some friends invited me
to a silver clay workshop at
a sweet atelier in a lovely cobbled side street
not only can you go to workshops here
she also sells really cool stuff
the owner, Merilees, made us very welcome
showing us examples of silver items
created from the clay
she talked about form and texture
revealing a selection of stamps, cutters
textured templates and objet
first we experimented with some white clay
we played for an hour
pressing items into the clay
deciding shape and size
I took some indian wood blocks
and made moulds which were dried
ready to be used with the silver clay
~
we quickly and carefully rolled out
the small piece of silver clay
to the thickness of 3 or 4 playing cards
and created our shapes
putting a tiny pilot hole in each
which were then dried in a halogen cooker
after which we refined the edges
and made tiny holes in each piece
then we used a small torch to heat each item
to a soft orange glow
for two timed minutes
dropped into water to cool
these little white triangles
were buffed with a wire brush
and a polishing cloth
and magically they turn to silver!
Merilees has a box of findings
to rummage through
jump rings, earring hooks
leather cord for pendants
and all the tools you need to attach them
after playing around for a while
I settled on long hooks
with a more 3d look
with two little triangles left over
to add to my silver charm bracelet
thank you Merilees for your expertise, calm
and for sharing your space with us
for a cool afternoon
:-)
