This week I had a few custom and personalized Precious Metal Clay orders to create. PMC is my latest artistic medium, and I am IN LOVE with it. I use PMC Sterling and PMC Gold, and when I am finished, I end up with a pure precious metal piece of jewelry. The clay itself can be a little tricky to work with and one of the purposes of this blog will be to share the methods I have both learned and stumbled upon. But the joy of PMC is that you can make almost anything a traditional metal smith can make, it is truly amazing.
Here are the basic steps of my process:
Liat Client Designs
I start by designing my work with a graphic design program on my Mac.
Negative by Liat Jewelry
Then I invert the image and print off a negative on a laser transparency.
Photopolymer Plate by Liat Jewelry
Next I create a photopolymer plate from the negative. (I will do a separate post about photopolymer plates down the road).
More photopolymer plates by Liat Jewelry
Photopolymer plates are surprisingly easy to create.
Liat Jewelry clay work
I then roll out my clay, press it into the plate and cut out my design.
Clay pieces in the kiln for 1st firing
Once the piece has been sanded and finished, I pop it into the kiln for the first of two firings. (30 minutes at 1000 degrees)
After it has cooled, it is fired again in a bed of coconut carbon. (30 minutes at 1500 degrees)
Finished sterling silver “bones” for a client
Et Voila! After a little brushing and oxidizing, here are 2 of the finished pieces for a client,
she will wear them on a charm necklace in honor of her 2 dogs, halfpint and gracie!
Let me know if you have any questions about working with PMC!
