Metal Clay Work In Progress
Monday, February 20th, 2012
It’s been crazy busy lately, but I’m enjoying it :)
I wanted to show what I’ve been working on over the past several days… I’ve been busy carefully making some beautiful Fine Silver Metal Clay rings (made with PMC3).
With Precious Metal Clay, it’s not like regular or traditional metalsmithing. It’s more like working as if creating pieces of pottery, in a way….
I basically take a lump of metal clay like this:
… and then, after MANY hours of work (with doubled-up magnifying lenses!), and lots of lumps of metal clay, we end up with raw clay rings that looks like this “rustic” hand carved Initials Ring (I made it so it has the look of being carved in stone):
These, and other custom rings are now firing in my kiln for a couple of hours at 1650 F (approx. 900 Celcius)… that’s very hot! I don’t skimp on the PMC3/Fine Silver Metal Clay 3rd generation when making my rings. It’s an expensive product to use, but the quality of the material is top notch. It’s the strongest of the fine silver metal clays available on the market and it’s perfect for making rings that can handle “daily life”.
I always build my rings by using very thick slabs of clay, and I am extremely careful about the details and finishing of the raw clay rings before they go in the kiln, as I want them to be as perfect as possible before firing. It is far easier to make a ring perfect before it has fired than after it is hard solid fine silver. It is very challenging to create a mirror finish (no texture, no bumps, totally smooth metal) using metal clay.
If you look at the last picture – the ring with the cross on the front, that’s my Knight’s Ring (medieval design). Would you be able to guess that the seam (where I’ve joined the band together to close it up) is located at the front? As you can see, I really take my time with each ring… I’m a perfectionist. I play some of my favorite music in the studio, I enjoy the good vibes… and I create!
I will show more progress pictures (after they are out of the kiln, out of the tumbler, etc) in the next few days. Right now, the magic is happening in the kiln… where the organic binder burns off and we’re only left with pure .999 fine silver.
A collection for men and women of my NGOriginals Fine Silver Metal Clay jewelry is going to be presented to a ton of celebrities and the press at the upcoming GBK 2012 Academy Awards (Oscars) Gift Lounge Feb. 23rd-25th. Stay tuned for some cool pictures of celebrities with my jewelry! I am so excited!
Tags: academy awards, custom, fine silver, gift lounge, handmade, initials ring, knight's ring, oscars, pmc3, rings | Posted in New Work | No Comments »
