Testing Art Clay Silver 950 Part 2

Part 2 of my Art Clay Silver 950 testing. Don't worry, there won't be a part 3 ;)

 

This will make a lot more sense if you have read Part 1 first, and if you've done that you will also know it is probably a good idea to grab a cup of tea before you start reading this time! Yes, it could be another long post! ;)

 

At the end of the last post I showed you two enamelled pieces. One was made out of AC950 (on the right) and depletion gilded. The one on the left was a circular piece of AC999 attached to a backing of AC950 and the two were fired together. I've now patinated these using Liver of Sulphur to bring up the textures. The LOS worked just fine, exactly as I would expect it to. Here they are all done. I love to patinate most things as it gives the textures definition and seems to make the enamel colours more vibrant :)

 

 

As I mentioned in the last blog post there is a difference between the shrinkage of AC950 and AC999. I've been trying to get a photo showing the slight doming on the piece on the left. As I've failed I decided to try a short video clip. I hope you might be able to see the domed effect in the centre of the back in this.

 

Next I made two more rings to see if the shrinkage seemed fairly consistent and also to try a few different techniques.

 

The first one is...um...a bit strange really! Why? Well I was using up the last bits of clay :D I forgot to take any process photos on this one so you'll have to stay with me here on a description.

 

 

I wanted to see how well the clay moulded. I twisted 2 strands of 1mm wire together and pressed it into two part moulding compound to make a long thin mould that I could use for a ring band. The clay moulded really well and cleanly. Then I added the front decoration. It looks kind of weird because it was all the bits I had left from all the other things I made. I'd made some tiny balls with little bits of clay and also I had two pieces left over for stone settings. I was going to use them on the first ring but changed my mind. So I set the two small barrel shapes with 2mm lab sapphires. I rolled out a tiny piece of clay .25mm (1 card) thick and once dry I added the ten tiny balls using water to join them. Once that piece was dry I sanded the tops off the balls to make that little piece in the middle.

Everything was joined using water only. After firing as per schedule I polished the ring and added some gold. Whenever I do keum boo I always totally polish the piece first then do the keum boo. The gold foil took really easily and without any issues.

Did I mention this was a tiny ring??? Actually it is a UK size N so perfectly wearable, just very thin!! Shrinkage was consistent with the first ring I made at 7 UK sizes. (As a side note I was amused to realise yet again I had created something vaguely bird like!!! or maybe I just see birds everywhere :D )

The third ring I made was more the sort of thing I would make normally. I started out with a snake of clay and then rolled it flat to 1.5mm (6 cards). I joined it into a flat band and once dry I carved it using a graver. I went with a quick simple starburst design to see how it felt. It carved very smoothly and cleanly. Lovely to work with!

 

Next I made a topper. I rolled out clay and textured a circle on both sides to .75mm (3 cards) thick. This is thinner than I would ever use in AC999 on a ring. I domed the circle by forming it over a 13mm bead to dry. Once dry I filed the edges to give a nice serrated look that went with the radiating design I had used.

 

I also filed the edges of the ring band.

 

The stone setting was a little piece I had pre-made in AC999. It was set with a 3mm lab ruby cab. I was interested to see how well the two clays would go together (and I was running short of clay to make a setting in AC950!). I used water to wet both parts and then joined them. It made a very solid join.

 

The topper was attached to the ring band using AC999 syringe. As I had used water only to join the toppers on my other two rings I wanted to see how this worked.

 

I fired the ring to schedule but took it out the kiln hot and placed it on one side to cool. The AC950 polished up very nicely. For this ring I used Black Max to patinate.

 

I was very pleased with the result. Again shrinkage was 7 UK sizes. I made this at a UK size X and it shrank to a UK size Q. After firing there was a certain amount of distortion, but that was very easy to correct on a ring mandrel, and because the fired silver is much harder I found there was less chance of marking it. The domed part held it shape nicely.

 

Finally I made one more piece to enamel. My other pieces had been more tests really so I wanted to make something that would show the colours better. I opted for one of my small butterfly designs.

 

I actually think the AC950 refines up even better than AC999 with baby wipes. Here is the dried butterfly before and after refining. The refining took me about 5 minutes, so very quick and easy.

