Flying things

As you can see I am still thinking of things with wings!

This is the rough and freshly cut out stage sitting on my hotplate. I have rolled out my little bats over my texture sheet drawn in scratch foam. This is the same piece of scratch foam I used to make various bat pendants and charms a few months ago – I keep them little scratch foam textures safely in a small plastic box so they don’t get damaged or gain additional unintended textures. Having rolled the shape I quickly cut around with my pin tool. This time I have also cut into the wings. I shaped it slightly and then set to dry. When it is completely dried I then work on refining the edges, usually using a baby wipe. Occasionally I do file and sand pieces but not very much as I like to keep the dust to a minimum.

My tip for sanding and keeping the silver clay dust is to keep my sponge sanding pad in a small plastic lidded box. The box is not much larger than the sanding pad and I generally leave it in the box, just remove the box lid to do my sanding and then clip the lid back on. This way the dust is kept contained and clean. If you do a lot of sanding then you perhaps you should consider wearing a dust mask to avoid breathing in any of the very fine particles of silver clay?

The small textured piece to the left hand side of the above photo is a test piece for enamelling. Sometimes when I get to the end of a pack of silver clay and just have a little left I will roll it out with a texture, fire, finish and then keep it. Then when I need to test new enamel colours I will have a silver bit prepared. At the moment I have a few new colours that need testing so this little piece is waiting for firing ready to use.

I am still working on moth ideas and here are a couple of sketches on tracing paper ready to transfer onto scratch foam.

Here are a pair of small moths, drying in their clay state – a lot of work still to do before they become a piece of jewellery!

There are two introductory courses coming up at the Pannett Art Gallery in Whitby and they are great value – the perfect opportunity to try out enamelling! To book either of these phone the Pannett Art Gallery on 01947 600933. They will require a deposit and places are limited so book quickly. If they happen to be full please contact me or leave a comment here as if there is enough interest it may be possible to arrange more dates.

Tuesday 7th August Introduction to cloisonné enamelling at Pannett Art Gallery, Whitby -
£55 per person

Saturday 11th August 2012 Introduction to enamelling on copper at Pannett Art Gallery with Tilly Wilkinson – £55 per person

I have the following classes coming up in my own studio in Glaisdale. There are also a few weekday dates available in August and September if you want to do a particular class such as ring making, hollow silver beads or setting beach glass – just get in touch to arrange something to suit.

Saturday 18th August 2012 Introduction to Art Clay Silver £145

Saturday 22nd September 2012 Introduction to Art Clay Silver £145

Saturday 20th and Sunday 21st October 2012, a two day workshop. Cloisonné enamel on art clay silver with Lynne Glazzard £350. On the first day you will design and make a silver pendant, learning about design for enamel. On the second day you will prepare and apply wire patterns followed by thin layers of enamel, firing each layer in turn. You will then learn methods for finishing the piece to a high standard. The course includes small amounts of enamel, enough to complete the project.

Saturday 27th October 2012 Introduction to Art Clay Silver £145

Thursday 8th and Friday 9th November 2012 – two day workshop. Glass and art clay silver combination beads with Lynne Glazzard £360. On the first day you will learn to apply a variety of art clay silver products to the surface of glass beads before firing and annealing them in the kiln. On day two you will make some art clay silver beads to complement the glass beads before finishing them all to a high standard. Some glass beads are included in the course fee but not the art clay silver. A detailed materials list will be supplied in advance but you will need approximately 20g Art Clay 650; 10g Syringe type, Art Clay Silver Overlay paste

Terms and conditions 50% deposit required to confirm a place, balance payable by cheque or cash 7 days prior to the first day of the class.

7 days notice of cancellation of a booking is required so that we can resell the workshop place.
In the event of cancellation more than 7 days before the class the deposit can be carried over to another mutually convenient date.
Cancellation by the student less than 7 days prior to a workshop will result in forfeit of your deposit and course fee
Each class has a maximum number of places available and a minimum number before it can run. If we have to cancel a workshop we will give as much notice as possible and a place will be offered for an alternative workshop at a future date. Refunds will be given in the event of tutor illness or insufficient numbers booked for a workshop.
We reserve the rights to vary these terms and conditions at any time.

The studio is based in the beautiful village of Glaisdale approximately 12 miles from Whitby on the North Yorkshire Moors.