Saint George (Sant Jordi)

Today is Saint George's day.  Saint George is patron saint of England where we live, and he is patron saint of beautiful Catalunya, the place we will always call home.  In England there are moves to make St George's day an official holiday and a time for celebration in the same way that St Patrick is celebrated across the world by the Irish, sadly we're not quite there yet and poor St George is not revered in England in the same way as in other parts of the world.  In Catalunya (Catalonia to some), it is an important celebration - it is a day for celebrating love, much in the same way that St Valentine's Day is celebrated in other places.  La Diada de Sant Jordi, as the day is known, is marked with the giving of gifts between lovers, traditionally men give women a rose and women give men a book.  Here is my offering, a little homage to Sant Jordi, brave knight who slayed the dragon to save the king's daughter, a beautiful handcrafted silver rose.  Books in silver will be my next challenge.  

My Level II Adventures

I have - today - sent off my pieces to be judged by the Art Clay Guild for the Level II Senior Instructor certificate.

They're off and I can't polish them just one last time.   That is probably one very good thing, as my prehnite tree will tell you.   The poor tree was polished until he could shine no more, and then, the "one last time syndrome" that I suffer from made me overpolish the already thin bezel strip and a teeny tiny piece of bezel came flying off and I went from having worked with the tree for many days, to suddenly not being able to enter him in the talent show for his kind.  This tiny missing piece would be unnoticeable to most people, but the judges would spot it right away...

I did swear.  Probably quite a lot.

Do fellow jewellery makers find that every so often, they actually fall a little bit in love with a piece that they have made?  I think I just did with this one.  My default on finishing any piece is that I'm never entirely sure that anyone will like it, so I was definitely surprised by not caring too much if others do or don't like this one, just because I do.  When I realised my tree couldn't go to the ball, i felt really quite sorry for it.

So whilst the others are in the hands of the Guild gods, this little tree is staying right here with me.

Loving my New Kiln

I got it, I got my new kiln - and I'm so happy with it.  It's a Paragon SC2 with the window so I can check on the progress of the pieces I'm making.  I love the window, it really is the best option for curious makers.

Today is a Good Day

And in honour of the inauguration of the new president of the US on this day last year, I have Obama-ised my little girl, based on the iconic "Hope" poster by Shepard Fairey.  Get your own icon here

A Very Very Special Order

One of my best friends has a very generous auntie who came to me with a special request - to make a family keepsake bracelet for her gorgeous niece, in sterling silver, which was to include fine silver charms of fingerprints and handprints of every member of her family.

This turned out to be quite a duplicitous task that had hubby and auntie plotting visits to other members to take prints, tricky that it was not to have her smaller children blurt out the secret plans.    Some days later, the subterfuge paid out and the bracelet turned out great, and I am honoured that she calls it "the one item she would save in a fire".   This is coming from the girl who only wears real Prada.   Aww.  I'm all puffed up.

A Christmas Present

I was commissioned to make some fine silver cufflinks with the recipient's initials - I made a photopolymer stamp with the agreed design of the letters, and used it to stamp the silver clay to create the recessed look, which was then coated in platinol for a dark patina.  I think they turned out rather spiffing.

Level 1 Art Clay Silver Certification

Seems like aeons ago, though it was only a few months, that I did the Level 1 Art Clay Silver Certification course - set by the Japanese manufacturers of Art Clay, the Aida Chemical Industries Company.  The UK Art Clay Guild oversees the education program in the UK in accordance with the criteria set in Japan and awards its certificates - and I am the proud holder of one! 

For anyone thinking of doing the course - it is hard work, you have to complete seven projects in three days as set by Aida in Japan but I had a brilliant teacher who kept a great pace and knew her subject thoroughly.  The projects are designed to ensure you have a good grounding in the main techniques:  using clay, paste and the syringe, ring-making, firing schedules, adding findings and stones, making hollow forms using cork clay, mirror polishing and several others. 

I found it to be a challenge, but well worth it, so I thoroughly recommend it.  Here are some of the pieces I made:

This (one of a pair of earrings) was made using the syringe over a dried cork ball that burns out in the kiln, leaving a wonderful hollow design.

This was one of my first items, made using clay.  I applied a bark texture with paste and embedded the marquise settings, for the stones to be set later, and the brooch fittings.  The edges of the branch were mirror polished.

This is what I call my Willow Ring.  First we made a ring out of clay - and carefully syringed a design around it.  Rings in silver clay are a little tricky and so a course is absolutely essential to understand how best to work with the material for a solid structure and a good finish.

We made more pieces - I will post these another time.