Linda's Magic Workshop - Linda Britt Design

Flexible Copper (Hadar's Quick Fire) There's been a flurry of metal clay in my studio.   My late winter goal was to use the older Hadar  clay that I have so I can focus on her new One-fire clay.   Over the years (yes it keeps that long in powder form) I've collected many containers of Quick-fire bronze, copper, steel, etc.  They take longer to fire and have 3 stages of firing instead of 2.  Hadar's Flexible Copper  My mid-west background of using and saving kicked in and I would not allow myself to use the new One-fire clay until all the other was gone.  So I started creating.  First I was just going to make some simple earrings and then a pendant.  Pretty soon I wondered how I could make some pieces using tools not used before.  One thing led to another. Crisco Ad Engraving A metal engraved stamp for a Crisco ad that my mother saved became a necklace.  When this piece was fired, it separated in two p...

The Dragonfly Story The Butterfly Story  Looking through my stash of older Hadar’s clay, I settled on Quick Fire Steel XT.  Why I have 3 bottles is still a question in my mind and now my goal is to use it!  First I started with oval links.  My idea is to make these links as my test pieces and use them in a mixed base metal chain when I get enough.  That should make another good story!  Steel Links Next I decided to make a steel frame to house a moving event.  That will be another post as soon as I decide on the subject of that story!  And you will have to wait to see it. Rocks!  I found my box of special smooth rocks the correct size to use as forms for hollow beads.  Of course I had to make a pendant with a center hole.  Following the directions in one of Hadar’s books and remembering what I had learned in one of her classes, the basic form came out great.  I decided to hang a pearl (I think) in the center...

When I start a project I try to have a plan – at least a loose idea of where I’m heading.  This experiment started out with me wanting to make links for a bracelet with mokume gane  that I learned to do in Hadar’s class in Tucson.  I used Friendly Copper, Friendly Bronze and Pearl Grey Steel clay in my extruder to make a long square rope that I cut into sections.  The sections had all 3 types of clay in concentric circles that mimicked the Japanese mokume gane. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mokume-gane  I made the back layer for the 8 links in bronze and placed the cut squares in rows making sure I had good contact with the backing.  The nice thing about using these there clays is firing them all at one time and in one stage.  So much easier.  Before I started the project, I made U shaped wire tabs (nickel chromium) to insert between the bronze backing and the mokume gane squares.  I thought that would be the best way to connect...

As I sit at my desk or at my work space, Ravens swoop between the tall swaying pine trees.  In the evening they gather in those same trees and ‘talk’ to one another with their varying individual voices.  I am entranced with them. The Raven is the subject for my latest base metal clay pendant.  I want a pendant to feature the Raven and relate to its environment.  I want to use a piece of Poe’s poem and have the finished project look rustic and a bit organic.  I’m using some of the older clay from Hadar’s clay line-up; this time I used Quick Fire Copper, Friendly Bronze and Quick Fire Steel XT.  The Quick Fire Copper was used for the back and the bail.  All three clays were used for the applied sections.  I put them on coconut carbon and set the stainless round bowl on the camp stove.  When both sides were black, I added carbon and put the bowl in the kiln firing on the mid-fire schedule. Finished Piece Waiting is the most diffic...

In the Tucson Mountains For months,I've been looking forward to Hadar Jacobson’s class on mokume gane using base metal clay.   I also knew this was an opportunity to learn more about her new clay. ( http://hadarjacobson.com /)  Lyle Rayfield ( www.lylerayfield.com ) hosted the class in the Tucson Mountains.  What a beautiful setting for an intense 3 day class!  Taking a class with a master teacher like Hadar adds so many dimensions to the process.  I have all her books and now that I know some techniques first hand, it will be so much easier to follow the text.  Meeting other people interested in the same things helps make the class more fun and creative.  I have new friends I can email and share information. I love the texture and ease of the base metal clay which makes constructing something a joy.  It’s that carbon and firing that makes me crazy.  So I’m going to focus on using Hadar’s clay for the next few months and improve m...

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 sna...

Finished Piece Back of finished piece This is the last and 6 th piece of jewelry I created in Hadar Jacobson’s Architexture Jewelry Class.   As you can see that was a very busy intensive class that was worth every minute and dollar!   There was so much to learn and Hadar was so willing to share.   This project focused on layering different metal clays.   I rolled out and textured a layer of brilliant bronze, a layer of copper, a layer of steel and another layer of copper for the backing.   Each layer had a different texture.   I cut out the top layer of bronze and placed it over the copper layer making sure I had the amount of copper showing that I wanted.   Those two layers were placed over the steel and then onto the copper back layer.   This was an interesting way to build a piece as it provided support for each layer.   And as you can see it really produces nice depth.    Before Firing  I made a long cylinder on...

  Yet another project from Hadar’s Architectural Jewelry Class!   This is a knuckle buster of a ring and believe it or not it is really comfortable to wear!   Great jewelry armor! This project was about building a hollow ring using a form.   Indentations for the fingers each side of the ring made it comfortable to wear.   I combined steel and copper to make a ring I love! I used a stainless steel oval soap for my ring’s form.   Several years ago someone gave me a rectangular piece of stainless steel to use after I cut onions or garlic.   I rubbed it in my hands like soap and sure enough…it took the smell away.   When I saw the oval bar in class, I had to use it!   http://www.focalprice.com/HJ135S/Hand_Odor_Smell_Remover_Stainless_Steel_Soap_Bar_Silver.html?utm_source=CS&utm_medium=GM_US&utm_campaign=CS_GM_US_HJ135S&gclid=CMeX9KCC67UCFY8WMgodZzwA_Q Someone else used a flat stone.   We put the 4 card thick clay ha...

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 ...