Lora Hart – Master Muse Challenge #18

Lora shares with us a quick synopsis of the steps she takes to create her silver metal clay and Ice Resin brooch. 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!

Circle pins have been in vogue for centuries. First used as cloak fasteners, the disc shaped brooch is known as an “annular”. Celtic jewelers modified the design to include an opening that would rotate around a pin stem, referred to as a “pen annular”. Lora remembers her mother wearing a variety of circle pins. She loves the two she inherited, one a simple golden “O” and the other a ring of pearls.

Lora goes on to say “circle pins are handy little devices too. You can wind them around a scarf, hang your glasses through the hole or use them to frame a smaller pin. When I was looking around my messy studio for a shape to form the metal clay around, I came across one of the original plastic boxes that PMC Standard used to come in! That’s how often I throw things away. Not! Well, molded into the bottom of the box was a little bulls eye, and that’s what inspired this modern version of the classic design.”

If you are interested in the full step-by-step tutorial please stay tuned. It will be available at Whole Lotta Whimsy. They will be in a handy bench format too! This tutorial looks like it will be over 55 pictures with tons of detail in this #17 Tutorial!

In this tutorial you will learn:

• How to make hollow open box shapes
• How to create a fantastic pin back catch for the brooch
• Helpful sanding techniques and repair tips prior to firing
• Learn how to finish your piece, make repairs after firing, and patina
• How to use Ice Resin to secure found objects into your masterpiece

Making the Walls:

Start with the outer shape and tightly wrap your form with a strip of Teflon, the slick paper backing from a sheet of address labels, or Freezer paper. Make sure the slick side is facing out and use tape to secure it. Lora used a very old PMC Original Box, but you could use Linda Kaye-Moses’s new square doming plates too.

Cut a piece of scrap paper long enough to wrap around the form to use as a gauge. Roll out your silver metal clay with a coil roller into a long snake to match the length. Then place your playing cards or slats on either end of the coil and roll it flat.

Place the flattened strip on a texture sheet and roll flat. Remember to place the spacers on top of the texture, not next to it. This two stage rolling will help you press a good clear design into your clay. If you’re using a deep texture you may want to roll out the clay thicker at first before rolling it out on the texture.

Cut this strip of clay using a tissue blade.

Wrap the textured strip around the form and perfect the seam (Lora includes many tips in her full tutorial)

Repeat step 1, 2, 3, and 4 for the circular shape. Dry and remove paper. Repair cracks and reinforce corners.

Sand one edge of each shape flat with 320 grit sandpaper. Use a circular or figure 8 motion to ensure a level surface.

Joining the Shapes:

Roll out a textured slab to fit the outer edge of the square ring. Join the two together. Add the inner ring and cut out the center. Join these two pieces together.

Sand to perfect. (Lora’s got a fantastic tip in her tutorial)

Making Partitions:

To make the partitions, roll out the clay and cut it to fit. You’ll need to carefully sand to make it a tight fit. Attach and perfect.

Making the Pin Hinge and Catch:

Extrude a tube or roll your own. Drill out the hole centered.

Using Fine Silver wire construct a u-shaped catch. Don’t forget to score it.

Attach both the catch and hinge pin to the back.

Sand and refine your piece. Fire in a kiln to 1650°F for one hour.

Make any repairs if needed, polish and patina. (Lora goes into detail on both repairs, polishing, and patina.)

Using Ice Resin:

Mix the Ice Resin and drip carefully into the receptacle area. Then take the baroque pearls, found objects, and Hematite Frit and place each piece into the resin. Place in covered container to set.

Making the Pin:

For demonstration purposes the pin is shown in copper. Cut the wire and bend to fit through the hinge and catch. You will also need to sharpen the end that goes through the fabric. (Lora shows this in detailed steps)

Lora’s piece is elegant and beautiful. I can see making this shape as a series with many different “specimens”. Change the outside shapes, make the center piece off-center, make it out of CopprClay, or alter the heights of the walls….so many options and choices. It’s got lots of possibilities. I don’t know about you but it makes me want to take a field trip or dig through my drawers to find interesting and fun objects d’art to include in my jewelry!

We’d love to see you take the challenge as well to make this brooch. 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. We are giving away an Ice Resin kit next month. How to win? Leave a comment on every blog (even older posts) or get two entries for tweeting, putting it on Facebook, the Metal Clay Yahoo Gallery forum, your blog etc. Just send us a copy of the link to support@wholelottawhimsy.com! Let your friends know how to make their Wednesday’s rock…. with of course, the Master Muse Tutorial launch!

Great news! Barbara’s Spiral Clasp #2, Patrik’s Peek-a-Boo Clasp #4, and Vickie’s Jeweled Ball and Slot Clasp #3 tutorials are back from the printer. They will be up on the site this weekend. It’s as detailed as a class and you don’t have to travel!

PMC Connection Senior Instructor Lora Hart began working with metal clay at the turn of the century. After nearly 20 years as a busy make-up artist in the entertainment industry, an actor’s strike put her career onhold. Four happily creative years later, she began a new and fulfilling life as an instructor in the greater Los Angeles area. Working out of her quaint Venice Beach Studio, Lora is honored that her work has been included in many publications including The PMC Guild Annual, Barbara Becker Simon’s Metal Clay Beads, Sherri Haab’s Metal Clay and Mixed Media Jewelry and Holly Gage’s The Art and Design of Metal Clay Jewelry. This year, Lora has begun an online challenge to make a Ring A Day and started work on the first level of The Master’s Registry.

Check out Lora’s work at www.LoraHart.com. You can purchase her work online. See her at the Contemporary Crafts Market June 11-13th at the Santa Monica Civic Center.

Photo credit: final piece Drew Davidson; step-by-step Lora Hart