Creating has always been in my life. Starting with my love of vintage cloths and sewing to my education in art and design, moving through a fifteen year career in fashion and now being a creative person with a family. About five years ago I felt that I wanted to explore a new art form and on a whim enrolled in a metal smith class. Since that class and many workshops later, I have been invigorated by a new art medium, metal clay!
A majority of the jewelry pieces I create are made using bronze and copper metal clay, which is a clay like material made up of fine metal particles combined with an organic binder and water. In the early stages I am able to use it just like clay. I roll it out, cut any desired shape, add texture to the surface, and manipulate it in any way I want to create my pieces.
Once happy with the shape and design, I cross my fingers and place pieces in a special kiln designed for metal clay. The high heat of the kiln is what burns off the binder in the metal clay and the metal particles fuse together to create a solid metal item.
Once the firing process is complete, I reach into the cooled kiln and remove the finished pieces!! Even though the binder has burned off, there is still a residual white reside present on the metal, so I brush, rub and polish to bring out the true luster in each piece.
Here you can see how much of a transformation metal clay takes between its pre-fired state and post-fired state!
I really love working with metal clay and am always in the studio exploring new techniques to create original work. Keep checking back to see whats new!
