More Bonzclay

I've been working with Bronzclay now since Thanksgiving.  The last pieces are going into the kiln today.  And if none of them have to be refired, I'll be finished with bronze for awhile.

The clay is so nice to work with that I ambitiously made a couple of larger pieces before I realized that bigger, thicker pieces need a different firing schedule. I found some iris pods in the backyard last fall and thought they would make a nice focal piece for a necklace. But the piece I lovingly created turned out to be 13mm thick in the center.

While there is a lot of information about firing this clay out there on the Web,  I decided to contact the manufacturer himself for advice.  Bill Struve was very helpful and patient with all my questions as we exchanged a few emails.

We decided that the slow ramp process Mardel Rein has devised, which takes into consideration the type of kiln, the thickness of the clay, and the target temperature, would be appropriate to try.  So after an initial open air firing phase, ramping at 500° to 650° and holding for 45 minutes, I covered it with carbon and fired at 115° per hour to a target of 1490° and held for 3 hours.  Yes, the piece was in the kiln all day.

One of the pods broke at the seams but otherwise the piece was intact.  It was an easy fix.  The second firing used the same first phase.  But then buried in carbon it was a full ramp to 1510° with another 3 hour hold.  Bill Struve had told me that the slow ramp on already fired items wasn't necessary.

Cleaned up and polished, this was the result.

So what did I learn?
While bronze clay is so much less expensive to purchase than fine silver and I feel compelled to create larger pieces, firing time can cancel out the savings, even when you have solar panels.  So it's not something I will do often.

I'm thinking about digging out my husband's dehydrator.  Some of my smaller/thinner pieces tended to crack or break but they always seemed to be pieces with more than 1 layer and cracks began in the layered area.  It's possible that even pieces that sit around for awhile are not fully dry in the center of the thickest part.  Pieces that sat for a week fired without problems.  Those that were only a couple days old were the ones that cracked.

The shrinkage rate of Bronzclay makes it difficult to create my openwork/filigree designs.  Even when my coils are thicker, they don't seem to stay together.  So I may go back to Goldie Bronze for those designs despite its more grainy finish.

As I stated in an earlier post, bezels need to be attached to already fired pieces and the entire work fired.
 again.  Second firings can be at full ramp to target temperature.

Any pieces with nooks and crannies should be fired in a wire mesh cage.  Because of the shrinkage rate of Bronzclay, this is particularly important.  Small bits of coconut carbon can cause cracks in the design or become embedded in it.

My kiln is a Paragon Firefly and the bonding agent in this clay just would not burn out using the manufacturer instructions.  I had better results using a first phase firing on a kiln shelf then burying the pieces for the second phase.  I do this with both thin and thicker pieces.

A New Year with a New Bronze

Happy New Year!!!

I've been away from my blog but not sitting idle. In my last post I talked about my firing issues with Bronzclay.  Since finding a firing schedule that works I've been hard at work testing the clay with my new designs.

I'd like to report that some things work and some don't.

These small pendants were quick and easy and fired nicely.  Only the pendant on the far left had to be fired a second time.  I found when layering or attaching elements water is not enough to keep them together in the kiln.  Most attachments need a loose mixture of clay and water covering the entire surface of the adhesion.  If there are any spaces the piece will begin to separate.

I like to add flowers and curly snakes to some of my pieces.  But sometimes the little particles of carbon that the bronze is immersed in get stuck in all the spaces my style provides.  Sometimes that just means digging these particles out  but occasionally they interfere with the shrinkage.  This bronze clay shrinks a lot, about 20%, so the carbon particles immersed in a design will cause it to crack.  To solve that problem I've purchased some stainless steel wire mesh to cover the delicate pieces and keep the carbon particles out.

This high rate of shrinkage also makes it impossible to embed a bezel setting for even a small stone.   Because the setting doesn't shrink it causes clay around it to crack.  Bezels need to be attached to fired clay and the whole piece fired a second time.

It's been a learning process but all in all I'm happy with the finished products that have survived the kiln.  My new inventory for 2014 has some new designs I hope people will like.  Bronzclay is a joy to work with and the finished product sands to a lovely shine that I protect with clear coat.

