Edinburgh jeweller

Samples from my taster class in silver clay, suitable for beginners I regularly see questions in the facebook metal clay groups about which metal clay to try as a newbie. Firstly, if you are a newbie to metal clay - welcome! Metal clay is a fantastic material to use to make jewellery. It is flexible and easier on the hands than sheet metal and can be used at home with minimal tools. Of course there are lots of tools you COULD buy - but that's for another post! BUT if you start out with the wrong clay you can quickly become disheartened and decide it's not for you and that would be a shame. Choosing the right metal clay to start with may feel a little daunting as there are a few different brands and many different metals available including fine silver, sterling silver, bronze, copper, gold, brass and steel. As a newcomer to metal clay you might look at the prices of these clays and think, well copper and bronze are cheapest so I'll start with them. I think this is a ...

This blog post  is being reblogged (and slightly modified) and was originally written for the London Jewellery School blog and published on 27th May 2014 Silver and gold metal clays have been obtainable since the 1990s but other metal clays are now on the scene. Here is some information about what is available. Pieces made by me from PMC silver clay Silver Silver clay is a putty like substance made up of silver particles, a binder and some water. It can be rolled, textured and worked in a similar way to ceramic clays. Once it is dried it can be fired with a butane torch or in a kiln. The resulting piece is 999 fine silver and of hallmark quality. The two main manufacturers of silver clay are Aida (Art Clay) and Mitsubishi (PMC) . I have used both clay types and tend to buy whichever is cheaper at the time! I don’t have a particular preference. Silver clay is available in different forms - lump clay, syringe, paste and paper. Sterling silver Sterling silver i...

It looks like 2012 is shaping up to be a great year for metal clay masterclasses in the UK. Here are those that I know of. Please do comment on this post if you know of any others that I have missed as I may want to book on myself! Joy Funnell Joy Funnell specialises in metal clay and enamelled pieces. I have been fortunate enough to have a one to one class with Joy and I would highly recommend all of her masterclasses. This year she's going from one end of the country to the other! Discoidal rings copyright Joy Funnell Discoidal rings with enamelled accents by Joy Funnell 19th - 20th March Mid Cornwall School of Jewellery Copyright Joy Funnell Joyful jewellery with enamelled accents 21st - 22nd March Mid Cornwall School of Jewellery Copyright Joy Funnell Feathered friends with enamelled accents and keum boo 11th - 12th August Craftworx Jewellery Workshop, East Yorkshire Terry Kovalcik Terry Kovalcik is coming over from the US to ...

The metal clay community is very excited about the development of sterling silver metal clay. Lisa Cain, who runs the Mid Cornwall School of Jewellery, worked hard to develop a sterling silver clay from commercially available silver and copper clay. In the press release Lisa Cain said 'My motivation for developing this new option was the very real need for this type of clay, especially here in the UK where hallmarking laws influence the materials we artists can use credibly in our commercial work.' The recipe, firing schedule and test results will be published in the April edition of Metal Clay Artist magazine (volume 2 issue 2). Lisa has said that she is not interested in making money from her discovery and that her 'interest is set firmly on innovation' and 'artistry in metal clay'. As a student at the MCSJ I was fortunate to see a few pieces that had been made from this clay last week. I am looking forward to reading the full article in the magazine soon. ...

I spent a very informative and experimental weekend learning how to use Bronze and Copper Clay at the Mid Cornwall School of Jewellery which is fast becoming my second home! The tutor was Carol Douglas who showed us some of her work which was both inspiring and intimidating! There were four of us on the course, with varying experience (I was probably the least experienced of us all). Carol spent some time at the beginning of the first day explaining about the issues of using bronze and copper clay. They aren't as easy to fire as silver clay, with most types having to be kiln fired in charcoal. Results can still be mixed and pieces can end up needing to be fired again. Because of our experience Carol let us loose on lots of different projects at the same time in order to experiment with the clays. I found this really helpful because I was able to try out lots of different techniques that I wouldn't normally try in order to see what came out well. I made a number of differen...