Anyone can.......

Or: Hadar's Pearl Grey Steel XT metal clay - Part IV!

My third trial piece that I made in steel XT metal clay, along with the ring and cracked bird, was my little "anyone can" figure.  Can you guess what this "fitness" anyone is called?  Keep guessing as you read this blog post.....

He worked fine. The body parts attached very nicely and easily using the clay. In fact, I think attachment with this clay is even easier than with the silver clay.  However, when I sculpt, I attach all the different pieces together when they are all wet clay. I don't wait for one part to dry before adding the next part. This is because they each have their own contours, so it's good to get a good match and seal in contours and easier to do when each component is still malleable clay.

While this method works very easily with this clay in terms of joining, I do now think it is a little more difficult to sand and finish the steel clay in those hard to reach areas - such as those attachment sites.  I think that in future, for example with "anyone", I will make the body first and let it dry and then sand it.  Only after all the sanding is finished on that part, will I then add additional body parts.  I think this will give a nicer finish to the whole piece, rather than having the joints looks a little rough.

Anyhow, firing and sintering all went well. And I'm learning something new with every piece I try.....

So have you managed to guess what this "anyone" is called?  I did say he was a "fitness" piece......Yes, he is:

"Anyone can.... have abs of steel" 

- as he does indeed, have abs of steel!!!! :=D

Hadar's Pearl Grey Steel XT Clay - Part I

I read Hadar Jacobson's blog post of a week or so ago, about her new formula for Pearl Grey Steel XT clay - one of her base metal clays - and got excited! Hadar said her new clay "brought me back 14 years, to when I first learned about [original] silver clay, and it felt like the sky was the limit."  I didn't delay and ordered some straight away!

The clay comes in powder form, like all Hadar's clay, so you make up just as much as you need, by adding water.  When it's made up - it's delightful.  It is similar in feel to the original PMC silver formulation - and I found it easy to make up and easy to use.

I've tried all Hadar's clays, and many other brands too, but have never got excited with the base metal clays like bronze and copper.  They seemed unreliable and not consistent.....or else I don't like the feel of them when I work with them.

But I have high hopes for the Pearl Grey Steel XT!

I have started out by making three trial pieces to see how several different factors/techniques go, including getting the firing schedule correct for my kiln.  I'll show you these pieces this week and let you know how it goes.

My first trial was to make a very simple ring. The idea was to see how the clay joins. I rolled a snake of the clay and squidged it to make it uneven in shape. Then I joined the two ends together to form a shape roughly round.

Unfired steel clay ring

It formed and joined like a dream.  It felt strong in it's dry state and sanded nicely. I'm not a texture person so didn't add any texture.

I fired it to Hadar's schedule for a muffle kiln and it fired perfectly!  I am loving my new ring. I'll post photos of the fired ring tomorrow! It's so simple but I love the color of the pearl grey steel.

More tomorrow......

Mondays with Marly - California Dreamin'

By guest blogger Marly

Marly and Angie own Studio 28 in Waterloo, Ontario, Canada

What a difference two weeks makes. The income tax forms are mailed away and my left brain is recuperating and resting comfortably after having to perform a myriad of gymnastic feats to complete the task. "Go ahead and reminisce about your trip to California and your amazing visit to Birdland," my left brain lazily says. I'm headed off for a well-deserved nap. Just remember you promised we'd talk about studio organization later this afternoon."

Mmmmm...studio organization....O.K. then.... let's start reminiscing...shall we? 

Angie's spinner beads

It was the fall of 2008. Angie was having a significant birthday late in September and we wanted to celebrate it in a special way. So what evolved was an amazing week in California divided into three parts, exploring San Francisco, spending two days with Hadar Jacobson in her studio, and the big finale...visiting Ruth and family at their Birdland vineyard.

Marly's bronze and silver earrings

After exploring San Fran for two days we took the BART over to Berkeley and settled into a lovely B and B in the neighbourhood of Hadar Jacobson's place called The Brick Path B and B . Then we spent two days of creating jewelry under the knowledgeable guidance and expertise of Hadar in her studio/workshop space. We were so excited about our new learning experiences and the opportunity to spend time with such a gifted artisan.

Marly's collage pendant

 Angie's hollow form stones

 Angie's collage pendant

We ended our California adventures with a visit to Ruth's place in Glen Ellen. It was wonderful to see Ruth again and to experience Birdland, a magical retreat that exudes happiness, thoughtful creativity and natural beauty everywhere you look. We loved meeting Ruth's husband John and their colorful and talented parrot, Harold, and had a wonderful time in their company.

Ruth had planned many special events to help Angie celebrate her birthday. First it was off to the little mountain town of Calistoga for a mudbath...aahhh...such goopy, relaxing fun!

The mudbath and massage got us in the perfect mood for a bit of winetasting. Here's a picture of Ruth and I enjoying some wine at Roshambo winery. I'm looking rather stern as I want Ruth to notice that my wine glass is empty! Hee hee!

After a few more visits to nearby wineries, Angie and Ruth were ready to dance with the locals!

Ruth and John were amazing hosts. We'll always have memories of gatherings in the "fairy ring," delicious dinners, sipping on Birdland Merlot, sharing stories around the fire, and looking out at the stars above the vineyard. What a highlight of 2008!

Oh dear....I think my reminiscing time has run out...I hear the left side of my brain starting to stir. Maybe I can squeeze in some play time with metal clay before the dreaded "studio organization" conversation! Wish me luck!

Experimenting with "White Bronze" clay

The last couple of years have seen an influx in new metal clays, including bronze, copper and steel made by different companies.  The latest in these is a new "white bronze" that Hadar Jacobson is making.  She supplies her metal clays in powder form and so you mix them yourself by adding just water.

I liked the look of her new white bronze clay so thought I'd give it a try.

As I often find with Hadar's clays, when I mix them according to her directions, they seem to slump when making thicker sculptural pieces and this is what happened with my first try with white bronze.  As it dries, it just doesn't hold it's form and flattens out.  So I decided to cut that piece into three and use them for some test firings to check what temperature is correct for my kiln.

Here's what one of the cut up pieces came out like after firing - finished only roughly - dark silvery grey color:

I then made up a new batch and added less water than Hadar suggests so that it wasn't quite collecting in the bowl.  Then I rolled this, adding the tiniest more bit of water,  and it came together and didn't slump as it dried.  It is on the verge of cracking but doesn't quite - so it is not the satiny feel that Hadar uses for her pieces and shows in her videos.  Anyhow - this drier form seems to keep sculptural pieces in their shape.

I made two of the drier batches and have just fired those.  The kiln settings seem fine - but both these pieces came out quite yellowy.  Here's one of my little birds -  not as yellow as traditional bronze but still a lot yellower than the test piece.  (I tried firing niobium wire embedded in him but it seemed wobbly which is what the little blob on his head is!):

So the final color of these last two pieces - each made with a different batch of drier clay - is quite different from the test piece and also from Hadar's work on her blog.  I can't imagine that just adding less water would take away the "white" coloring so I wonder what it was?  I'll see what Hadar has to say.

Here are three pieces for comparison.  The bird on the left is silver, the test piece in white bronze is in the middle and the yellowy white bronze bird is on the right.

Maybe it's just me and bronze! The prometheus bronze came out pink and now the white bronze comes out yellow????  Anyone else been trying this out?  what did you find?

Bronze and copper songbird

My little bronze and copper songbird is featured in Hadar Jacobson's latest book about bronze and copper metal clay: Mixed Metal Jewelry from Metal Clay


I've done very little with bronze and copper, but it's lovely to see my little bird in such good company! The book looks great, stuffed full of information and ideas.