This past weekend I attended the New Mexico Arts & Crafts Fair, a prestigious juried show featuring only New Mexico artists and artisans. The show was in its 50th year, and as a first-time exhibitor, I had a great experience! This was the first year I used lights in my booth, courtesy of a good friend of ours who used to do shows all over the United States. I was only allowed 200 watts with my booth fee (and I didn’t purchase extra), so since we didn’t quite know what we were doing, we set up the light bar at the back of the booth. All weekend we thought of other light configurations, so I’m sure there will be some changes at the next show. This was also the first time I’ve used a rug in the booth. The lights and the rug make all the difference in presentation, I think, and I was very happy with my new Kell’s Creations banner.
I heard the crowds were down from previous years, and one experienced exhibitor said she thought the crowds were half what they usually are. But with over 220 booths, there was some amazing talent on display. Lots of jewelry (there always is), but it was wonderful to see the variety, and it was inspiring to see how each artist chose to display his or her creations. I was very flattered and excited to have my jewelry so well received. Of course I want to continue to try to stretch my vision and my abilities to make my work even more appealing and unique.
For this show I created several new pieces, some polymer clay and wire, some stones and gems embellished with wire, and some bronze and Precious Metal Clay pieces. One of my favorite new polymer clay and wire pieces sold before I could get a picture. But here is a photo of some of my new Precious Metal Clay (PMC) and dichroic glass pieces. The small one with the blue cubic zirconia stone sold, so now I’m going to be busy listing the other items for sale in my Etsy shop, and I will also be adding them to the shop here at my site, which I will be setting up very soon.
I’m looking forward to what should be an even better show in 2013. And now I turn my attention to creations for the next show I’m planning to send in my application to attend–the Santa Fe Renaissance Fair at El Rancho de las Golondrinas, September 22 and 23.
Hello, I was wondering if anyone who has worked with precious metal clay could give me some advice. First, how strong/hard is the finished silver piece using either of the brands: Art Clay and PMC? Are they about the same? I’ve found information about everything else on them, except that. Also, about molds. I’ve been creating small objects out of resin using a latex mold, but I don’t really like how long it takes to build up the mold. Polymer clay with a release agent sort of works, but not great. Is there something easier to use that I don’t have to worry about touching with my fingers and is somewhat flexible? Thank you for any help you can give.
I’ve worked with both PMC and Art Clay. When fired, both are 99.9 percent fine silver, so the hardness will be that of fine silver, which is somewhat soft. There is now a sterling silver clay which would be slightly harder after firing because it is an alloy, the equivalent of sterling silver. It does require a slightly different method of firing in order not to develop fire scale, which fine silver does not develop during the firing process because it is more pure. As for molds, I’ve used polymer clay to create my own texture plates, carvings and molds, both the regular polymer clay and the polymer clay that is meant for mold making and stays somewhat flexible. I recently bought a two-part mold compound called Cold Mold from Rio Grande Jeweler’s Supply that creates a silicone mold. Other metal clay jewelry artists have used it with great results, so that might be something to look into. Good luck!