 

 

This piece was textured to 1mm thick. Even though AC950 is stronger than AC999, for enamelling I would not make pieces any thinner. Enamel will crack on very thin silver unless you counter enamel the back due the stresses of the glass enamel on the silver. I never counter enamel as I always decorate the backs of things. For this little piece I stamped out one of my Joy logos. The AC950 took an impression from the stamp very crisply. I attached a piece of fine silver wire to the back of the piece using AC999 syringe to join it all.

 

 

This piece was fired to schedule at the same time as the previous ring. After firing I depletion gilded the piece until it was very white. Then I re-polished it and enamelled it.

 

And here it is...a rainbow butterfly!!!

 

So what conclusions did I draw from all this testing...

 

First of all - I love this clay!

 

 

Will I use it all the time?

No.

I'll still use AC999 for a lot of things. Depletion gilding works really well on AC950, but it does take extra time. If a piece needs extra strength I'll go with AC950 and put that extra time in if it is a piece to be enamelled. For rings I will definitely go over to AC950. If I am making something where the difference in strength will not be a major issue I'll stick with AC999.

 

For teaching I will most likely mainly stick to AC999 because of the shorter firing schedule, but there will be some things that I'll go over to AC950 for.

 

I'm  delighted to have had a chance to test this clay out - thank you Metal Clay Ltd!! I'm looking forward to the release date at the start of September so I can do more playing. I have lots of ideas in mind that I would not make using AC999 :)

 

If you use silver clay I recommend you give this a whirl and see what you think!!

 

Have fun!

 

Joy x

 



 

 



 

 

 

 



November 2016 Weekend Workshop

Whoo hoo...this is exciting!!!

 

I'll be teaching Enamelled Textures with Silver Clay at a weekend workshop in Folkestone, Kent, UK at the start of November this year.

The workshop runs from Friday afternoon to Sunday afternoon and the fantastic price of £399 includes your accommodation, meals, 25g of Art Clay Silver and 14 hours of teaching!!! The only extra is a kit fee of £16 which will include enamels etc, and any drinks you want while we are all there you'll buy as we go along! ;)

 

This will be a small group and it's going to be a fun weekend !! The workshop takes place in the Best Western Clifton Hotel in an excellent position on the cliff top. We will have all our meals together and work into the evenings too!!

 

This is already booking up and places are limited so don't miss out!

 

Folkestone is on a direct train route from London and right beside the Channel Tunnel, so perfect if you want to pop over to the UK to join us!!!!

 

I'm looking forward to seeing everyone and a great weekend of fun and creativity!!!

 

Meanwhile...

have fun!!

 

Joy x

43/52 Mini Moon Flask

One of the first things I made on this year long challenge, it was way back in January, was a moon flask. I've made several more since and I teach making these in my Porcelain Illusions / Joyful Moon Flask workshops. 

I love the shape of these moon flasks and decided to revisit the making of them and have a go at a miniature one! It is all made in silver like the bigger flasks, but I've developed a slightly different technique for making it :D

Each side is enamelled...

...and it has a little stopper so you could use it for perfume. The stopper on this one is set with a 4mm faceted rainbow moonstone cabochon. I think it looks a bit like rock crystal. I chose it because it seems to suit the different colours on each side of the flask. 

 

The round main body of the flask measures just 18mm in diameter. 

 

Here it is with one of its 'big brothers' to give you a better idea of the sense of scale...

 

 

 

...and in my hand. 

Cute isn't it! :D

If you want to make a Moon Flask do get in touch! :) 

Have fun!

Joy x

39/52 Flower Chain

I really enjoyed making this necklace!

When I made my necklace 'Precious' (below) I added some small enamelled links into the chain. It was the first time I had made enamelled links like that and I really liked the result. I realised they would make a lovely necklace on their own.

So I decided to make some flower links. Here they are made and being enamelled. First I enamelled the black and green on each link. Black and green are both nice safe enamel colours that will not overfire so that is why they go on first. Then I enamelled the other colours.

You can see from the photos that I started off with six links. Now an even number of pieces is not generally considered very good in design so why did I make six? Not sure really, but in the back of my mind I think there was a vague idea of enamelling the flowers one of each colour...red, orange, yellow, green,blue and purple. Of course that changed!

I had already tried the links together as six and I sort of knew I should only really use five, but as I'd made six that was what the necklace was going to be.

Then serendipity stepped in!!! While I was enamelling the blue flowers I managed to forget to set the timer for one link! It ended up in the kiln for FAR too long!!! The end result was the turquoise enamel started to slightly overfire in the centre.

