay, tools, etc.). Let us know if there's a specific technique or topic you'd like to see us demonstrate. As always, thanks for stopping to check out our blog. Cheers ;) Jill

BronzClay has arrived

Hazel Wheaton — Wed, 23 Jul 2008 13:46:00 GMT

The metal clay community has been buzzing about it for months, and now the new bronze metal clay — or, more accurately BronzClay — is available to the public. The new Rio Grande catalog hit my desk yesterday, and the clay was listed among their new products.

We had the advantage of testing the clay early, prior to its public release... the resulting article was published in our July 2008 issue. Our article covered the basics, but as with any new product, there are still a lot of questions about how it works and how best to use it. As different metal clay artisans get their hands on the material and start playing, those questions will be answered, and new ones will undoubtedly pop up.

Based on our experience, that experimentation phase will be a lot of fun — and based on the lower price point of BronzClay (Rio is charging approximately $20 per 100g package) compared to silver metal clay, I expect to see a lot of artisans pulling out the stops, creatively. I'm eagerly looking forward to seeing the pieces that start appearing. If you work with the new clay, send us a picture, send us feedback, let us know how it's going, and what techniques you've found work — or don't work. It's new to everyone.

Check out these cool metal clay wedding bands adorned with the couple's thumbprints!

Katie Streeter — Wed, 25 Jun 2008 16:32:00 GMT

This photo was submitted to the Art Jewelry magazine Subscriber Gallery recently, and I love the story and the rings so much, that I had to blog about it. Here's Glassjunkie's story, as well as an image of the great rings she made:

"I was contacted by a couple that had just gotten engaged....After learning about PMC, they thought it would be very meaningful to have rings made for each other with their thumb prints. When they contacted me, I thought the best bet would be for the rings to be made using Metal Clay Findings ring liners for extra strength and durability. I directed them to the web site so they could see what sizing and widths were available to them. After receiving my order I had the couple try on the liners to ensure proper sizing and got to work with my photopolymer plates. Before I knew it the order was complete, and the couple lived happily ever after!"

––Katie

Playing with the new Bronze Clay -- the story of BC the snail

Jill Erickson — Mon, 16 Jun 2008 21:59:00 GMT

Meet BC. He's a snail I made using the new Bronze Clay developed by Bill Struve (research chemist). Bill's also the thoughtful husband of LaceyAnn Struve, who first began working in metal clay in 2006. It was LaceyAnn's interest in metal clay that inspired Bill to develop another medium for LaceyAnn to work with. I had the pleasure of meeting LaceyAnn and Bill at the recent Bead&Button Show. I was at a table at the "Meet the Teachers" event, and had a copy of the July 2008 issue of AJ open to Hazel's article about the new Bronze Clay. Next to the magazine, I had displayed my experiments with the new Bronze Clay. LaceyAnn perused these samples and then pointed at the snail. She asked me, "What's his name?" I told her that he didn't have one yet. She quickly replied, "Call him BC!" And there you have it.

BC was my exercise to learn about how this new clay behaved. Addie and I spent days in the workroom playing with the clay. I began by sculpting a snail body with wet clay. Then I impressed clay into a polymer clay mold I had made from my extensive seashell collection. I wanted to see how much detail could be picked up. After letting both components dry completely, I pasted the clay shell to the body using homemade paste (distilled water and some lump Bronze Clay). I set the assembly aside to dry completely.

Of course, I had to test how easily I could carve into the dry clay, so I made some refinements to the snail body using a craft knife. The clay carved like butter. Then I fired the assembly according to the Bronze Clay firing specifications (the details are in the July 2008 issue of AJ).

BC shrank during firing (refining the details even more), and picked up a beautiful color. But when we tested the strength of the shell's bond to the body, BC's shell popped off! No worries. This was an opportunity to test whether homemade lavender oil paste would work to bond fired Broze Clay to another piece of fired Bronze Clay. So, I mixed up a batch of oil paste by adding lavender oil to my homemade Bronze paste. I then used the oil paste to reattach BC's shell. I also used the paste as if it were slip to give BC's body some fluid curves. After the assembly was completely dry, Addie and I fired BC again. This time, his shell held fast.

I can't wait to get my hands on more of the new Bronze Clay, which makes its official debut in about a month at the upcoming PMC Conference at Purdue University. Let me know if you're attending the conference. I'll be there representing the magazine, attending lectures and demos, and hopefully talking with lots of AJ readers! Oh, and I'll bring BC too. Cheers, Jill