Precious Metal Clay Workshops

September 21 & 28, 2011, "Introduction to PMC"
2 Wednesdays, 6:30-9:30 p.m.
$75 members/$100 non-members, plus $55 materials
Pittsburgh Center for the Arts (Pittsburgh, PA), www.pittsburgharts.org, (412) 361-0873
_____Have you always wanted to try PMC, but weren’t sure how you would fire your pieces? This fun beginner’s class may be the answer. Learn how to texture, form, fire, and finish PMC. Make at least two pieces, including 1) a pendant to be kiln-fired by the instructor, and 2) one or more small charms you will torch-fire yourself, using an inexpensive and readily available crème brulee torch.

October 2, 2011, "Firing and Finishing Metal Clay Jewelry"
Sunday, 1:00-5:00 p.m.
$40, plus materials if purchased--if we end early, price will be discounted
Donna's studio in Lawrenceville neighborhood--e-mail art@donnapenoyer.com to register
_____This will be a small group session for repeat students who want to learn the basics of firing pieces in a kiln and with a butane torch, polishing pieces with a tumbler or rotary tool, applying patinas, and doing simple tasks like fusing jump rings to attach charms to necklaces or charm bracelets. Bring pieces you have made, either fired or ready to fire, or buy/bring some PMC3 and make a quick piece to practice torch-firing. Space is very limited, so please register early!

October 5, 2011, "A Parade of Earrings to Make in Metal Clay"
Wednesday, 8:00-9:30 p.m.
CRAFTCAST with Alison Lee (online workshop), www.craftcast.com
_____In this online workshop, I will share great tips on a variety of earring designs, especially those using the hollow forms I love. Don't miss the step-by-step projects! Also learn to incorporate wire as a fire-in-place element, to set CZs correctly and securely, to make custom earwires, and much more! Best of all, you'll end up owning a recording of the session so that you can watch and learn from it again and again.

October 8, 2011, "Re-Imagining the Lentil: Dynamic Hollow PMC Jewelry"
SIGN UP TODAY--LIMITED PUBLIC SEATS AVAILABLE
Saturday, 9:00 a.m.-5:00 p.m.
Chesapeake Chapter of the PMC Guild (Worton, MD), loudroar@comcast.net
_____Whether or not students already know how to make the most simple of hollow jewelry forms, the 2-sided lentil bead, this workshop will engage their creativity and help them push beyond the traditional domed form into dynamic variations on a theme. Demos will include basic lentil construction, as well as ways to cut up, rearrange, and re-imagine the parts to explore endless varieties of unique shapes.

October 9, 2011, "Hollow Pod with Single-Roll Multi-Layering"
SIGN UP TODAY--LIMITED PUBLIC SEATS AVAILABLE
Sunday, 9:00 a.m.-5:00 p.m.
Chesapeake Chapter of the PMC Guild (Worton, MD), loudroar@comcast.net
_____Learning to create your own textures for metal clay is essential to making unique jewelry that expresses who you are. The “tearaway technique,” introduced by polymer clay artist Gwen Gibson and made popular by metal clay master Celie Fago, offers a wonderful way of applying original artwork to the surface of metal clay, resulting in an ancient, torn look and shallow textures loaded with detail. Learn my version of the tearaway technique, then customize your texture sheets to create multiple design layers in a process I call “single-roll multi-layering.” But that’s not all! I will also share a wonderfully simple and quick way of making metal clay hollow forms in any shape, without the use of armatures. Choose from a variety of shapes to create a gorgeous, double-sided pod pendant with a surface design all your own.

October 11-25, 2011, "PMC with Resin"
3 Tuesdays, 6:30-9:30 p.m.
$75 members/$95 non-members, plus $65 materials
Sweetwater Center for the Arts (Sewickley, PA), www.sweetwaterartcenter.org, (412) 741-4405
_____Bring on the color! Since metal clay takes texture so beautifully, it looks great as a base for media such as transparent resins. In the first two sessions, make a pure silver PMC pendant with a contemporary, walled design. I will fire and polish the pieces before the third session, and then the gorgeous color begins!—with the application of easy-to-use, liquid epoxy resin. You will also have the chance to play with resins in ready-made bezels, with a variety of inclusions such as beads, spices, and paper imagery.

October 23, 2011, "PMC Earrings with Pearls and Gems"
Sunday, 9:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m.
$75, plus $55 materials
Society for Contemporary Craft (Pittsburgh, PA), www.contemporarycraft.org, (412) 261-7003
____Great beginner class! Learn how to texture, form, fire, and finish PMC, to set fire-in-place gems such as cubic zirconias, and to set pearls after firing by incorporating fine silver wire into the metal clay.

October 29 & 30, 2011, "Metal Clay Whistles" -- SOLD OUT --wait list started
November 1 & 2, "Metal Clay Whistles" -- SOLD OUT -- wait list started
Hadar Jacobson's studio (Berkeley, CA), hadar@pacbell.net
____San Francisco, here I come! I am very excited and honored to have the rare opportunity to be a guest teacher at Hadar Jacobson's studio. And Hadar knows how to pack the house! These workshops have been sold out for months. To get on the wait list, please contact hadar@pacbell.net.

November 5, 2011, "Metal Clay Whistles"
November 6, 2011, "Metal Clay Whistles"
two workshops for New Metal Artists (Los Angeles, CA)

November 13, 2011, "Silver & Gold Within Your Reach: PMC & Keum-boo"
Sunday, 9:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m.
$75, plus $50 materials (subject to market fluctuations)
Society for Contemporary Craft (Pittsburgh, PA), www.contemporarycraft.org, (412) 261-7003
____First, learn a terrific way of making unique texture plates utilizing the polymer clay “tearaway technique.” Next, use those textures to make a small pendant or earrings. Pieces will be kiln-fired in class, and then you'll learn keum-boo, the Asian art of fusing gold to a silver object with heat. Easy-peasy!

November 16 & 17, 2011, "Mixed Metal Jewelry: Copper and Bronze Clay Inlay"
Wednesday & Thursday, 9:00 a.m. - 4:30 p.m.
$110, plus $60 materials
Weavers' Guild of Rochester's Weaving and Fiber Arts Center (East Rochester, NY), www.weaversguildofrochester.org, (585) 461-1770
_____Copper and bronze clays are a low-cost alternative to silver metal clay, and they look marvelous together. Learn multiple ways for copper and bronze metal clays to be inlaid into one another, resulting in beautiful images and patterns on the surface of the metal. Students may make earrings, pendants, cabochons, buttons, beads, brooches, or freeform pieces to incorporate into weavings or other fiber projects.
Note: This workshop is in the Weaving and Fiber Arts Center's great new location at the Piano Works Mall in East Rochester, NY.