Donna Penoyer has many strings to her bow. As well as being a fabulous metal clay artist and one of Tonya Davidson's muses on her Whole Lotta Whimsy Master Muses series, she is also a stilt walker and 'party starter'. Her alter ego 'Carmen Banana' she declares, is all Donna but performing  as Carmen can 'set free parts of my personality that long to enter the world' and can sometimes feature in her inspiration, reinforcing her optimism and hope that come from interacting with people in this way.

So when we asked Donna to talk about a specific piece, we thought she might be challenged, since there's a lot to talk about. But that didn't seem to be a problem - she selected her 'Anchor Whistle' piece for us.  

Donna's Anchor Whistle

Why this particular piece? She confesses that she loves an engineering challenge and that she started looking at whistles in order to figure out how they worked. The one we have featured is a particularly challenging whistle since it creates two distinct notes and has a very ornate mouthpiece. Donna tells us that when she started investigating whistles and their use, there was a whole world of cultural associations that she hadn't previously been aware of. She says that when you start to 'consider native peoples' connections between breath, sound, air and the divine', there is a wealth of material to explore and feed your imagination. She also has a very personal connection to the whistle, stating that it is 'a metaphorical amulet or talisman that helps me through life.'

Top view of the whistle

The Anchor Whistle piece is a continuation of a theme which Donna has been exploring with her recent pieces. Some of you may recognise the whistle ring 'Journey Companion' which had pride of place on the front cover of the PMC Guild Annual in 2009.

Donna's iconic ring

She loves using sea and river references in her work, since she believes it is a metaphor for the creative process. The anchor, for Donna represents a support to her equilibrium rather than keeping her in one place.

Donna used PMC3 for her design, telling us that this is actually her preferred version of metal clay since it is very elastic; PMC3's pliable consistency was ideal for bending around curves without cracking.  In order to get her rounded hollow forms, she makes removable polymer clay armatures especially for the project she is working on. In the Anchor Whistle project,  she used plastic plumbing pipes to achieve the crescent shaped sides.

A self-confessed 'homebody with introspective tendencies', Donna says that she has to remind herself to pay attention to what's going on around her. When she does that, she is rewarded with inspiration. But she says that it's not all about sitting and thinking - she has to work a bit harder than that, she needs to sit and do; pulling materials together and saying 'what if'. Her ideas will come whilst her hands are busy and her heart is open.

So who inspires her? Well it seems, the list is long, since she has a wide range of interests. Being a reformed poet she is moved by artists who pay attention to their materials and listen to what they have to say. Donna is hesitant to name anyone in the jewellery world since there are countless people whose work she enjoys, but if she was forced to live on a desert island with only one person's jewellery it would have to be Celie Fago's. Donna says that Celie's work was her first glimpse of metal clay and its possibilities and now, having done several workshops with Celie, she says that she has learned an enormous amount about using metal clay from her. Celie's jewellery she says 'would keep me dreaming and making things.'

More of Donna's work can be seen at her website  and if you're in the UK, then check out details for a Masterclass Donna is teaching on whistles at the Craftworx studio in Yorkshire from the 16^th - 18^th of April.

Featured Metal Clay Artist
Chris Pate

Chris Pate has been working with metal clay since 2002, when she discovered it whilst in the middle of a four year metalworking course at Bristol College of Art. Up until that point she had found it challenging  to bring her organic designs to life with traditional metal smith techniques and

so PMC presented a whole host of new possibilities that were very exciting.

Since completing her metal smith training, Chris has taught metal clay alongside traditional jewellery making methods at her studio in Somerset; a job which she loves and feels very privileged to do, since it allows her to encourage others to find that sometimes 'lost art' of being creative.

Chris Pate. Masters Registery Entry

Very recently Chris has gained her level one in the Metal Clay Masters Registry, an international achievement of which she is rightly proud. Up until that point, she had been working predominantly with silver, occasionally adding gold for colour and interest, but she tells us that the Masters Registry tasks have challenged her to use different metal clays and processes that she would not ordinarily work with.

Master's Registry Syringe Project.

When asked about her style, Chris says that this was something that gave her considerable angst at the start of her jewellery making career, since she felt that she didn't have a particular look.  However, as time passed and she started to understand what she liked and didn't like and how this influenced her designs, her style evolved naturally without too much effort. She describes her style now as elegant and classic saying that she never designs anything that she would not be comfortable wearing herself, a rule of thumb which she applies to all her work including commissions. She firmly believes that if you are true to yourself, your designs will come easily and you will enjoy the process far more than if you undertake to make pieces that don't fit your style.   

Masters Registry Syringe Project

However, that doesn't mean that Chris doesn't enjoy a challenge; participating in the Masters Registry and taking part in exhibitions stretches her technically and creatively and allows her the freedom to experiment without any commercial constraints.  

Experimentation she states,  is something that is crucial for an artist as well as being able to produce commercially viable work.

Chris has a wonderful purpose built studio which is only just across the road from her home and which makes her situation almost ideal. Her studio has evolved over the years and now has two floors, the downstairs area is a metal working studio with six jewellers' benches and the upstairs is a metal clay area with six workstations.   

Even though she lives just across the road from this perfect setup, she admits this can be a disadvantage and on non-teaching days she sometimes finds it a challenge to get to her workplace and start the creative process. When this happens she tells us that she reminds herself of a quote on her wall by Chuck Close which essentially says 'Get to work and ideas and inspiration will come out of that process!'. Chris says that this invariably gets her moving and once there, she finds it easy to get started and immersed in her work.

Her main challenge when working is not to over complicate a design. Chris admits that sometimes when she knows how she wants a piece to look it can technically become so difficult that the essence of the piece can be lost. That said, she loves the 'problem solving' aspect of jewellery making and happily divulges that she keeps a notebook by the side of her bed, because solutions generally come to her in the middle of the night! Getting stuck for ideas however, is not a problem she faces often, if ever. More often than not, it's getting the time to develop the ideas that frustrates her.

Chris's all-time favourite piece is something that was made after a difficult personal loss. Her beloved stepfather died after a long illness and Chris felt the urge to create something to commemorate the man whom she loved and respected so dearly. The result was a piece called 'The Tree of Life'; a brooch with its own stand, made from silver wire, gold and silver clay and sapphire drops. She says that this piece represented the gift of life her stepfather gave to others through his immense fundraising efforts.

Chris's Favourite Piece.

Chris's studio is always busy with a regular stream of students and like minded artists who use the space and she considers herself to be very lucky working in such a creative and positive environment. Whilst teaching takes up a considerable part of the week she also believes that it is important for any teacher to continue to design and make and she regularly exhibits and sells her work in shops and galleries.  

She loves the enthusiasm and camaraderie of the metal clay community and this and the dynamic advances in the field will ensure that metal clay will continue to play a major role in her studio and her jewellery making. 

You can see more of Chris's work at her website and if you are in the Somerset area and interested in attending one her workshops, click here for more information.