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Dear Metal Clay Enthusiast,
Hello! Welcome to the June newsletter from the Metal Clay Academy. We've been having a little shake up here at MCA and I have been tasked with the regular newsletter. We're hoping to have a more structured approach to the newsletters, with one coming out every couple of months and we want a lot more involvement from YOU - our readers! So in this newsletter, we have the following regular features; Class ReviewRead what Amanda Ellis had to say about her few days training with Barbara Becker Simon, before leaving the UK on secondment to Canada. Featured ArtistThis issue we speak to the hugely talented Carol Douglas who has just had her work featured at British Silver Week and won a prize for her efforts! What's Your Inspiration?Ever stuck for ideas or wondered where an artist gets that idea from? Well we asked Leigh Armstrong what inspired her to make her spectacular Spicules piece. Did you know?Highlighting a specific area of the MCA website - it's a big place and we want you to find the information you need! So please feel free to drop us an email with any suggestions you may have. Best wishes Emma Gordon Look out for our next newsletter for July/August at the beginning of August and if you want to be included - get in touch!
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Did you know?
This
section of our newsletter is aimed at highlighting all those hidden
gems, that we believe are on the MCA website. Each issue we'll take a new
section and give you a little bit of encouragement to go and read.
This
issue, we are looking at our Selling Your Jewellery section
Many of you
out there are playing with your metal clay just for fun, but some of you
might be interested in pushing that a little bit further. You can sell
your jewellery in your local craft shop or boutique store, but you may
save money and have more control if you sell via the internet.
On
the Help with Selling your Jewellery page, we list what we think are
the best websites to help you do just that. Remember each website is
different and there will be different cost implications. so you will
have to do your research to make sure you get the website that suits
your needs.
Along side the selling issue is the pricing issue. I
get asked this question a lot and it can be a really tricky one to
answer since there are a lot of variables. Check out this link for Jewelry Lessons for a couple articles and advice on
this time consuming subject!
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News
Do you know that
the MCA website is updated regularly with the latest news from the metal
clay world? Have a look at our home page for
news on:
- New clay advances by the very clever Hadar Jacobson.
We have a brand new white bronze clay and now she's developed a pearl
grey steel clay. We will be sure to update you once we've had a play!
- Latest
announcements and events like:
- The PMC Conference in the US
- 29th July - 1st Aug 2010
- The Art Clay Conference in the UK -
16th - 19th September 2010
- The Metal Clay World Conference -
14th - 16th July 2011
If you have anything of
interest happening, please let us know so we can update the website. We
have lots of visitors each month, so what better way to advertise that
special masterclass or that up and coming exhibition? |
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What's Your Inspiration?
We have been busy on
your behalf! We spoke to Leigh Armstrong of Magick Minx Productions and
asked her if she had a favourite piece which she could tell us about.
Here's what she said.
Leigh provided us with a piece
called Spicules from her
Rock(pool) Chick collection.
 Necklace
with PMC, rough crystals, semi precious stones and pearls. It is
finished with silk ribbon.
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herself, who loves to
work in an environment which has loud and all consuming music, this Sea
inspired theme is something she's been exploring for quite a while. She
says
that she loves being by the sea as it's the only time when she feels she
can
rest her mind and sleep properly - which makes for a calm and peaceful
environment in which to find inspiration. Not surprisingly, this love of
the
sea comes from happy childhood memories; memories of spending lots of
time with
her grandparents, who lived on a converted war boat, moored at Hayling Island.
Every day Leigh spent her time either in the sea or searching for
interesting
and weird things on the beach or in the nearby rock pools. This
obsession means
that even now she cannot leave a beach without filling her pockets with
bits
and pieces she has found. Leigh's sources of inspiration,
apart from her sea themed
fascination, she tells us are quite diverse. She admires metal clay
artists
such as Gordon Uyehara, Hattie Sanderson and Mary Ann Devos. She has
lots of
creative people in her life that she's lucky enough to count amongst her
friends, her 'Creature Teacher' Carol Douglas (see our article on her
work in
this issue) and Sally Carver, one of the UK's best glass artists. She
also
counts Walt Disney as an inspiration for the magical world he created
inside
and outside her head! The inspiration for this
particular design, she quite
happily admits came from a student when she was teaching.
She saw the tiny sea urchin and knew exactly
what this necklace would look like. Leigh says that she often takes
inspiration
from those she teaches, because they often come up with amazing ideas.
She
chose the Spicules necklace because she believes that it is
representative of
her work and her fascination with all things sea-like!  Leigh likes the power of the sea, the crashing waves, craggy rocks, limpets and
barnacles so considers her work organic and patinated rather than 'shiny and
pretty'!
To see more of
Leigh's work, please go to her website.
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Featured Metal Clay Artist
This
issue we have been lucky enough to have a chat with the very talented
Carol Douglas who agreed to share her musings and inspirations.
