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Pam East Newsletter
Metal Clay & Enamel projects, tips & tricks, and general announcements
February 2008
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Greetings!
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Pam East
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~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Pam East to be Featured Artist at Georgia Gallery
Pam East will be the featured artist at Turning Leaf Wood Art Gallery in Blue Ridge, GA on Saturday, May 17th. Pam has the distinction of being one of our nations very few certified Master Clay Metal artists and has recently published her first book. She has some very exciting new pieces she will be revealing on the 17th! Pam will be on hand to demonstrate her art and talk about her work from Noon to 5pm. Please join us there! Saturday, May 17th Noon - 5pm Turning Leaf Wood Art GalleryA Fine Art Gallery 651 East Main Street Blue Ridge, Ga. 30513 PH# 706-632-6625
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~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ MY FAVORITE THINGS
Tools for Art Clay Silver
As you can imagine I have a LOT of tools in my studio. However, some of my favorites are the least expensive. Here's a partial list of the tools I find myself reaching for on a regular basis, and why. I've left off the more obvious tools such as rollers or craft knives, because most people using metal clay will already have those things.
1. Glass cutting board. I get cheap glass cutting boards from Wal-Mart, and I use the backside as my main work surface. The glass is thick and sturdy, and the backside is perfectly smooth (the frontside is nubbly, so you won't want to use that). A large cutting board of this type makes a great work area.
2. Teflex. This is a thin, flexible, non-stick sheet. It was developed for the commercial baking industry, but works great for metal clay. You don't want to roll your clay out directly onto glass because it would stick. Instead you place the Teflex on your glass work area, and roll the clay out on that. You can leave it on the Teflex to dry and then it will slide right off. Check out the resource page for metal clay tool suppliers. They all carry teflex.
3. Graduated Slat Set. To roll the clay out to an even thickness you need to be able to keep the ends of your roller up at a specific height. Many people use playing cards for this purpose. I tried the cards but found them less than satisfactory. They are wider than I like, taking up too much width on my desk, and so short I can't easily roll out long sections. Also, stacks of cards can slide around making them awkward to work with. Some people tape the cards together, but the tape itself can create uneven lumps or bumps when rolled over, and it still doesn't solve the problem of just not being long enough. A graduated slat set has 6 pairs of slats, each 6" long and 1" wide. Each pair is a different thickness and they range from .25mm to 2mm. They are color coded so you can see at a glance which is which. I find the red or blue pairs to be the ones I reach for the most often. They are 1.5mm and 1mm respectively. To use the slats, just place one on either side of your clay, then place the roller with the ends on the slats. By rolling in this way, you can roll the clay out to a perfectly even thickness every time. These slats are available on my website.
4. Sponge backed sanding pads. After the clay is dry, it can be sanded smooth. Sanding in this "greenware" stage goes a long way towards achieving a smooth mirror-finish on your work. While you can certainly use regular sandpaper, I find the sponge back pads to be much more effective. I like the thickness and flexibility of them. With them, I can smooth either flat or curved surfaces. They come in a variety of grits from coarse enough to smooth off very rough edges, to fine enough to actually polish the greenware. Art Clay World carries these.
5. Tidy Tray. When I'm working with greenware I always work over a tidy tray. Never forget that all the dust you sand, carve, or scrape off your piece is made up of almost pure silver. You don't want to lose a speck of it! By working over the tidy tray you capture all that dust. The tray has a funnel end, so you can pour it into a small jar to save it. Later you can add water to create your own paste or slip! Nothings ever wasted. Trays like this are available at most craft stores.
6. Rubber Block. I have two rubber blocks; one is 2" square, and the other is 2"x2"x4". I use the square block in my Tidy Tray. The piece I'm working on doesn't slide around as much on the block, and it raises up to a better working level. I'm still over the tidy tray, so I'm catching all the dust, but I don't have to try and sand things down inside the tray, which can be awkward. I use the long block for finishing after the piece is fired. Again, it prevents the piece from slide around and with the longer length I can get longer strokes in with my finish sanding and polishing. Again, available from most metal clay tool suppliers.
7. Sponge tip make-up applicators. Small and inexpensive, this one is often overlooked, but they are a great tool! Dampen the sponge and you can use them to easily smooth out superficial cracks and imperfection in the surface of your greenware. I use a double ended version that's pointed on one side, and round on the other. The pointed end is great for getting in to little nooks and crannies. The rounded end is good for smoothing out broader areas.
8. Really good paint brushes. Consider spending some money on your paint brushes. I keep an eye on Hobby Lobby, Michaels, and JoAnns for paint brush sales. You can often get them for 50% off. I don't buy "sets", but rather pick out the sizes and shapes I really use. I generally spend from $3 to $6 per brush. I don't use natural bristles; I found they deteriorated much to fast. I like the Golden Taklon bristles. This is a yellow, synthetic bristle that holds up very well to the clay. The shapes I like are Flat, Script/Liner, and Round, and the sizes vary from 0/10 to 2, although I also have up to an 8 in the Flat. These are very tiny brushes, but I'd be lost without them.
9. Magnavisor. When I'm working on an ACS piece I wear my magnifying visor. When working with greenware small pits, lumps, or other imperfections can be nearly impossible to see with the naked eye, but show up plain as day after the piece is fired. It's much easier to fix these types of problems in the greenware state, so looking through the visor is a must.
10. Ott-light (or other brand of daylight task light). Just like with the magnivsor, this comes down to being able to see what you are doing. You need a really true-color task light.
This is only a highlight of my favorite tools, of course, but it gives a pretty good over view. What are your favorite tools? Write to me and tell me about what you like to use with your metal clay projects. Next issue I'll publish some of the responses.
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~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ART CLAY SILVER CERTIFICATION CLASSES WITH PAM EAST
Level 1 Certification
September 15 - 18, 2008 or
December 1 - 4, 2008
This course provides a broad overview of the Art Clay products, and a wide range of techniques. Students complete 9 certification projects during the 4 day class. Each project is designed to teach a specific skill set. Upon successful completion of the course, students recieve a 35% discount on Art Clay Silver thereafter. Click the link above for more information.
Senior Certification
June 23 - 27, 2008
This course is open only to students who have successfully completed Level 1 certification, and are comfortable and confident with the level 1 skills. Students complete 7 certification projects during the 5 day class. These are advanced projects. Upon successful completion of the course, students are eligible to submit senior projects to Art Clay World for consideration. Those granted Senior status will receive a 42% discount on Art Clay Silver, and may teach certification courses. Click the link above for more information.
PMC to ACS Crossover Level 1 Certification
May 29, 2008
This course is open only to students who have PMC certification. Rio Rewards Level 1 certifcation, or PMC Connection Level 2 certification will be accepted. This one day class bridges the gap between PMC and Art Clay Silver. Students complete three projects using ACS specific products and findings. Upon successful completion of the course, students are Level 1 certified in Art Clay Silver and will recieve the same discounts and perks as regular level 1 students. Click the link above for more information.
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