I had signed up for the Rio Rewards Certification course, sponsored by Rio Grande Jewelry Supply for the fall of 2010, and I was all set to travel to the Dallas area to take it. But then we got our dachshund puppy Olivia, and I didn’t want to travel with a new puppy, so I canceled. When the course came available again, this time at Rio’s main office in Albuquerque for October 2011–much closer than Dallas!–I quickly paid the fee . . . in April. I had the money then, and I didn’t know if I would have it closer to class time, so I paid and made myself promise not to cancel again.

 

I am so glad I kept that promise. The course was taught by Terry Kovalcik, professional illustrator, metal clay genius, and master PMC instructor.

 

The course is structured so that students complete seven projects in three days of class time. The projects are meant to teach and test important techniques that help insure quality craftsmanship, but even though the projects are standardized, we were encouraged to put our own creative twist on most of them.

 

The only project that didn’t allow a lot of creative leeway was the tetrahedron, a deceptively simple pyramid-shaped object that drove us all a bit nuts, just as Terry promised it would. Even so, not one of us failed to complete the task successfully, though there was much grumbling and griping and sighs of frustration–not to mention a few curse words.Terry was a great teacher, exacting in his standards–not surprising, considering the miraculous detail of his work–but a lot of fun.

 

The woven earrings pictured above were one of the projects, partially made with a type of PMC that comes in a what looks like fabric form, which is cut in strips and woven together. After my earring pieces were fired, leaving only 99% fine silver, I oxidized them to give them the shades of blue, green and gold that you see in the photo.

 

Another project was the “double fire ring,” a kind of signet ring in which a cubic zirconia stone is set. This was a completely different method of making a ring than I had done before. The band is sized to account for shrinkage in the kiln and fired flat, then the cooled band is later bent around a ring mandrel before adding the signet portion and refiring. We had a kiln mishap when many of the rings were fired, so the rings of some of the students didn’t survive. I was one of the lucky ones.

 

Other projects included the saucer bead (aka lentil bead), another type of ring, a relief pendant, and the culminating project–a pen. Since my daughter’s wedding was coming up the very next weekend, I decided to make a pretty pen to use with the guest book. We made the pens on the last day of class, running late, so things were a bit rushed, and I was tired, so I wasn’t completely satisfied with the way my pen turned out. Even so, it was pretty, and it made a great decorative addition to the guestbook table. The next pen I make will be better. Oh, and I earned my certificate, too!