Here's a sneak peak at more of my new jewelry soon available at Jansjems--

Metal Clay Class with Terry Kovalcik

Snow Farm--Summer camp for adults


Over 4 days at Snow Farm I learned what separates the great metal clay artists from the rest of us.  Creative and unique designs certainly play a large part.  But it's really all about the precision, the "painstaking" attention to the finest detail, and the polishing, literally the polishing.

After working with metal clay for about 4 years, mostly learning on my own, I finally enrolled in an intensive class being taught by Terry Kovalcik.  I'd just created my first 3 dimensional piece earlier this year so creating a hinged box seemed like the logical progression.  I did learn how to make a hinged box but I came away with so much more.

On the first day we created the carcass of the box using PMC silver clay, rolling out each side, then putting them all together, and sanding and sanding until they were perfect. We were 5 students in the class being taught by Terry with special assistance from his wife, Corinne.  We chatted and got to know each other as we bombarded him with questions both relevant to the project or totally off topic.  And we took copious notes.

On the second day we had the anxiety producing chore of cutting our perfect boxes apart. Terry very precisely showed us how to saw them--with a saw!

             
                                                                   I did it!

We then learned how to make the hinges and how to create a hasp plate for the front.

Each of us seemed to have pretty definitive ideas about what the box should look until we realized how much work we had ahead of us. As a result we all ended up making some compromises and did little of the decorating we had planned.  Except for Lillian who pulled an all-nighter, with nothing to eat but Triscuits, to paint on her beautiful design.  I think she has a great future ahead of her as a jewelry designer.

Three of my classmates are from the Eastern part of the state.  Lucille has a background in website design as well as jewelry and she and Amy take classes at Metalwerx in Waltham. Lillian, appropriately, will be starting an MFA program in the fall.  And Deborah's background is in botanical illustration so I was disappointed when we all found that we really didn't have time for much decorating before our projects went into the kiln that night.  I'm sure her painting would have been beautiful.

In this small class we were able to get plenty of Terry's attention.  He's a knowledgeable artist and it was important for me to see him at work and learn from his example.  He manages to quietly demand precision, he patiently answers questions, and generously shares his knowledge and experience with those of us who still have so much to learn.                            

                And so many useful little tips!
.  


But I don't know how he would have taught our class without the help and support of his wife, Corinne, who knows where everything is, knows the prices of products he mentions and where to buy them, and generally keeps him organized.  A great lady with lots of stories, Corinne was fun and always helpful when Terry was busy.


                                                           

Fresh out of the kiln

Sanded and polished and polished some more, my box has a bright finish only to be oxidized once I get it home.

                       
                                                         Finished Products                                                                    

                                                               I love this hinge!

So Many Ideas, So Little Metal Clay

My new order of Goldie Bronze Clay arrived last week, thank heavens.  And just in time as I had used up the last of my Art Clay Silver and still have so many designs I want to make.

I have 3 or 4 empty jewelry trays and they hold little pictures like these, some with gemstones, and when I have time and metal clay I choose a couple.

My youngest daughter's birthday is coming up, so I made something for her with the last of my Art Clay Silver.








Recently I was asked to donate to the local library's fundraiser.  Some of you know that I have a weak spot for libraries and have donated pieces to others. While I have pieces already made that I could give them, this seemed like a good opportunity to create a new one, just for them.

And as one thing led to another, one piece led to the creation of another, and I've been in my workshop off and on since last Thursday.

On Tuesday I dropped off the finished piece at the Tilton Library.  I think it looks pretty good.  I hope they make a lot of money off of it at auction.  If you're interested, the auction/fundraiser takes place at Chandler's Tavern (Yankee Candle restaurant) on Wednesday, March 6.  It's an evening of wine tasting and micro brews.  Only $25 at the door or $20 if you purchase tickets in advance.  I'm sure they'll have lots of great items to bid on.

As for the birthday gift? I'm pretty happy with it as well.  I hope she likes it.

