In each Whole Lotta Whimsy eZine, I interview a metal clay muse personality. Check out the other fantastic eZines for more Muse Personality interviews, design articles, marketing info and personal growth tidbits!
Get to know this artisan and how they stay creative!
Lisa Cain
website url and short bio:
Lisa Cain has been a jeweler/artist/teacher for more that 20 years and has been working with metal clay since 1997. She is the creator and director of The Mid Cornwall School of Jewellery (MCSJ) located in Cornwall, England.
MCSJ was the first independent school in the UK to offer metal clay classes and remains the only school offering the prestigious Higher Metal Clay Diploma course of study in the world. Lisa’s background is in traditional gold-smithing and she spent 4 years as an apprentice to a master goldsmith before establishing her school.
Lisa is presently the Director of the UK PMC Guild and is the originator of and force behind the bi-annual PMC Symposium. Her work is featured in books and publications on both metal clay and traditional jewelry work and she is a frequent contributor to various publications both in the UK and the US.
Lisa is one of only a handful of people to achieve level 2 of the Metal Clay Masters Registry Program and continues to work and teach in beautiful Cornwall, England. She is the very proud Grandmother of Quinlan, a fabulous 16-month-old boy whose first words were reported to be “is it sintered?”
Date started working in metal clay:
My background is in traditional metal work and, back in 1997, my boss sent me on a training course 200 miles from home to attend a stone setting class for some new skills. Boy did I get more than I bargained for on that trip!
It was during this class that I first stumbled upon Metal Clay by accident when I wandered into the ‘wrong’ classroom where the first ever UK PMC class was taking place. Tim McCreight was teaching the class and although I didn’t realise who he was at the time, like any other jeweller, I had a copy of Complete Metalsmith in my studio.
Being naturally nosey and willing to talk to anyone, I hung around in the ‘wrong’ classroom and asked a heap of questions about the grey squishy stuff and the kilns. Tim happily explained all about this new material and sent me off with some leaflets and info. I must have looked pretty funny with my jaw hanging open and my eyes popping out of my head at the wonder of this magical metal clay.
It seemed like Alchemy to me and I could immediately see huge potential. The idea of this revolutionary way of working with metal grabbed hold of me but back in 1997 there were no books or videos and information was particularly scarce in England.
I remember telling anyone who would listen about PMC and it was almost an evangelical experience even though I hadn’t tried working with the stuff itself!
My first experiences of actually working with PMC didn’t come until a year later and after being so enamored with the idea all that time, I was shocked to find I absolutely hated using it!! Working with it was an uncomfortable, difficult and somewhat disastrous experience. Initially I could not get to grips with the pliability of PMC. After all, when I work with traditional metals I have to work hard to impose my will on a sheet of silver.
PMC by contrast wanted to take every little fingerprint and thumbnail mark and could turn my best efforts into the work of a blind folded seven year old! I struggled with the unfamiliar working properties for quite some time and nearly discarded metal clay altogether but then 2 things of equal importance made a huge difference.
The first was a simple realization that it is a totally different material and I had to ‘Stop approaching this stuff like a metal’. I know it sounds obvious now but once I made that shift in my approach I really began to see the advantages (and limitations) of PMC.
The second significant factor was that I managed to get to grips with reconstituting my unfired ‘failures’ back into usable smooth clay. This meant I was free to make as many ‘mistakes’ as I wanted and all it cost me was some time. If I didn’t fire it, it wasn’t wasted.
Now I find I experiment with ideas in Metal Clay that I wouldn’t dream of attempting in sterling silver because I can change my mind and my design with no loss of materials.
Accomplished at what media in addition to metal clay:
Traditional gold and silver smithing were my first love. I have had a lot of fun making things happen as well as making things. For a long time the Mid Cornwall School of Jewellery was my creative project and I wasn’t making any jewellery at all.
I started MCSJ in 2001 with the proceeds from selling my house after every bank turned down my business proposal for an independent jewellery school. There simply weren’t any alternatives back then for a metals education. Any training I wanted to do was only available to me as a degree, a summer school or an evening class. There were no short courses available so I knew there was a gap in the market.
Luckily my stubborn determination has paid off and within 4 years the school had grown to have the widest range of jewellery related classes available at any independent school in England.
Certified: (what clay, year and with whom):
When I started out with silver clay in 1998 the PMC education available in England was almost non-existent and very poor quality so I had to travel to America to improve my self-taught skills. In 2004 I went to New Mexico for the PMC Conference and took my Rio Certification with Barbara Becker Simon. More recently I have taken the Art Clay Certification as well.
I learned that the existing certification programmes served a certain purpose but there was room for a much more in-depth education for Silver Clay users.
Metal clay has become a core part of the curriculum at MCSJ and four years ago we launched the Diploma in Metal Clay Proficiency-the first qualification course to be free of ties to discounts or brands. It is a 10-day course and is currently the most thorough training in metal clay available anywhere. The course consist of 4 Grades and there are strict criteria with high standards to be met in order to pass.
MCSJ also introduced the first class to focus on good teaching practice with a quarter of the Diploma syllabus dedicated to improving the standard of metal clay teaching. Those of you who have ever had a bad experience as a teacher or a student will know how important it is to improve the education standards in our metal clay community.
Each of the 4 Diploma Grades include traditional metal working skills alongside silver clay to help students take their work to a much higher level. These traditional skills include drawing down sterling wire and creating unique earring hooks, making and soldering jump rings for hand made chains, how to work harden metals for strength and durability, making and soldering pin fittings for PMC brooches, forging sterling clasps and sterling silver stud earrings fittings for PMC designs.
