Edinburgh jeweller

I love learning new things from experts so was really pleased when I saw that Joy Funnell was going to be teaching her chain sampler class at Creative Glass in Rochester, UK. I have previously blogged about when I did a one to one tutorial with her on enamelling on silver clay (which you can read about here) so I know she is a great teacher! I was happy that the class was taking place in Rochester as this is close enough to travel to in one day (although when I booked I didn't know about the engineering works which made progress slower!). I had a fabulous day learning and practicing lots of different techniques including soldering fine wire and adding lots of different metal clay elements. I'm really pleased with the results which you can see here and I've got loads of ideas for what to do next!

As usual, there are some really interesting masterclass teachers teaching in the UK in 2015 and some of the classes start soon! Visitors include Holly Gage Donna Penoyer Michael Marx Terry Kovalcik Lora Hart Anna Mazon To see images of their work and for more information about the classes click on the image from pinterest below. I will keep updating the pinterest board as and when I hear about visitors so do follow the board to keep up to date Follow Anna Campbell's board Metal clay masterclasses in the UK on Pinterest.

This blog post was first published for the London Jewellery School blog . I have made a few slight changes here. I met my first serious boyfriend at university when I did my undergraduate degree. Among other things he called me a ‘paper chaser’, someone who loves the validation of a certificate. We split up years ago when I had one degree. I do now have five so maybe he had a point. As a tutor at the London Jewellery School , teaching beginners and intermediate classes, I am rather obsessed with continual betterment (I suspect you didn’t need to live with me for six years to work that one out). I am one of ten people in the world (so far) to achieve the higher diploma in metal clay at the Mid Cornwall School of Jewellery. I also have qualifications in both of the main metal clay brands, Art Clay and PMC. While it’s true that I do like a certificate, it’s mostly because it is proof of attainment of a certain level of skill. More important to me than the piece of paper is to ...

Last week I attended a two day wire wrapping class with Lisa Barth. She is an American metal clay and jewellery artist. I have attended a class with her before and really love her wire work style. The masterclass was hosted by Tracey Spurgin of Craftworx in her excellent teaching studio. On the first day we learnt how to do the wire wrap stitch and we made earrings. The trick with this is to make two the same! Not easy. Wire wrapped earrings On the second day we used the skills we'd learnt to make a wire wrapped pendant. I chose to use a boulder opal that my friend Kate had brought from her stone stash. You can't really see in the photo but it has some lovely neon flecks of blue. I also decided to stretch myself and add seed beads to the wire wrap. Wire wrapped boulder opal pendant It was difficult to get the wire to fit just right around the stone but Lisa was on hand to help and tell me what small adjustments were needed. I'm really pleased with the fin...

As usual we are fortunate in the UK to welcome some visiting jewellery tutors this year. Here are some of the exciting classes that are running At the Cornwall School of Art, Craft and Jewellery Barbara Becker Simon is visiting in April to teach  The Maltese cross in metal clay In August Terry Kovalcik with be teaching Carving unique elements and the hidden locket masterclass In October Michael David Sturlin will be teaching two classes - beyond the bezel and torch and metal At Craftworx in Yorkshire Lisa Barth is returning this year to teach three workshops - wirework pendant and earrings. photograph your jewellery and the marble pendant Holly Gage and Tracey Spurgin are running the Midsummer's dream metal clay retreat in June In September Michael Marx is visiting with his kinetic sea creatures workshop Joy Funnell is travelling the country! She is teaching her juxtasposing ring class at Craftworx in September. She is also teaching ring making with r...

I have been very fortunate to be able to attend masterclasses in metal clay with a number of fantastic artists. I spend a large proportion of my income on doing this as it is my passion and I know that by spending a couple of days with someone you learn so much more than you ever will from a book (although I love books too!) I am now looking at the masterclasses for 2014 (I'll write about those in a future post!) but I thought I would think over what the artists I have studied with so far have taught me. Not just techniques as there have been too many of those to list, but a general ethos to inspire and inform my work. Julia Rai is a British metal clay artist, fantastic teacher and director at the Cornwall School of Arts Craft and Jewellery . She was the first person in the world to achieve Metal Clay Masters registry level 4 (there are 5 levels). I have taken five accredited courses with her and have learnt more every time. I think the main thing I have taken from studyin...

Copyright Anna Mazon 2013 This weekend I was so fortunate to be able to attend a metal clay masterclass from Anna Mazon . Anna is a Saul Bell Award finalist for 2013 and I have admired her beautiful work for a long time, so when I heard she was going to be teaching the Herbarium pendant class at Lynne Glazzard's studio in Yorkshire I jumped at the chance. Her pieces look even more stunning in the flesh. The detail and precision of this tiny work is amazing. Anna Mazon demonstrating The class was two days long and we worked at a good pace, first designing our pendant and template, making the piece for the stone and learning to make vines. On the second day we finished decorating our pendants with leaves, flowers and acorns - all under Anna's expert guidance. At lunchtime the pieces were fired and we then worked on the bezel setting for the stone.    Lynne Glazzard's studio in North Yorkshire was wonderful. The setting in the dales was beautiful and the studio...

I was very fortunate to be able to attend Lisa Barth 's masterclass in making a leather silver clay cuff this week at Craftworx studio , Yorkshire. I am vegetarian so didn't want to use leather but I am very interested in the technique so I brought a faux leather along to try out. Lisa is an inspiring teacher who focuses on design decisions and I really enjoyed talking with her. I was staying in the same B&B as her and enjoyed our discussions at breakfast. I was also lucky enough to be shown the stone set pieces she brought along and have now bought her book 'Designing from the Stone' (which is available from Amazon). I found the class very inspiring. I was disappointed with the faux leather I had brought along as it looked very plasticky compared to the beautiful pieces being created by my fellow students. However, I really enjoyed learning the techniques and got a lot out of the class. I have already sourced some more authentic faux leather and s...

Wow! There are so many excellent silver clay and jewellery making masterclasses being run in the UK this year! Here are the ones that I have found. Please do add a comment below if there are any that I have forgotten. It's definitely worth regularly checking the Metal Clay Academy events page as this is a great source of information for all things metal clay. Lisa Barth Copyright Lisa Barth Lisa Barth is visiting Tracy Spurgin's excellent workshop, Craftworx in Yorkshire. I spent three blissful days there last year at Terry Kovalcik 's masterclass. Lisa Barth will be doing two masterclasses Leather cuff 3rd-4th April Designing from the stone 5th-7th April Anna Mazon Copyright Anna Mazon Anna Mazon is visiting Lynne Glazzard this year. Herbarium open pendant 11th-12th May Patrik Kusek Copyright Patrik Kusek Patrik Kusek is visiting the Mid Cornwall School of Jewellery and teaching a number of masterclasses as well as the Rio Rewards cert...

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 ...