Fresh Start in the New Year

Yes, I've been neglecting my blog for a month now.  I've been so busy that I really hadn't thought about it until today.  And I've missed some great posts from some of my favorite bloggers--Wug's Backyard, Pussdaddy, Facing 50 with Humour to name a few.  So I spent a little time getting caught up.

It's a new year and every January I get itchy to start new jewelry designs.  I spent some time in December going through my inventory, purging older items that didn't sell and making little sketches of things I want to make in the new year.  I managed to win a stash of old clock gears and old balance cocks on Ebay, bought some really old brass chain (spent an hour cleaning it because it was so grungy), and got some nice old metal buttons at a local auction.  And right after Christmas I received the bronze and silver clay I ordered.  So I'm now ready to get started.










My workbench is in the downstairs family room and I have to walk past it every time I go to do the laundry. Not being able to resist the pull of my new findings, I created a few steampunk pieces in between loads.  And in perusing the metal clay forums I came across a product that I purchased to seal the brass pieces and chains to keep them from turning brown or discoloring skin.  You just paint on Permaclear with a small sponge.  It's undetectable. Love it!

When I was cleaning my work area in December I came across a bit of leftover bronze clay. So I decided to try out one of my new ideas for a necklace.

It looks a little retro to me but not like anything I've seen anywhere else.  I'm hoping it sells because I plan to make a few more in a similar style.  This one was fun.

So I'm well on my way in 2013.

Filigree and Curlicues

With a little left of my Goldie Bronze clay I was having a tough time staying away.  I have pages of new ideas for next year and am really anxious to try them out.

Bronze clay is perfect for experiments as it's inexpensive and reconstitutes several times over to a soft,  easily manipulated state.  I've been thinking about filigree and airy designs.  As a self-taught jeweler and no classes around that teach this technique, I got to work on my own.  I rolled a long thin snake and tried to put it onto a clay frame I had made and it just wasn't working.  Wetting the snake to curl it and get it into position just wets the frame and everything eventually gets mushy.  (Put used clay into dish for reconstituting.)

Make new frame.  I don't have a syringe for bronze clay so I turned to my extruder. Using the smallest hole I extracted a snake that was very fine and with a damp brush I formed curlicues on my non-stick surface.  I had drawn out a pattern for the first pair of earrings so I knew the size and shape of the curls I needed.  After letting them dry it was much easier to place them on the frame with a little water to "glue" them on.

The first pair of earrings came out perfect but in my obsessive need for perfection I sanded it too energetically and one broke, not to be repaired.  I did try.  (More clay into the dish for reconstituting.)  And now I have to make the earring again.  But repetition is one way we learn.

I'm now getting better at curling snakes of clay.  After reconstituting the clay in the dish I try another pair of earrings--bigger and trapezoidal in shape.  Well the frame was a bit too big but I figured out that I could attach cross bars of clay to the frame to act as support for my curlicues.  And that worked pretty well as they aren't really noticeable under the filigree.  This larger, more open design was a bit harder and the earrings didn't come out exactly the same.  But I got a lot of practice making curls as I broke a few in the process. (Broken ones in the dish for reconstituting.)

Adding reconstituted clay to the piece I had left I made a large triangular frame for a pendant.  A bigger piece, it needed more support than the earrings so I put a wide bar across the triangle and attached a circle & post for a half drilled pearl.  I wanted to see what random twists and curls would look like.  Using long strings of clay I just let is fall naturally and then used a little water to keep it in place.

Now the big test.  Will these fine filaments of bronze clay survive the high temps of the kiln.  Like any other metal clay, bronze clay shrinks a bit when the bonding agent burns off.  It has to be fired twice in coconut shell carbon--once to burn off the bonding agent and at a higher temp to fuse the bronze particles together.
Fingers crossed I programmed the kiln. And here's the result.  No broken filaments, even after vigorous cleaning.

I'm pretty pleased with my first attempt.  I have a way to go in refining this look.  I know I don't like the randomness of the pendant. I prefer the pattern of the earrings.  And I think less curl might work better if I use more of them.  I'm waiting for another batch of bronze clay and when it arrives I've got a couple more designs I can work on to help me get better at this.

November Musings

It's Wednesday morning and the election is finally over.  Did the campaigning last a lot longer than usual or did I just get tired of the rhetoric sooner?  Whew!  Now the phone will stop ringing.

