Merry Christmas!

For the last few years The Western Pa Metal Clay guild has had a charm exchange during our December meeting.   Our meetings this year were alternated between member Barb Kaczor's bead Shop, "Four Directions" in Springdale, PA and the Wilkins School Community Center near Regent Square in the Swissvale/ Edgewood area.  WSCC is also home to the studio of member Carol Scheftic.

Our Christmas meeting was held at WSCC with lots of good snacks and beautiful jewelry.  My charm came from my Transit Series.  I made it a little more Christmas like by changing the Swarovski crystal drop to a red or green drop.  And I got a chance to play with my new Silhouette machine and make a little envelope to give my charm in.  (So far I've only played with paper in the Silhouette.  The grandchildren love it.... but that's a whole different post.)  

We put all the charms in a basket and everyone drew a charm.  The basket was brought around a couple more times until everyone who brought a charm had three charms.

I received charms from (left to right) Carol Scheftic, Sue Varolli, and Sharon Shepard.  Carol is a big fan of Hadar Jacobson and does a lot with Hadar's Bronze and copper clays.  Sue's piece has sparkly fingernail polish painted into the flower portion of her charm (very clever.)  Sharon included a CZ for sparkle.  

Over the years I've amassed quite a collection of metal clay charms.  I think I'll do what my friend Carol does, hang them all together in my studio to show them off.  

In case I don't get to post again before Christmas........ Merry Christmas to all of you (and thanks for reading my blog!)

No Censorship!

No Fees, no age limit and no censorship is the mantra of Lawrenceville's "Art all Night."

 Katie Levan

Amy Lewandowski

Art all Night was held in an empty (what looks like) a machine shop.  A very large and with the way the weather was last night........ a very cold building.  (Two jackets on and I still couldn't stop shivering.) 

But in spite of the cold, it was a really fun event.  The Western Pa Metal Clay guild set up an area (unfortunately in the children's hands on area) to do metal clay demos and promote the guild.  (A little personal promotion went on too.... of course.)  Carol Scheftic, Debbie Rusonis, Donna Penoyer and I spent several hours sharing our love of metal clay with the art loving public.

Carol and Debbie

The estimate is that the number of artists participating in the the event was somewhere between 1200 and 1500.  The number of people attending the 22 hour event were between 12,000 and 15,000. * (The The artists ranged from one year old to over seventy years old.   There was lots to see (and for me, not enough time to see it all.)  We went back Sunday before the show closed (and when it was warmer, which made viewing the art much more enjoyable.)

Giant made by elementary school children.

Besides a variety of bands playing throughout the night there were large paintings being created.

We left early because it was just way too cold but Suzanne Trenney said it all.

Wish everyone felt that way!

(Sorry, no picture of my work or Carol's.  They were displayed in a dark area and were hard to see.  The pictures didn't turn out.  This seems to be the story of my life.)

*Note..... correction on number of participants and artists.  Small town mentality in a big city environment.  Not use to big numbers!

  

Tearaway technique

Paper side of tearaway

Paper and polymer piece (detail is in the clay although it's hard to see)

These are used to roll the clay onto to create texture

It's been eight months since I've been to a guild meeting.  I belong to the Western Pa. chapter of the PMC Guild which has meetings whenever we can find a place to host them.

Last Tuesday evening we had a meeting at the Four Directions Jewelry Studio of Barb Kaczor (one of our members.)  The studio is located in Springdale, Pa and is very impressive.  Stop in and check it out if you're down that way.

We usually have show and tell and some type of demo.  Donna Penoyer gave a very informational demo on tearaways.  (Any demo Donna does is great.)  Tearaways are another thing that metal clay artists have adopted from the polymer clay people.  I've used them but never made one (until today.)

A basic description would be that a toner based copy of a black and white line drawing is made on glossy paper.  White polymer clay is conditioned and rolled into a thick sheet and the copied drawing is laid face down on the polymer clay.  Using the palm of the hand, the back of the sheet is rubbed to create heat and friction.  Slight pressure is applied while doing this and the rubbing continues for a specified time period and then allowed to rest and cool.  This rubbing and resting process is completed one more time and then followed by a final rubbing.  After the final rubbing the paper is torn off with a quick pull.

This process creates two plates that can be used to create texture on the metal clay.  The paper picks up polymer clay on the inked lines and the drawing cuts into the polymer clay.  Both pieces are cured in a toaster oven when finished.

The polymer piece can be used indefinitely unless it cracks.  The paper piece can be used multiple times until it wears out.

I tried making one for the first time today.  Rubbing the back was a little warm (and tiring..... I'm such a wimp.)  I was anxiously looking forward to the ripping action and I have to admit it was fun.  (Like ripping off a band-aid.)  My piece turned out perfect.  I was thrilled.

The jury is finally deliberating

The containers of copper clay were two different shades of red

Clay pieces contain both copper and bronze clay

Larger piece is by Virginia Weltner

Years ago there were only two brands of clay and two kinds of clay, silver and gold.  Now there are a myriad of companies making the clay.  Copper, bronze, white bronze, rose bronze, steel and pearl gray steel clays have been added to the family of metals available.

In several previous posts, I have mentioned how the jury was still out on these base metal clays.  Well, the jury has finally gone to deliberation on at least the copper and bronze clays.

In March my local guild, the Western Pennsylvania Metal Clay chapter of the PMC Guild, in conjunction with the Cleveland Metal Clay Guild, brought Hadar Jacobson to the area for a class.  Unfortunately (well actually it was a mixed feeling about missing the class),  I was not able to make it to the class as I was in Florida at the time.  (Sunshine, blue skies and warm temperatures eased my pain of not being able to take the class.)

Hadar's clay comes in powdered form instead of as a mixed lump of clay which means it has unlimited shelf life (unlike the other clays.)   This past week I finally was able to "play" with her copper and bronze clays.  I think I'm in love.  They mix up so smoothly and feel much silkier (and less stiff) than the other base metal clays.

In the past, firing issues kept me from working with the clays more.  My "test piece" this week fired up beautifully.  Hopefully it works the second time when I fire the actual pieces.  I'll let you know.

Charm exchange

Last Wednesday was the Christmas guild meeting of the Western Pa. metal clay guild. We were in the same building where the guild had their very first meeting. This time though we met in my friend Carol's studio which she's only been in a couple of months.

Carol Dickert and I arrived at noon and spent several hours before the meeting just playing with clay. It was a great time to try out some of Carol's textures to see if I like them before I buy. Using PMC Standard I managed to make six pair of earrings which finally got fired today. I was anxious to see them after they shrank. (Opening the kiln is like opening a Christmas present.)

The first order of business (besides the snacking.... and Monday was my first day back at Weight Watchers) was "show and tell" which is always inspiring. (So many things to try.)

Next was the charm exchange, which we did last year also. This year the theme was Pittsburgh. (Some people did Pittsburgh and some people did Christmas.) Sometime in the future, I'll share my charm. For now I'm sharing my bracelet, with charms from this year, last year and from another exchange. (Can you find the "Golden Triangle?)

The meeting finished with a demo on traditional bezel setting with Donna Penoyer and bezel setting with metal clay sheet by Michelle (can't remember her last name.) Both demos were very informative. (We have such talented members!)

Guilds are a great place to meet people, get inspired and learn techniques. I'm glad I sought one out.