Originally
hailing from Kormaksa, Carol grew up in Newcastle. She spent her first
working years as a teacher, gaining her degree in
Education from Newcastle University followed by a Masters degree in
Education from Southampton University a few years later. Although she
enjoyed teaching, she found
that the creative aspect of her personality was submerged and she was
unable to
indulge it to a level that made her happy and fulfilled. Since
finding metal clay about three years ago, it has opened up
a whole new exciting creative world for her which she says is now an
obsession.
Describing her style as organic, she works with all metal clays, but
prefers
silver to the rest, describing it as 'the most elegant of metals'. Carol
uses
both PMC and ACS, indeed she is a member of both the PMC and the ACS
Guilds,
describing the difference between the two as 'only in the way you work
with
them'. Carol doesn't limit herself to jewellery making, she has also
recently
finished making some silverware for an installation at British Silver
Week, for
which she won a well deserved award. Carol
doesn't have her own studio as such, just an
increasing area of her house which has been taken over by all things
metal
clay. She says that she never gets stuck for inspiration, living in the
beautiful New Forest; she is always thinking of the local myths and
legends,
looking out at the wonderful wildlife and vegetation that surrounds her
where
she lives. After years of pent up creativity, living in such a beautiful
environment
have allowed the floodgates to open! When
working on her pieces, Carol says that they can take on
a life of their own, they often have a story which can evoke a strong
reaction
from her - she admits these are the pieces that are difficult to part
with. A
constant design theme that she keeps returning to is her Moon Moth Saga,
she says that the moon reminds her of the silver she works with and the
moths are feminine and mystical which is a theme throughout her
work. Although
having a lot of experience in the art of sculpting, Carol has not had
traditional training in silversmithing or metal work. This, she says can
cause
some challenges. It is a steep learning curve but one that she's
enjoying. So,
with that in mind it might come as no surprise to find that her
favourite tools
to work with are a very sharp scalpel, a good synthetic paintbrush and a
sharp
cocktail stick! Carol admits to being a bit of a tool 'junkie', but
finds that
these are the three tools that she cannot be without. Carol
says that she finds a driving need to tell her stories
in her work. She has loved discovering metal clay and that she's never
been as
happy in her creative life as she is now. Metal clay as a medium has
opened up
a world of possibilities to bring her stories well and truly to life. More of
Carol's work can be found on her website.
She offers classes in a wide variety of mediums, sells her work and
takes
commissions. |
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Working With Clay
Technical Corner
We
thought that it might be a good idea to start offering some articles
about some of the more specific aspects of working with Metal Clay. So
in the up and coming newsletters we will be having articles on subjects
like;
- Working with Bronze and Copper clay
- Making your own texture sheets
- Stone setting
- Ring making
If there's anything specific you would like to see in this section, email us! We are always happy to hear from you. |
Class Review
Have
you recently attended a class which you felt you wanted to shout about?
The class was so good that you just had to share? Well let us know here
at the Metal Clay Academy and we might just ask you loads of questions
about it! This issue, we did just that with Amanda Ellis who attended Barbara Becker Simon's Complex Beads and
Textures Masterclass in January 2010 held at the Mid Cornwall School of Jewellery.
What made you choose this class? I really
enjoyed my last course at the MCSJ so always keep an eye on what's
coming up on the calendar there. Also, I had already bought
Barbara Becker Simon's book, Metal Clay Beads, and had attempted to make
my
first lentil bead. So when I saw that Barbara was teaching at MCSJ the
weekend
before I was starting work in Canada, I knew that my attendance on this
course
was meant to be!
What do you
think was the purpose of this class?
To teach some of the
more difficult aspects of producing high quality metal clay beads such
as
constructing 90 degree (or other) angles, and blending patterns where
two edges
meet. Some of the course was more technical whereas other aspects
focused on
the attention to detail for that really professional-looking finished
bead.
What did you make?
I made three pieces; a
free-form piece made by draping a
sheet of textured clay over a copper armature, a trapezoid bead and a
picture frame bead featuring one of my cats, Oscar.  Amanda's favourite piece featuring Oscar What was the
best tip you picked up in the class?
My favourite tip is how to get your bead
looking
like those seams were made to be together - filling gaps with slip,
flicking
off the excess and carefully using a sharp knife to continue patterns
right to
the edge of the clay.
What was
the best part of the class?
The moment that my picture frame bead was finally
assembled, and I realised that I had mastered a technique I could use
again on
my own at home.  Reverse side of the Oscar bead Tell us about your tutor.
Barbara has an adaptive
teaching style. She brings
the class participants together for demonstrations but is then very
supportive
of whatever each individual person wants to achieve.
Would you attend another class with Barbara?
Yes.
Absolutely.
What was the venue?
MCSJ is located in
Cornwall. This makes it a long
way from most places in the UK. It's well worth the drive though, set in
lovely
rural surroundings, with plenty of good B&Bs in the area. The studio
itself
is well equipped and has everything you need.
Has what you learned changed the way you
work? How?
One
thing I did learn is that taking the time to
make those edges razor-sharp, or the seams perfectly blended, is really
worthwhile.
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