From Raw Clay To Silver

Last year, I had the opportunity to attend a 2 hour workshop and tried my hands on silver art clay at Jewellery Design and Management International School.  I had always been curious about silver art clay and turning it into pure silver was something that got me very excited!

 Unlike the polymer clay that I am used to working with, this one is water based so it's quite ooey to work with. (I immediately associate with the movie "Ghost" - remember the song "Unchained Melody"? hahahaha) But ok, there wasn't a Patrick Swayze with me nor a Demi Moore in me and there was only 10 gram of the clay to work with so not possible to do pottery there.

 

Anyway, I was still not convinced that the piece of boring wet cement colored clay would eventually turn out silver. So upon the instructions of the workshop teacher, the class rolled out our clays and designed whatever we wanted with the given tools. We had to constantly ensure that the clay is moist to work with so a water spray was the hottest property at the table. As I didn't want to waste it by coming up with some weird creation, I stuck to a simple style and so that my daughter can wear them.  The above left picture is my cut out design from raw clay, ready to be fired on the stove. On the right are all of the class's creations being fired up.

About 10 minutes later when the clay is dry, we had to leave it to cool a bit and check if there are condensation on the surface. Only when it is completely dry that we could continue to finish our work.

The magic happened when we burnished the clay with wired brush for at least a good 10 minutes. Wow! I was really amazed that the silver was showing and so shiny at that! 

I was really happy with what I saw and planned in my mind to create from this clay product and sell my creations at my blogshop. But gasp! When I found out that a 10gram clay costs near to $50, I almost fainted. That would mean that I cannot afford to make grave mistakes in my creations and selling prices would be at a premium. That is not what I set out for my blogshop to cater as my customers enjoy my mid-range priced creations. So I have put this plan on hold till at a better time when I can invest in this material. I'm just waiting for that day to happen. :)

The above are the completed jewelries from the workshop. It's pure silver mind you! Still amazes me and I hope my post has inspired you to go out and try something new. It is times like this that I appreciate my craft even more.

Before I left the workshop, I managed to take a photo with the school's principal, Tonya. Amazingly talented lady. Though not a very well taken photo by the workshop teacher! :p

Till the next post, have a blessed week!

~ This post is purely by my own accord and am in no way paid or affiliated with the school ~