Barbara shares with us a quick synopsis of the steps she takes to create her Silver Metal Clay and Glass Box. This is the third challenge for the first group of 5 Masters. The first team has tackled Metal Clay Clasps, Torch Fired Enamels and Metal Clay and now Boxes with Metal Clay Components. This tutorial is a primer for Master’s Registry C2 Project.
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!
Barbara says “I decided to lampwork a large hollow glass vessel for the main body of the box. Because it will be fired in the kiln with the clay, I used PMC 3, fired at 1110°F for 45 minutes. Any clay that fires higher may compromise the shape and/or color of the glass. All in all, it came out pretty well, but there were a couple of bumps in the road. It’s rare when a project goes exactly like you envisioned and here, you will see, it happens to us all!” Best part of all you get to learn from her bumps and how she solved them. This is what makes these tutorials so fantastic. These masters push the technical edge and then show you the course they take to complete the challenge. This makes your try at it so much easier as they pave the road!
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 85 pictures with tons of detail in this #22 Tutorial!
In this tutorial you will learn:
- How to make a hollow glass vessel
- How to make a glass finial
- How to use the Makins Professional Ultimate Extruder to create feet and other components
- How to calculate shrinkage to incorporate a lid and base to a non-shrinking component
- How to make an attachment from mandrel hole to wire conversion
- How to add on metal clay embellishments
- How to carve into clay to make texture
- How polish to get a satin finish
- How to rework and remake components that did not shrink as expected without having to start over. A key skill in metal clay is knowing how to make changes to fired pieces, adding and subtracting to make it work for your project.
Making the Glass Box:
Barbara takes you through each step, from coating your mandrel, creating the glass vessel, annealing it, and then also finishing/grinding the glass vessel portion of the box. If you are not a lampworking artist, you can hire one to make a glass vessel for you. This can fulfill your collaboration project requirements with the Master’s Registry as well!
Making the Finial:
Barbara shows you this entire step as well in the full tutorial. Too many steps for the blog space!
Adding Metal Clay to the Vessel:
Insert the die into the Makins Ultimate Professional Stainless Steel Extruder. Oil a drinking straw which will act as your mold. Extrude theclay and cut them into segments about 3/4″ long and drape them over the straw.
Apply coats of paste to the top and bottom flanges of the vessel. Build them up and perfect the edges, making sure the glass is clean in the end.
Making the Legs of the Vessel:
Roll out clay and cut a circle that will fit the base of the vessel. Attach, dry and refine. Take 3 of your extruded curls and attach them to the base of the vessel, creating the legs or feet.
Add decorative balls, dry and refine. Then add an edge half-dome wrap to the top and bottom flange to accomodate shrinkage. Use a 75 degree V-shaped Dockyard Tool to carve lines in the top and bottom.
Fire in your kiln. (in the full tutorial Barbara shows you how to set up your firing)
Making the Lid:
Make a ring around a shape that is equal to the inner diameter of the vessel opening(If you need help with the shrinkage formulas and how to figure out how to make the shape Barbara has included this in the full tutorial).
Groom and refine the ring and set aside.
Figure out how large you want the lid to be using your circle template. Roll out your clay and cut out the circle shape. Attach the inner ring you made in the previous step. Using your #0 Clay Shaper, strengthen the seam.
Make sure the inner stopper is the correct length, sand and refine.
Designing the Finial Attachment to the Lid:
Using wire, flatten one end and attach this to the center of the lid using paste. Add a decorative donut of clay with the center removed. Let dry and refine the seam. Also refine any cracks or bumps on the donut. Finish smooth.
Add a thinner decorative donut ring to the edge of the top of the lid with paste. To do this roll out clay, sand it and refine.
Add decorative balls to the outer edge and using your Dockyard Carving Tool, add lines to the donut and the edge.
Fire in your kiln.
Attaching the Finial:
Using either a brass brush and soapy water or a small brass brush wheel on your flexshaft (soapy water too) polish up your pieces to a satin finish.
Attach the glass finial to the cut to length wire using epoxy. Let cure and then put something fantastic and special in your glass box!
The thing I love about Barbara is that she always stretches the limits of what’s possible with every medium she touches. In every challenge assigned she gives something so special and creates new technical thresholds for the entire community. I hope you’ll revel in the full tutorial as I have. Even if you aren’t a lampworker, it will give you great insight to the process so if you collaborate with someone you’ll be able to see what’s possible. It’s a whimsical and elegant box to hold something super special!
We’d love to see you take the challenge and make this or a similar piece as well. 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 a Makins Ultimate Stainless Steel Extruder this 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!
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!
Photo credit: final piece Drew Davidson; step-by-step Barbara Becker Simon
Barbara way to go.You rock and as usual your step by steps are truly that. Thanks for the challenge.
ellie
As usual Barbara comes up with an unusual and creative great idea!!!
Holey Sweetdough Barbara! What an amazing project! The glass box is gorgeous and the process of adding the metal clay is genius. Thanks for always raising the bar.
Truly BEAUTIFUL Barbara! You sure keep that bar moving!! ;o)
Utterly fantastic, Barbara! Thank you so much for the inspiration! Drool, drool.
I love this project. So fabulous!!!!
I love the mixed media! I’m not up to glass yet – but Barbara makes this beautiful project seem within reach – even for someone fairly new to the field 🙂