Donna shares with us a quick synopsis of the steps she takes to create her Silver Metal Clay, Tyvek and Faux Bone Rings. This is the third challenge for the group B of 5 Masters. The second team has tackled Steampunk, Ice Resin and Metal Clay and now Faux Bone Rings with Metal Clay Components.
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!
Donna says “anyone who has seen me before and then during a stiltwalking performance knows I love a good transformation. Faux Bone, introduced by the amazing artist and teacher Robert Dancik, is one of those cool materials that changes before your eyes. After you file or sand the gloss off factory-fresh Faux Bone, it really does begin to look and feel like bone or horn. Sometimes, especially when colored, it confounds one into wondering just what it is made of—maybe wood? In any case, the more you work it with your hands, the more soulful a material it seems to become. I haven’t reached the “soulful” point yet with Tyvek, another repurposed material I pulled out of my memory for this challenge, but making these rings, I sure had a lot of fun.”
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 80 pictures with tons of detail in this #29 Tutorial!
In this tutorial you will learn:
- How to embed fire-in-place connectors into metal clay
- How to sand and file Faux Bone (lots of helpful tips)
- How to work with recycled materials (Tyvek) and fun ways to apply color
- How to drill holes in Faux Bone
- How polish metal clay
As a bonus, Donna has designed not only one but two rings! You’ll learn several different techniques in each ring project. What a treat! Her designs are fun and whimsical. I loved how she recycles her Tyvek for this project.
Using a circle template, find the hole that fits the finger for which you want to make a ring. Using a template measured in mm rather than inches will give the exact hole size needed, instead of an approximation.
Using your grinding stone attachment in your rotary tool or sandpaper (Donna shows you a great tip for making a tool as well) remove enough Faux Bone to reach the size hole that is just about the size you transferred onto the Faux Bone with a sharpie from the template.
Slightly rounded edges will make the ring more comfortable to wear. Sandpaper can accomplish that. Even faster is a Wax/Faux Bone Peeler or Forming Tool to round the edges of the hole on both sides. Relax and let the sharp side of the swivel head do the work. Use it the opposite way you would a vegetable peeler: pull toward your body, cutting tiny, thin curls in order to remove the sharp corner where the inside of the ring meets the side. To switch direction and/or work in a different area, don’t switch the tool—instead, flip the piece around and continue to pull the tool the same way, in short strokes from far to close.
No matter how you enlarge the hole and round its edges, progress to finer sandpapers (280- and 400-grit, and maybe 600-grit or finer, wet-or-dry papers) with water until you reach the finish you like.
Cut out the shape of the ring you have sketched onto the Faux Bone blank. Donna shares numerous helpful tips in the full tutorial on how to load a saw, how to remedy a stuck Skip Tooth Blade, and more!
File the ring blank excess materials away from the blank. Again, Donna shares many helpful tips on how to file easily. She also has a great tool that she shares that will quickly remove material to give you a beautiful surface!
Using Stainless Steel bolts, embed the head into the silver clay shaped flower. Pull the head of the bolt out of the clay prior to it being fully dried.
Allow to dry and fill cracks with metal clay paste.
Sand with 3M Sponge Sanders. Create a flat bottom by sanding across the bottom so it sits flat against the Faux Bone.
Insert the head of the bolt into the dried flower signet. Wipe off excess clay with the round clay shaper. Dry completely. Using a Fantastix tool you can remove or smooth any excess clay areas.
Using calipers, measure the bolt width. Find a screw that is the same width of the or ideal drill bit will be the width of the bolt minus its threads, so that the threads will grip the Faux Bone as it is screwed in place.
Drill the hole in the Faux Bone ring shank with your rotary tool. Make sure the height of the top of the shank is deep enough to accomodate the bolt length.
Fire the metal clay flower for 30 minutes at 1650F on a bed of vermiculite or fiber blanket in your kiln.
Polish the flower after it has completely cooled with a lubricated brass brush and then the 3M Radial Disk Polishers.
Cut a generous piece from a Tyvek envelope. Color the Tyvek with acrylics or Adirondack Inks.
Working on a cookie sheet or heat proof surface, using heat proof gloves and a heat gun, heat the Tyvek. Don’t forget to flip and scrunch. Then flatten under heat as well.
Using your paper template (shown in the full tutorial), cut out the shape and thread the bolt through the Tyvek. Continue with all the different layers of Tyvek (as shown in the full tutorial).
Donna shows several ways to carve a design into the Faux Bone. Great ideas!
Wet sand to remove burrs.
Using Adirondack inks dap and apply color to the Faux Bone Ring. When you are done applying colors, let the ring shank dry completely. It’s a good idea to spray the ring then with Nikolas Spray or a pounced thin coat of resin to seal the colors to the surface.
Thread the petals onto the bolt extending from the metal clay bulb, screwing the bolt down into the hole in the Tyvek. Then mount some of your leaves on the bolt, choosing a pleasing arrangement.
Mix up a small batch of 2-part epoxy (be sure to follow the directions and mix well), and dab some with a toothpick onto the end of the bolt. Insert the end of the bolt into the hole you drilled into the top of the ring shank. Turn the bulb to screw the bolt down into the Faux Bone until all parts fit snugly together.
Donna’s second Faux Bone ring is also included in the full tutorial. How exciting to get a double dose of fun, color and techniques!
Donna has definitely made a transformative piece of art jewelry! I can see her stilt-walking characters in these fun pieces. Just by wearing them, you might feel also like any one of her characters. Fun to wear and they surely will get lots of smiles. Big is definitely in style this fall so go crazy with materials and color. The bigger the better. Try your hand at Faux Bone and make yourself a ring that surely will create some attention and brighten your day!
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 Linda Kaye-Moses Doming Plate 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!
Donna Penoyer started out her artistic endeavors learning to be a poet. Instead she became a stilt walker, married a professional fool, and today is known as “The Whistle Lady” for her sculptural, wearable metal clay whistles. Donna has been working in PMC since 2005, is a founding member of the Western PA Chapter of the PMC Guild. She teaches nationally at The Bead & Button Show, Haystack Mountain School of Crafts, Touchstone Center for Crafts, and Society for Contemporary Craft in Pittsburgh. She has written articles for PolymerCAFÉ and Art Jewelry magazines, and her work may be seen in Robert Dancik’s book Amulets and Talismans and other upcoming publications. Donna’s whistle ring “Journey Companion” is currently on the cover of the 2009 edition of the PMC Guild Annual 3.
Check out Donna’s work at www.DonnaPenoyer.com. She teaches at many venues across the country. Make sure you find the location nearest you and sign up for one of her fabulous classes!
Photo credit: final piece Drew Davidson; step-by-step Donna Penoyer
Donna Rocks. That’s all I have to say.
Tyvek envelopes? Seriously? That is so cool and something that would never ever have occurred to me.
way cool Miss D!
Donna you never cease to amaze me!! This is fantastic! And I love the use of the Tyvek envelope!! Absolutely LOVE this project!
Cool! Rings befitting Carmen Banana! Very inventive!
Donna, ‘fess up! I think Carmen designed this ring. 😉 She’s got talent.
Ok, these are just fabulous – and SOOO Donna! They make me smile… 🙂
Hey Donna, Love seeing the finished product with the tyvek! They do seem to match your alterego pretty well!
Ann
Donna, these look amazing! Love the carving on the faux bone! Look forward to the tutorial for the carving techniques!!