Sophia is a traditional goldsmith and while she is not a full time metal clay artist, she loves experimenting with metal clay and ancient metalsmithing techniques to achieve aesthetically interesting reinterpretations of older more traditional forms. With this innovative approach it's hardly surprising that Sophia has had her metal clay work exhibited in this year's Crafthaus online exhibition called New Directions: Powder Metallurgy in a Sheet Metal World. She has also had several pieces included in the 2011 PMC Guild Annual, yet to be released.

Nicaea Gold Bangle

The piece she has decided to talk to us about is her Nicaea Gold Star Bangle, which featured in the Crafthaus exhibition and is part of a larger collection called Sphaeres and Granules. The idea for the Nicaea Series was actually a happy accident, she tells us. An unfired piece of metal clay fell onto a number of gold granules that were on her workbench ready for soldering onto another piece and the range was born. The name Nicaea comes from the ancient Byzantine city in Asia Minor. Sophia says "The domed centrepiece with the pearl, the richness and the symmetry of the granulation, the twisted wires of the bangle that encircle the wrist echo in my mind that city's gently curving cupolas, its golden mosaics and the skilled hands its master goldsmiths fashioning works of 'hammered gold' to adorn the 'lords and ladies of Byzantium.'" The piece is made from 22k gold clay and a South Sea pearl.  

Another piece in the Nicaea Collection

Sophia takes her inspiration from works made by the craftsmen of ancient times. She is in awe of their ability to create masterpieces with very few, simple tools. So it's no wonder her work has such successful combination of the old techniques and new innovative design. She also tells us that she is inspired by artists who treat their work as a calling. "The constant quest for the perfect marriage of form and technique of my teacher, goldsmith Dimitris Nikolaides, the amazing designs of Andy Cooperman's works and the wonderful balance and beauty of Michael David Sturlin's designs will always be sources of inspiration to me."

To see more of Sophia's beautiful work, click here.

TRACEY SPURGIN

Tracey discovered metal clay quite by accident in the summer of 2006, when she was actually looking for some other craft materials. She knew, she tells us 'that this was the product and the craft skill she had been looking for' and after trying it out for the very first time, Tracey says it became her passion and obsession. Almost 6 years later, she has established a successful business called Craftworx based in the lovely Yorkshire countryside and made her passion a full time occupation.

Tracey has always been 'arty'. In fact she was already a teacher in arts and crafts for local colleges and adult institutions before she came into contact with metal clay. But when the UK government agenda for adult education changed significantly, she found she was teaching less and decided to take working with metal clay to a whole new level. She became qualified as an Art Clay Senior Instructor, resigned her post at the college and went to work for herself as a Silver Clay instructor full time. 

And now, although she makes jewellery for local galleries and is involved in submitting work and projects to various publications, her priority she tells us is teaching. In fact, her main working challenge is to design pieces which show off skills and techniques in working with metal clay to its best advantage. This is to ensure that her students get the most out of the workshop when they are learning with Tracey. Designing pieces which are technically challenging for the student whilst being achievable in the time allocated to a workshop is always interesting she tells us, but it's a task which Tracey is most definitely up to.

Tracey's Spiral Ring

So which metal clay does she have an affinity with? Well up until very recently, it has always been the fine silver clay which she has enjoyed. But since the recent rises in silver, she has been experimenting in using copper clay to combine and complement the silver work. She confesses that this new aspect to her work has been a real voyage of discovery and has meant that she has had to make lots and lots of samples to achieve the results she wanted. And the technical aspects of getting silver and copper to work together have been another real challenge. But this work ethic really sums Tracey up; she is a person who devotes herself to the task in hand and practises and practises until she realises her goals. This is shown in one of her current favourite pieces, her hinged box, where ensuring that the hinge in her piece is integrated and still textured was a labour of love. But, as she tells us, she loves doing the tricky stuff!

When she is focusing on her students and her 'tricky stuff' she works in the idyllic setting of the Yorkshire Wolds, in fact she tells us, her studio is based on a working farm. 

The Boudoir Hinged Box

Her studio is in fact one of seven in a little community of artists and crafts people and she counts herself very lucky to be in such a close community, sharing ideas and experiences. The only real 'flaw' is when the cows on the farm are giving birth, which can break her concentration somewhat! So, does she ever get stuck for inspiration in this fantastic setting? No, she says, she rarely gets stuck for inspiration. This is because she is a secret collector and hoarder of 'stuff' and she has lots of boxes full of random things which she draws her inspiration from; including a shelf which she has named her 'Inspiration Station' and it currently holds a couple of shells, feathers, a wooden box, a large piece of horn and some seed pods! In fact, Tracey tells us, her biggest problem is not having the time to follow through with all her ideas.

So, what keeps Tracey going? She tells us, that if she has any philosophy to live by, it's to work hard and play hard. She keeps herself motivated by the journey of discovery of pieces to make and techniques still to learn. She loves the buzz of learning about a new tool or a new technique and thrives on trying new things and experimenting. She then shares that joy and excitement with her students and to be honest, isn't that the perfect attitude and philosophy of a natural born teacher?

To view more of Tracey's work or to have a look at the products and services she offers (she is the UK Distributor for Hadar's Metal Clays), click here.