Metal Clay for Jewelry Makers BLAD

Fall 2012

Metal Clay for Jewelry Makers The Complete Technique Guide by sue heaser

Explore a beautifully illustrated encyclopedic musthave with Metal Clay for Jewelry Makers. Internationally renowned artist Sue Heaser explores all of the basic and advanced metal clay techniques, such as forming hinges and hollow forms; working with paper clay; adding gemstones, metals, glass, ceramic, resin, and enamel; and forging, annealing, texturing, and adding patinas. Beautifully showcased are gold, silver, copper, and bronze in an array of forms. Other techniques showcased include resin; mounting stones, pearls, fused glass, or metals; enameling; combining PMC with polymer clay; and creating patinas. With more than 500 photographs and finished projects and techniques throughout, Metal Clay for Jewelry Makers provides readers the inspiration needed to design unique metal clay jewelry.

Sue Heaser is an internationally renowned artist, author, and teacher with twenty-five years of experience. Sue has published thirteen craft books, including the best-selling Magical Metal Clay Jewelry. She teaches world-wide metal clay and polymer clay workshops, and was founding director of Art Clay World UK Guild. Sue lives in England.

ISBN: 978-1-59668-713-4

Page Count: 192

Format: Hardcover

Trim Size: 8½ × 10

US Price: $29.95

Release Date: October

Canada: $29.95

Season: Fall 2012

Metal Clay for Jewelry Makers

Interweave books are sold and distributed to the book trade by Perseus distribution in the U.S. and Canada. (800) 343-4499 | [email protected]

Reclaiming and reconstituting clay

These dried out pieces are perfect for reconstituting

Applying texture oft metal clay takes impressions

W

orking in any material will always produce waste. With

Step 1 Put the lumps of clay in a mortar

Step 2 Use a tea strainer to sieve the

metal clay this may be soft clay scraps, failed projects,

and crush hard with the pestle. Pound hard to break up the lumps, then grind with a circular motion. You need to make a fine powder.

powder. This is not essential if you grind it really fine, but will help to remove any foreign bodies that have got into the clay by accident. Any lumps in the strainer can be ground further—if they will not grind up, discard them. You can now store the powder for later reconstitution if you wish.

or simply a piece that you dislike. This section details the many ways you can make best use of your metal clay with economical practices, recycling, reconstituting, and reclaiming.

the price of precious metal has risen a great deal in recent years, and this has inevitably impacted on the price of metal clay, in particular the precious metal clays. the following tips can substantially cut down on your use of clay.

Work smaller. Large, chunky jewelry

is great, but so are small and more delicate pieces. Use mixed media. pieces do not have to

be made entirely of silver, instead try combining it with base metal clays, glass, textiles, wood, and other materials. Use polymer clay. Choose polymer clay to

back or infill pieces after firing so that the precious metal content is reduced. See page 168. Use hollow core or formers. to avoid

working in solid metal, which uses up far more clay, use hollow core techniques or formers. See page 00.  cuff, Mary ann nelSon Silver clay textured with ammonites embellishes a faux bone cuff.

Concave molding. When molding clay,

press it into the mold to give a concave back. See page 73.

Any type of metal clay that has been allowed to dry out completely can be ground into a powder and reconstituted remarkably easily. This may apply to a piece that you forgot, that has dried out in its wrapper, a piece that broke too badly for repair in the plaster-dry stage, or that you decided you did not like. You can also use this technique for clay you have collected from filing or carving.  textured bead, Tracey Spurgin Making pieces with a hollow core uses less clay and makes jewelry lighter to wear.

M

be piped in thin lines from a syringe

to create a form of filigree. While this does not fully simulate traditional wire filigree, it is a superb art form in its own right, with beautiful flowing lines forming delicate openwork of all kinds.

You Will need Dried out clay A small pestle and mortar

Save and reconstitute. Save all your unfired clay scraps for reconstituting. this also applies to dried clay waste from filing or carving, but do not use dust from sanding, which may be contaminated by the grit. See page 34. Save and recycle. Save any unwanted

fired silver for recycling into new pieces. See page 33.