The link wasn't ruined...but no longer matched the others - so that was that. The necklace was obviously only ever meant to have five links!! A happy accident! :D 

Don't you just love fate!!! 

The little link above will make it's way into a delicate small necklace some time.

I finished the chain with some handmade twisted silver links and a silver toggle and clasp. I'm pleased with the outcome and I'll be making more necklaces like this in due time.

I'll also be teaching how to make your very enamelled link chain in a workshop next year! Watch out for more details soon :)

Meanwhile...

Have fun!

Joy x

33/52 Slippery Sid

This challenge piece is really all about the wood! 

On my challenge list is one entry entitled drift wood. I have a LOT of small pieces of drift wood!! I very seldom see any driftwood on Hastings beach but a couple of years ago I bought a big batch of it online that I saw going for a good price. The intention was always to use it as bases for the small bronze critters I occasionally make.

As it has been washing around in the sea for so long the wood is mostly quite bleached in colour and rough-ish. It needed a finish on it to make it nice. I've tried Renaissance Wax, I've tried oiling the wood, whatever I use sinks in straight away and the wood looks no different even after quite a few treatments. I didn't want to add a varnish coating to it so the wood got placed to one side, another thing for another day! :)

It is interesting how ideas suddenly hit you though. Last week I was reading a newspaper supplement and it mentioned Shou Sugi Ban (sometimes called Yaki Sugi) as a treatment for antiquing and preserving cedar cladding on buildings. Well that immediately piqued my interest (it's that Japanese influence again! ;) ) and off I went to do some Googling!!

Basically the process involves blasting the wood with a flame to create a charred outer surface, and then cleaning the wood up well afterwards. It seemed like the perfect way to treat my little pieces of driftwood.

I geared myself up with everything I needed, heatproof surface, torch, bowl of water (safety precaution!), large tongs and some pieces of driftwood and headed out into the fresh air! It was fun! The main thing was to make sure I got an even charring and that the wood did not actually catch fire and keep burning!! Making sure I was upwind and not downwind also REALLY helped!! :)

Thankfully the bowl of water proved to be surplus to requirements and I didn't incinerate anything  :) I let the pieces cool off and then set about brushing the surface of the wood with a stiff brush to remove the loose charred particles.

The results were lovely! Different types of wood obviously reacted differently, some stayed very smooth, other had wonderful pronounced surface graining. They all had a really nice subtle sheen without any other treatment.

The two discs were commercial wooden pendants - you can see how much surface I lost in this comparison of them.

The piece of wood I chose to put Slippery Sid onto already had a couple of small holes in the surface. First I added some Renaissance Wax to increase the glow in the wood. This time the wax worked well on the surface. 

I drilled a small hole into the base of Sid and put a small wire peg into one hole in the wood so Sid didn't slip off the wood (sorry Sid!), then I added a tiny enamelled ammonite into the other hole for a touch of colour :)

I really like the result. The dark wood sets of the bronze beautifully. I'll be doing more of this! :)

Have fun!

Joy x

28/52 Rainbow Ripple

For this challenge piece I've been working on creating unique textures in metal clay for enamelling onto. I had a lot of fun with this! 

I started out with a few practise pieces to see how the idea looked. I liked the effect in this one below (OK so don't even ask why it is that weird shape - that's what happens when you re-purpose something you broke on another occasion ;) )

For this piece I went with more of a swirling design. It is fine silver with enamel and set with 2mm orange CZs and 3mm black spinel stones all around it.

 

On the back I added decoration with silver shapes. The centre round has one of my own textures on it (and I now have a heap of my own textures sitting in front of me waiting to be listed on my website!! :) ).

Once it was fired and finished I made a handmade silver chain to go with it. Each link has a hematite bead which I thought blended in with the black spinel well. 

I've had these hematite beads for ages, but they are magnetic and a right pain to try to use! So following on from my success at demagnetising steel shot a few weeks ago I placed the beads onto a ceramic pad and covered them with some ceramic fibre, then put them into a preheated kiln at 800c for 5 minutes. I took them straight out and left them to cool with the ceramic fibre over them and yes, they were no longer magnetised!! Yay!! 

I've already made a second piece along these lines and I'll be posting it very soon!! :D

Have fun!

Joy x