Barbara Becker Simon – Master Muse Challenge #11

Barbara shares with us a quick synopsis of the steps she takes to create her beautiful pendant. We hope the tutorial will serve to inspire you to create! No matter if you just get out your sketch book and draw a similar project based on these challenges. It’s a place to start. It’s a way to start off your day in the right frame of mind with a creative exercise!

If you are interested in the full step-by-step tutorial please stay tuned. It will be available in June at Whole Lotta Whimsy. They will be in a handy bench format too! This tutorial looks like it will be over 80 pictures with tons of detail in this #11 Tutorial! There’s even an entire section on how to torch-fire enamel and do test samples for opaque enamels.  This is a primer to the Masters Registry project B3 for those of you looking to sharpen your skills or learn a new one in order to complete the Masters Registry program.

Barbara started her challenge with an inspiration of two stones, an aquamarine and a calcite. To capture the true beauty of these stones, Barbara created this fantastic shadowbox with torch-fired enamel to accentuate the stone. She says:

I envisioned the color of the enamels to complement the stone which is bluish green. The gemstones are not an intense color so I wanted the enamels to contrast by being very pure, intense colors.

In this tutorial you will learn:

• How to design a composed piece with layers, height, dimension and to compensate for shrinkage
• How to torch-fire opaque enamels and make sample tiles
• How to create a box hollow form in metal clay
• How to pin stem set a stone
• How to drill a stone
• How to saw out a form in copper to prepare for enamel
• How to cold connect using a pop rivet gun

Choose between stones, aquamarine on the left and calcite on the right. The aqua wins! This will give me some idea as to the general shape of the finished piece. I have also drawn some preliminary cross-sections of how I might want to attach the enameled piece to the shadow box form.

Place your stone in a Xerox machine with a setting that enlarges it. This will allow for the shrinkage of the clay. Check the spacing on the outline by placing the stone on the copied and traced shape.

Roll out a sheet of clay and cut the strip according to the measurement of the paper. Cut out the rectangular strip and texture both sides. I used the point of a rubber, tapered Color Shaper to poke shallow circles in a random pattern. While still wet, follow the outside of the outline on the acetate and set the strip on end to create the wall for the shadow box. Cut away any excess in length so that the seam area meets in a butt joint. You can apply a bit of slip to the seam to glue it together. Let dry. Keep an eye on it so that it doesn’t collapse as it dries. When the wall piece is dry, slip the seam together. To finish, groom the seam to make the repairs invisible.

Roll out a sheet of clay for the back plate of the shadow box. Set the “wall” piece on top of the wet sheet and cut around the wall using a craft knife.

Looking at the back of the stone, determine where the setting pins will be to pin stem set the stone to the metal.Embed the pin shape into the correct position in the wet sheet. Use generous amounts of slip to attach the wall to the back plate. Let dry. Groom the joint so that it appears “seamless”.

Design and plan the next component: the sunburst shaped frame for the shadow box. Cut out the pattern. Roll out a sheet of clay and place the pattern on top. Use a craft knife to cut out the inside hole and the outline of the sunburst pattern.

Using a generous amount of slip or PMC3 paste, attach the upper edge of the shadow box wall to the underside of the dry sunburst. Let dry. Drill small guide holes where the rivets will go.

Make the bail which attaches to the back wall of the box. Check the fit and attach with slip. Let dry. Now is the time to do a final check to make sure that the craftsmanship and the finish of the clay piece is as good as you can achieve–no scratches or gaps where there shouldn‘t be, no ragged edges, etc. Fire the clay at the appropriate temperature for the clay you are using. Brass brush and patina as desired.

Drill both holes and a groove between the two holes, to accommodate the bulge of the embedded wire. Test the fit and make any changes necessary.

Attach the tracing paper pattern for the copper sunburst to a sheet of copper. Saw the sunburst pattern out and file edges to remove burrs and rough spots.

Using the drill bit that matches the pop rivet, drill one of the holes in the copper piece. Temporarily place a pop rivet in the matching holes of the copper and silver to help keep it in place (clamps are handy for this also) and register the location of the copper piece. When satisfied, drill another hole and repeat around the piece.

Enamel the front and back of the copper piece with the torch-firing method. Let cool. Refine as many times for the color desired as is needed.(Follow Barbara’s thorough enameling steps from the test sample section at the beginning of the tutorial in the full tutorial.)

Get out your pop rivet gun, making sure that you have the correct sized tip screwed in. If you don’t know how to use one of these, practice on some scrap metal until you get the hang of it. Place a couple of the rivets in the holes temporarily to hold the enameled piece in the correct position. Choose one of the rivets to secure first and then proceed with the rest.

The challenge with this series of Master Muse tutorials is for the masters to combine torch-fired opaque enamels, copper and metal clay. Torch-firing enamels gives an effect that is unique and textural. The oxides from firescale add to the appearance of the enamel. Opaque enamels are an easy and fun way to add color to a piece without a lot of steps and it’s fairly fool-proof.

We’d love to see you take the challenge as well as make an incredible Enameled Pendant. Can’t wait to see your pieces! Send them and we’ll post pictures in a future Challenge Gallery. Challenge yourself!  

Don’t forget to leave a comment to be entered into the giveaway.  If you Tweet it, post it on Facebook, or on your blog we’ll give you two entries.  Just send us a link at tonya@wholelottawhimsy.com!

Barbara Becker Simon earned a BS in Art Education and an MFA in Metalwork and Jewelry. She has been a goldsmith for over 40 years and taught at the University of Wisconsin-Menomonie and Iowa State University. Barbara travels the US teaching lampwork & metal clay workshops as Senior Instructor for Rio Grande. Her work appears in Creative Metal Clay Jewelry: Techniques, Projects, and Inspiration New Directions in Metal Clay, (Wire), The Art of Metal Clay, (Haab), and PMC Decade and PMC Technic, (McCreight), among others. In April 2009, Lark Books published her book, Metal Clay Beads. Barbara is known internationally for her lampworked glass beads & jewelry. Contemporary Lampworking by Bandhu Dunham features Barbara’s work on the cover. Formed of Fire (Dunham), Beads of Glass (Jenkins), and 1000 Glass Beads, (Lark) also features her beads. Barbara work is on display in Washington DC, Glendale, AZ, & Japan.

Check out Barbara’s work at www.BBSimon.com.You can purchase her incredible glass and metal beads and work online or at Bead and Button Show in Milwaukee, WI, June 10th -13th.

Photo credit: final piece Drew Davidson; step-by-step Barbara Becker Simon