Our new Higher Metal Clay Diploma takes time to complete and is also the only course in the world to embrace all brands of metal clay. It spans the Art Clay certification (levels 1 and 2), the 10-day Silver Metal Clay Diploma, plus an introduction to Bronze, copper and now steel clay. We don’t mind which brand you want to use-at MCSJ it is all about the quality of the work and the creative impulse.
What is your inspiration now?
I am still uncertain about where my inspiration comes from. Honestly, I am a little unsettled by many of my creations. I often have a sense of awe looking at the things I have made and I find myself wondering ‘where did THAT come from?’
Do you have a muse?
Hard to tell if I have a muse as such but if I had to pick an aesthetic to aim for; I would say I am hoping to make things which would look like the love child of Tim Burton and Dr. Seuss.
Kind of fun but scary and unsettling. These are hopefully objects which provoke a reaction and draw the viewer into a mythical alternate world.
What is currently on your bench/workspace?
I tend to get out a random batch of items which have the right ‘feel’ about them and gather them on my bench so I can pick-and-choose for a specific project.
Right now on my bench I can see-
- A dead rose with beautiful thorns
- A brass swivel keyhole escutcheon
- Half a dozen fiery opals from Australia
- 30 glass eyeballs. (Some are vintage used Victorian prosthetic glass eyes but most are from a taxidermy company who specialise in animal, fish and reptile eyes.)
- Several images from the movie Lemony Snickett
- A blood-red glass jar
- The lens from a Second World War pair of binoculars
- A silicone mould from some seaweed
What project/direction are you working on now?
Quite often I am not really sure what I am working on consciously. For instance currently, I think I am working on project C2 for the Metal Clay Masters Registry (a non-metal box with metal clay lid) but find that it is very slow going.
Whilst I thought I was working on C2 I find that actually I have made 2 other projects from start to finish without realising it. They kind of snuck in under the line while I was focusing on something else.
I should explain that I am only really in the habit of making Art in the last few years and I still don’t really understand the process of how I work yet. It seems to be a very unconscious experience for me but I am learning to trust that it is OK to not understand or control the journey to completion.
It is as if I come to my bench with an urge to make. I pick something as a starting point (usually a feeling I would like to evoke in the viewer) to work towards and I set off. Along the way, I fall so deeply into my right brain that I have no awareness of what I am making. When I turn around several days and nights later I find a strange treasure in my path that I vaguely recognise and that I have apparently made. I am fond of my creations but often feel that they have adopted me from some foreign land.
How much time do you average at the bench per week?
Not nearly enough. Running a business the size of MCSJ takes time and energy.
I work in concentrated doses whenever I can.
What’s the average time you spend on a piece?
I don’t know how to calculate this.
Do you sell your work? Where?
No, I am in the fortunate position of not having to make and sell. In fact I think if I had to make my living by selling my work I would prolly starve!
The things I make are often difficult to wear, dangerous or too ‘far-out’ for general consumption. ‘Cat walk’ is a description often used by others in relation to my work.
So most of my income is generated from teaching and running the jewellery school, which means I can make what I want without the pressure of having to sell.
Actually I don’t get to make ‘what I want’ at all. I am compelled to make.
Where do you get your new ideas?
I have no clue where I get my ideas and am not sure I want to know either. I feel more like my ideas ‘get’ hold of me and don’t leave me alone until they are out in the world for all to see.
These ideas shake me by the fingertips until they materialise. This is not an easy process for me. It is a blessing and a curse.
Do you keep a sketchbook and how do you organize it?
Nope, I cannot/do not draw at all. For a long time I thought the ‘proper’ way to make anything would be to design it on paper and figure out how to do it, then make it. That is not how it happens for me at all. It has taken me quite a while to trust that there is no ‘right’ way to create. It is OK to work in any way that works for you! No drawing necessary.
Are there places or things you avoid that zap your creativity?
I find that I often get more of whatever I focus on in life.
I try to avoid watching the news as I get desperately upset by the salacious way the stories are portrayed. Culturally we have gradually become numb to the sensationalism of tragedy. I wonder what the world would be like if we focused more of our energies on what brings us joy. The news brings us only fear and misery. I like to focus on gratitude and count my blessings often.
Do you have a ritual before you begin to create?
My life is full of rituals and I love the rhythm they bring. I do a lot of tidying, clearing and gathering. I fiddle and twiddle and then the making takes over.
I have learned to sit down at the bench whether I feel like it or not. It is only by placing myself in the way of the creative juggernaut that I get on the right road. Writers say the same thing. Sit down and write. Every day. You might write crap, but write anyway. Something will come of it.
How do you rejuvenate your creativity?
My creativity rejuvenates me.
What would your perfect creative day be like?
It wouldn’t be a day at all! I am a night owl. I like to work through the night, often going to bed when the birds start singing and the sun comes up. I love the altered state I get into when the rest of the world is asleep and I can get lost for hours in my creative endeavours with no interruptions. Of course this wreaks havoc with my social and business life and I can only work through the night when I don’t have to teach or function too early the next day!
For over 10 years I have ‘played around’ with this wonderfully versatile material and it is safe to say that from my first chance encounter with PMC it has spun my world around and set my life on a totally different path. Wonderful people have come into my life as a result and I feel grateful to have been part of such a pioneering chapter that is changing the landscape of what is possible with metals.
Wonderful feature Lisa. So great to hear more about you and your work and process.
Lisa, thank you for sharing! I especially love how you sit down at the bench each day whether or not you feel like it. Great advice!
Lisa, thanks so much for sharing this. Seems like you embody a great combination of being determined, yet open to the creative process and life force. Thank you!
Thank you for sharing, Lisa. I am working on the MR and find myself “stuck” a lot…my ideas are quite involved and time consuming and I almost feel like I don’t know where to start. I like that you give yourself the freedom to sit and work and don’t stress out about the end project…that is good advice. I will try it!