A fine enamel or tea strainer (useful but not essential)

clay to make your jewelry unique.

37 Step 3 Put most of the powder onto a large

Step 4 Only add sufficient water to just

ceramic tile, but save some for adding if the mix becomes too wet. Use the eyedropper to add a few drops of water (or spray the powder with water) and mix with a palette knife or spatula, scraping the edges into the center as you work.

moisten the clay, until all the dry powder has gone and the mix is like breadcrumbs. If you add too much water, mix in some of the reserved powder.

Eyedropper or small spray bottle Water Spatula or palette knife Large ceramic tile to work on

Roller

Step 5 Keep mixing and the clay will begin

Step 6 Lightly oil your hands with

to clump together. You can also add a few drops of glycerin to aid the water retention of the clay, about two or three drops for 7g of clay powder or a small marble-sized lump of clay.

vegetable oil and gather up the clay. Press it together in your fingers. If it will not hold together, add a little more water.

Openwork

Syringe (1)

plique-à-jour.

Holding the syringe

This method of holding a syringe gives far more control than most other methods. Practice using a syringe on a ceramic tile so that the paste can be recycled into a paste pot. Alternatively, fill an empty syringe with toothpaste to give yourself practice without wasting any clay.

nozzles (2) fine nozzle—0.5 mm: This gives the most delicate filigree and is usually used for random syringing because it is more difficult to control. With practice, however, you will find that you can create controlled lines with the fine nozzle. See the trees on page 133. Medium nozzle—1 mm: This is the easiest to use for controlled shapes. It is best to work from side to side across a drawing, or toward you. Turn the piece as you work to avoid pushing the syringe away from you. thick nozzle—1.5 mm: This is used for structural elements in a larger design and for framing finer work. acetate and tiles (3) Used as work surfaces.

From the top: Zigzag line made with a medium nozzle. Looped line made with a medium nozzle. Figure-of-eight line made with a fine nozzle. Dots made with a medium nozzle. See page 132.

Step 1 Fix a medium nozzle onto the

Step 2 Hold the syringe in your working

syringe—this nozzle is the easiest to control while you are learning the techniques.

hand as you would a pen or pencil.

131 FILIGREE WORK

Repeating patterns on a clay sheet backing

Syringe caps (4)—shown on the syringe, capping the blue nozzle: This prevents the paste in the nozzle drying out. fine paintbrush (5) for minor adjustments

Landscape Drawn with a fine nozzle on a clay sheet backing. See page 133.

2

Openwork filigree

Filigree with hollow forms

Filigree infill

Linked openwork elements and trapped gemstones. See page 164.

Left: controlled lines made with a medium nozzle. Right: random lines made with a fine nozzle. See page 102.

Fish pin using a cut-out sheet of clay with medium nozzle filigree openwork decoration. See page 134.

Fern leaves

95

Fern leaves

Rubber stamp impression

Feathers

Step 1 Roll out the clay to the desired

Step 2 Lay the material that will make the

Step 3 Peel away the leaves to reveal

Handmade lace rolled into clay. See page 83.

Leaves were laid onto the oiled surface of a clay sheet and rolled in. See page 83.

Small, commercially available rubber stamps were used here. See page 85.

Small (budgerigar) feathers were rolled into the surface of the oiled clay sheet. See page 83.

thickness for the project using rolling guides and a nonstick surface. Smooth a thin sheen of oil over the clay surface with your finger.

impression in position on the clay and roll again between the rolling guides so that the leaves are pressed firmly into the clay surface. It is best to roll from the center outward in each direction.

the texturing. Any small pieces that remain in the clay can be left to burn away during firing.

Step 1 Roll out the clay to the desired thickness for the project using rolling guides. Oil the surface of the clay lightly to create a faint sheen.

Step 2 Press the oiled side of the clay

Impressing with thicker materials

Step 3 Use your other hand to grip the

Step 4 When you need to pause in

syringe and depress the plunger. This means that the hand that is drawing does not have to apply pressure, and therefore has far more control.

your work, set the tip of the syringe in a water pot to prevent it drying out. If the nozzle becomes blocked, push a very fine needle into the end of the syringe to clear the nozzle.

