Wednesday, August 22, 2007

Sweet Inspiration

I had dinner (Yoon Sushi) with an artist friend of mine tonight who happens to also be my favorite neighbor farm girl. Somehow the summer got away without us seeing each other except in passing on the road going opposite directions, arms waving out the windows and horns honking. I don't know why we waited so long. She's always such an incredible boost of inspiration to me. So full of life, energy, and just general goodness. We talked art, life, animals, travel, work, jewelry making and all that fun stuff. I'm ready to get back into my studio and make some more jewelry.

The photos above are a few of the first pieces I made using silver clay. I was really itching to get my hands into Precious Metal Clay so I took an Introduction to Metal Clay class with Barbara McGuire. The first time I put the clay in my hands I was hooked. I used part of a rubber stamp from Zettiology for the necklace. Since then, I've taken an intensive 2 day class and am now a Certified Metal Clay Artisan. Whatever that means! It basically means that I can now purchase the raw materials at a discount. Time to get back into the studio and fire up the kiln again.

These others are the five pieces I completed for my PMC Level 1 Certification in April of this year. Bad shot but if you click on the photo you can see a hi-res version that shows more detail. I think the ring is my favorite, followed by the amphora which is a hollow vessel. I wear the hollow bead pendant a lot. The other pendant has embedded dichroic glass and lovely little sparkly CZ at bottom. The earrings need a little more love. Maybe a nice bead dangling off the bottom and some silver earwires. I actually learned a lot in that class now that I look back at these pieces. Plus, it was loads of fun!



Visit The PMC Guild for more information on their certification classes. The class I took was taught by Linda Kline at Carol Augustine's old family farmhouse in south GA. Linda was a great teacher and Carol was the perfect host! I'll put together more links in the future for anyone else who might be interested in delving into the world of Precious Metal Clay. I truly love it.

8 comments:

farmer sue said...

oh man, i just poured my guts out to the universe - then registered - now my comments are gone - simply ... thank ewe for being just the bit of creative rain my parched soul needed. you amaze me. i loved the charm & calendar concept. how can we cook up a group of our own. my artistic soul needs it. hugs fs

Anonymous said...

Holy moly, those are your first creations?! Well, I think you've found yourself with a new talent, Jamie. They are truly beautiful!

PS - I'm sending you a copy of that collage in the mail today - finally!

PS - And I'll be adding your blog to my links. :)

Jamie said...

Thank you, thank you, thank you to both of you!

Since this blogging thing is all new to me, I will have to figure out later how to send a note back to you.

I have Tiny Pharm Wife chores to get to now.

Anonymous said...

Very cool, Jamie!

Oye, I'm in need of a new neck adornment. I lost my necklace some time ago.

What're the chances that you can create something for me that is typical Rico?

Jamie said...

Hey Rico :-)

I'd love to create something for you! I'm guessing smallish on a leather cord? Give it some thought and we can talk concept some time.

Katie said...

Beautiful! What a talent you have.

I'll be checking back for more, and I'm always delighted to find another Dread Clampitt fan.

Anonymous said...

Yes, I agree. You've done a very nice job on your first pieces. Congratulations. Now what are you going to make?

Jamie said...

100 charms for Artfest Trades? :-)

Thanks for taking the time to look at my pieces. I've got more ready to go in the kiln, I've just got to get out in the garage and set up my kiln again.

I moved it from the front porch where I fired my last (first) batch so I could watch it and make sure it didn't catch anything on fire.

I'm probably just a bit over-cautious but I'll get into the swing again.