Linda's Magic Workshop - Linda Britt Design

A week ago I posted in Face Book that I had finished several pair of earrings made from Hadar’s clay.  I was experimenting with techniques from her book, The Handbook of Metal Clay Textures and Form, and I promised to share my experience with you.  The larger oval pair of earrings (lower left in photo) combines Brilliant Bronze and Copper.  I carved curvy stripes in the copper oval and laid in snakes of bronze, sanded flat and fired.  I know I could polish and make them smoother and shinier but I like the more rustic look.  I used Baldwin’s Patina to bring out the color contrast. The upper right pair of earrings also combines the bronze and copper.  The back textured layer is bronze and the smaller rectangle is copper.  I was concerned that the copper might be too thick and not bond well but as you can see – no problem! The earring on the lower right also has a backing of bronze.  I carved horizontal strips and laid the copper snakes in.  Then a textured the snakes cut

Sharing my work from Hadar’s class with you is making me remember and document what I learned.   It’s a really good thing!   Details can be so easily forgotten.   In between assigned projects, I made a pair of earrings from a slab of copper and a slab of brilliant bronze.   When you really look the top layer of one earring is plain copper and the back layer of the other is textured bronze.   The pieces on the top layer started out as a single shape and I cut them to look like cracked mud.   (At least that is what dried cracked mud looks like here in the Southwest).   Since the two materials have a slightly different shrinkage rate the cracks became a little wider.   After I sanded and fired them, I polished them and made them into earrings.   These were fun and I’ll make other earrings in a similar style.   I also tried my square pliers and love what I can do with them. This pair of earrings sold before I could get them in my etsy shop!

My finished Pueblo Ring The second project we made in Hadar’s class on ‘Architectural Jewelry’ was a ring with 3 layers.   It has dimension in the front, an integral band in the back and the bottom is enclosed.   I made a mini pueblo with a tower, middle building and a wall.   The clay is Hadar’s Brilliant Bronze.   Each layer has a different texture which enhances the 3-D effect.   Using the paper ring to dry the separate pieces.  These are parts from different class member's rings. The band starts with a strip of paper taped in a circle that is 2.5 times larger than the actual ring size.   That adjusts for the shrinkage during firing.   I should have made mine a half size larger.   Now I have a pinkie ring that is a little heavy.   Someday when I make another, this may end up in my etsy store.   Right now, I’m just excited to have made it!   Each layer is made separately and dried before attaching to the main band.   The bottom is then attached and dried.   This