3

4

1

Candle wax impression

Cuttlefish impression

Text impressions

Commercial texture sheet

the ship design was drawn onto a smooth candle surface with an engraving tool. the oiled clay was then pressed onto the

the oiled clay sheet was pressed on to a cuttlefish bone to create this effect. See page 83.

From top to bottom: polymer clay reversed stamp made from a candle wax engraving; commercially

the oiled clay sheet was pressed onto a commercial rubber texture sheet. See page 84.

drawing to make a relief image that is ideal for embellishing with enameling or resin. See page 85.

extrudinG toolS

Openwork filigree with resin

130

From the top: Random lines made with a fine nozzle. Random lines made with a medium nozzle. Flattened random lines made with a medium nozzle. See page 132.

Fine materials such as fresh or dried leaves, feathers, and grasses give lovely subtle textures when rolled into metal clay. The aim is to keep any untextured area between the impressions as smooth as possible, and using rolling guides is the best way to do this. This method is best used for items that are less than a millimeter thick.

Lace

File pocket or plastic wrap

these swatches are made using either a fine nozzle of 0.5mm thickness or a medium nozzle of about 1mm thickness.

Random line samples on a clay sheet backing

cuttlefish bone

Impressing with fine materials

94

A few drops of glycerine (optional)

points in mind, design your jewelry carefully, avoiding unnecessary thickness and using other materials for hidden parts such as the back of a piece.

the technique is more challenging than many other metal clay techniques and requires a steady hand, as well as the ability to draw while pressing the plunger of the syringe to extrude the paste line at a regulated speed. You will need to coordinate the movement of your hand with the pressure on the plunger. Once the basic technique is mastered, the varieties of filigree that can be created are richly decorative and well worth the effort of learning the technique. Filigree can be applied to a clay background as a decoration, or created as openwork on a separate surface—such as a ceramic tile—from which it is removed after drying. It can also be applied to a combustible core.

Texturing materials An assortment of items can be used to create texture—some are shown here.

texturinG effectS uSinG different MaterialS

filiGree on a claY backinG Sheet and openWork filiGree

CLAY SHAPING TECHNIQUES

materials that can be pressed into the

Design for economy. With the above

Filigree work etal clay in a paste or slip form can

and you will soon discover all kinds of

Reconstituting dried-out clay

Roll clay sheets thinly. For most jewelry

projects, sheets of clay 0.5 mm thick will be as successful as thicker sheets. However, it is wise to work at about 1 mm thick when you are a beginner to reduce the chances of breaking your work in the plaster-dry stage.

opens up a wonderful world of creativity,

CLAY SHAPING TECHNIQUES

further. Here polymer clay images framed in silver clay are combined with polymer clay beads to make a luscious whole.

than in conventional silversmithing. This

Small feathers

to begin, there are natural materials in abundance to try. Fresh and dried leaves and flowers, textured pebbles, seashells and coral, and grasses and bark all create fascinating textures and patterns. Commercial texture sheets and rubber stamps, often intended for other crafts, can be adapted for metal clay. You can also make your own texture sheets and stamps to give your pieces more originality. Finally, you could try one of several exciting techniques for using metal clay paste to texture and embellish the clay surface.

5

available letter stamps; candle wax engraving written in reverse. See page 67.

If the material to be used for texturing is more substantial and cannot be rolled into the clay, then the clay needs be pressed onto the material. This applies to chunks of stone, pieces of wood and bark, coral, granite, and cuttlefish bone, as shown here. This technique does not give such a smooth back to the clay sheet as with thinner materials, but a piece of fabric or leather pressed onto the back will give it a more professional finish.

sheet firmly against the most interesting part of the texturing material. Work over the back of the sheet, pressing firmly with the flat pad of your finger to ensure that all the clay is textured.

APPLYING TEXTURE

 Mixed Material necklace, BarBara Sperling Combining silver clay with other materials will make your clay go

extremely well and with far less effort

RECLAIMING AND RECONSTITUTING CLAY

BASIC TECHNIQUES

36

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