A few months ago I decided to take a class in Precious Metal Clay (PMC). This stuff is nothing short of miraculous. It's made of tiny bits of ground up silver in a clay-like binder that leaves fine silver (.999 silver) after firing by torch or kiln. The first class pretty much turned my world upsidedown. After a decade of working with fiber and beads using color as my main focus and inspiration, I was suddenly without a palette. Texture and form would have to become my new muses. I was overwhelmed with the possibilities and I struggled with learning how to manage this material and not wash it down the drain.I'm currently taking another PMC class taught by Alicia Fink and this time I came prepared. I read some books and articles by CeCe Wire (yes, that's really her name) and Barbara Becker Simon, and found much inspiration by seeing the amazing pieces that they and others have created. I learned that I can make the shiny metal jewelry that I love to wear, but still add color with stones, patinas, or enameling.
Tonight I decided to try my hand at torch firing. (Note: These are made from PMC3. It's my understanding that only PMC3 can be torch fired.) As pictured, it was like breathing life into little lumps of clay. Never mind that I partially melted at least 3 of the 6 pieces. Fortunately they are small and had a funky texture to begin with so no harm was done.
The best part is knowing that I'm just beginning and imagining what I'll create.
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