I stumbled across these photos of a vase I made in early 2007.  I had just gotten into polymer clay and was toying with the idea of  layering the clay on a glass vase.  Of course, I couldn’t start with a small vase.  No, I had to commit myself to a 14″ tall piece, and I wanted to make it a gift for my best friend, so it needed to be really good.

I learned so much in the making of this vase, and I applied that knowledge to a series of really cool polymer-covered glass pieces.  My friend still displays the vase proudly in her living room.  It was created with highly translucent clay, which makes it a beautiful, glowing candle holder.  This isn’t the best photo, but you get the idea.

I was always into crafts, but never considered myself an “artist” in my younger years.  I think this was the first piece that made me believe there might be an artist hiding deep inside me.  It still makes my heart seize up a bit to see these photos and remember how that felt. Do you remember the first time you felt that burst of pride in your artwork?  Do you remember the piece?  I would love to hear your stories.

A friend asked me to create a custom pair of earrings for her.  She had a pair that she loved, but they were made of cheap materials and were starting to look quite worn, and well, cheap.  I didn’t feel comfortable making a direct copy of these earrings, but we talked about how I could interpret the design in fine silver, change things up a bit, and hopefully create a new pair that she would love even more.

This design is WAY outside my comfort zone.  Seriously, left to my own creative whims, I would never have created something like this.  I like the design, it’s just not my style.  The good news is that I had to push myself to figure out creative engineering solutions and develop new skills to complete this project. I have a love/hate relationship with custom orders for exactly this reason.  I always learn something new, but custom orders frustrate me more than anything else I create.

I thought it would be useful to me (and hopefully to you) to recount the techniques I attempted, the problems I encountered and the lessons I learned along the way.

• My first attempt was to use 16 ga fine silver wire embedded in a pad of wet clay on the backs of the greenware butterflies.  I learned two valuable lessons.  First, a long stretch of 16 ga fine silver wire will not work harden to my standards of durability.  I considered using a heavier fine silver wire, but the wire was just too bulky for the scale of the other elements.  Second, if you hit a CZ with a hammer, it will shatter in place and become an instant cloudy mess.  Duh!
• My second attempt was to solder argentium wire to the fired butterflies.  Through my research, I learned that you can get argentium paste solder, which is useful for ensuring that the solder is as tarnish resistant as the wire.  I don’t have much soldering experience, and I apparently got the piece too hot, which once again cracked the cz.  I probably could have made this work with practice, but was unsure how many butterflies I might ruin in the process.  But, I now have argentium solder in my toolkit whenever I need it in the future.
• The third attempt was the winner.  I used argentium wire and embedded them into pads of wet clay on the backs of the greenware butterflies.  I had to reduce the firing temperature to accommodate the argentium, but I think it was a good trade off.
• I also got some practice with creating photopolymer plates.  I was taught to first create a transparency, then develop the  design in TNF (thermo negative film) and then use the TNF to create the photopolymer plate.  I think this process was developed because most transparencies don’t come off the printer with rick, dark blacks.  Mine tend to be a bit muddy.  The TNF creates a nice, crisp black and clear image with really solid blacks.  But, in my opinion, the TNF step is a time-consuming pain in the neck.  So, I experimented with my butterfly image to see if I could skip the TNF.  I printed 2 of the images at exactly the same size, printed them to transparency, and then stacked them up.  I had to fiddle with them to get the transparencies perfectly aligned, and then I taped them together.  This created a nice, solid image and it created a perfect photopolymer plate.  Admittedly, I’m probably not the first person to figure this out, but it was a real “aha” moment for me!

I really hope my friend likes the earrings.  I will be very happy to deliver them and cross this project off my list, and I know it will make me smile every time I see her wearing them.

Sometimes I’m a little slow to catch on.  I’ve learned from a bunch of talented teachers.  I’ve read dozens of books and hundreds of blog posts about metal clay techniques.  I’ve watched demos and online videos.  I know I’ve heard this before.  So, how did it take over a year for me to really “get” the power of an almost dry brush?  I was so obsessed with the power of a wet brush, that I guess I overlooked its less moist cousin.  But this week, in a fit of production, I discovered a dozen ways to use a nearly dry brush to smooth out the rough spots without causing a wash out.  I often joke that my pieces suffer from “too much love”.  I fuss with them too much, getting pieces too thin, and washing out lovely textures that would have been better off left alone.  So, if you haven’t gotten friendly with that almost dry brush, I strongly encourage you to give it a try.

Some of my online friends commented on the neatness of my worktable in my studio tour photos. Well, here’s what it really looks like when I’m on a roll.  Notice the stack that starts with a pencil box, includes two trays and a sketchbook with a few fresh-from-the-kiln pieces scattered on top.  This technique is essential for working in a small space.

I’m going to order one of those crisp little maker’s mark stamps from Babette Cox, but I wanted to do a bit of testing first to be sure I do it right.  For example, do I want my mark to be embossed or debossed, or in simpler terms, will the letters be “inny” or “outty”?  How large do I want the mark to be?  Do I want to replicate my handwritten “WMc” I’ve been using for years, or use my logo font to make it look more finished?  My solution to having so many unanswered questions was to create a few small photopolymer plates to test out my ideas.  Here’s where I landed.  I used the font and I dropped the little “c”, but might just add it back.  I prefer to have the letters raised in the impression.  And, I need the whole thing to be really teeny, like 1/4″ across.  I can cut out the piece with a tiny circle cutter, which aligns it with my brand.  I’m not sure anyone else will notice this, but it makes a big difference to me.  I’m going to work with this plate for a while until I’m sure I like the results in all applications before I order the stamp.

I’ve been working on a pair of dragons.  I’m taking a more planned approach to the carving and I really like the results.  Here are the dragons in the greenware state before going into the kiln.  I also took a quick shot of the larger dragon with the luscious patina.  I get really pretty colors by adding salt and ammonia to the liver of sulfur solution.  I’m also learning the art of when to stop.  Even after you dunk the piece in cold water and transfer to a cup of water loaded with baking soda, the color continues to develop.  It really is part science and part art.  This piece polished up beautifully and those gorgeous purple hues stayed in the carved areas.  I’ll show the finished piece soon.