We're Still Learning

Three of us are continuing in our quest to learn more and different jewelry techniques and have recently begun a class in Bronze Precious Metal Clay at our local adult education facility in Sarasota, Florida . The class instructor is Colleen White, a wonderfully talented jewelry artist and silversmith who has learned all the ins and outs of using precious metal clay and has a studio and gallery in The Village of The Arts in Bradenton, Florida.

Judy Levine, Sue Herring, and Judy Pirkey, along with the rest of the class, made pendants the first week, and then a pair of earrings the second week. It's a real challenge as you have to make sure you do everything according to instructions or risk problems with your work. The clay has to be kneaded to make sure there are no air bubbles that can burst when the item is placed in the kiln to be fired. And then there are the little cracks that occur when the clay is a little too dry. Sometimes they can be fixed using slip, and other times you just have to ball it up and try again. And if you press too hard while you're sanding a piece before it's fired, it may break. But we're all determined to have new beads and components to add to our ever-growing jewelry collections.