I got an email this week from Fairs and Festivals with the usual list of upcoming shows--craft, garden, agricultural, all kinds.  It was my reminder that it's pretty near time to start thinking about next year's shows. Some have pretty early deadlines.

As I look over my stats on shows I did this past year I see at least 3 that I won't be applying to next year.  Each year I've had fewer and fewer buyers.  My customers just aren't there.  On the other hand I have 4 or 5 that were huge successes so I'll make sure to watch for the apps online.  It seems I still do much better South of here rather than locally.  I'll also try to find a couple of new shows to try as I do each year.  Sometimes you just can't tell about a show unless you participate in it.

I'm finished with craft shows for the year.  Last weekend I was at 2 great little shows--Handmade with Love in Easthampton's Eastworks and the Handicrafts and Collectibles Show at the Salem Cross Inn.  Both had great traffic with people beginning to shop for holiday gifts.  Both are keepers.


My remaining inventory has been sorted and will be distributed between a couple of local pop-up holiday shops--one in Greenfield and one in Northampton.  Darcy Rosner is opening a shop, probably this weekend,  on Federal St. next to the People's Pint.  It will feature mostly local artisans and she's already collected some wonderful items.  I'll post the url on my Facebook page when I get it.  Knack is a local organization dedicated to the art of creative reuse.  Their pop-up on Massonic St. in Northampton will be open every Saturday beginning Nov. 17 through Dec. 22. Everything in the Knack Holiday Pop-Up Shop will be handmade by local artists who use at least 75% reused materials in their work.  

Looking over my spreadsheets I can say that this year was better financially than last.  Jansjems sales have been growing a little bit each year.  And, most importantly, it's still fun.  Besides the pop-up shops, my jewelry can now be found in 3 gift shops and I have one holiday wholesale account.

I'll be getting ready for the holiday, cleaning up my very messy family room workshop, deciding on the menu for Thanksgiving, and eventually, my favorite, decorating for Christmas.  But for now I'm off to get a little exercise at the Y.

Pricing Handmade ???

Unfortunately, if you're looking for answers on how to price your handmade goods, you won't find it here.  For me it's been an on-going problem that I still haven't completely resolved.  Early on my prices fluctuated with each show.  If people seemed to think they were too high I'd lower them for the next show.  Then someone would comment on how "reasonable" my prices were or asked how I could sell so cheaply and I'd raise them again.

In trying to solve this problem I found lots of formulas out there on how to find your wholesale and retail price.  After all, you need to charge enough at retail to be able to sell for less to wholesalers.  So there's:

             2x cost of supplies + time at your hourly wage = wholesale
             Double this for retail.

                                                OR
             3 to 5X the cost of supplies will give you enough to cover your time

                                                OR

             there is the Rena Klingenberg school of thought which includes the cost of packaging and other supplies and considers booth fees, camera, tools, etc.

Because I use genuine stones, fine and sterling silver, and gold I have never sold at full retail.  In this area and in this economy it just isn't possible. My prices have always been somewhere between wholesale and full retail.  Which is now a problem as I've started consigning to a few gift shops who take a 30% or 40% cut.

So if I don't have answers why did I even bring this up?   Lately some of my craft show customers have been very price conscious, even asking if I give discounts.  And at 2 recent shows typically loaded with jewelry, I found vendors practically giving away their product.  Granted their work was more of what is sometimes referred to as "assembled".  But I know what findings and beads cost, even low end beads and base metal findings.  So I don't see where these jewelers, who though they are selling more units than the rest of us, are actually making any money, especially if you add in the booth fee, travel time, meals, gas, etc.

I certainly wouldn't tell anyone else how to price their work.  Each individual has the right to decide what their time and creativity is worth.  But as I find more of these low priced jewelry makers at shows I can't help being concerned for "handmade" in general.  They not only do not value their own work, they are undercutting those of us who do.

In my last post I mentioned a young girl who called my silver pieces "real jewelry".  Some people understand the difference between handmade and hand assembled, and actually think about the time and creativity that goes into a truly handmade item.  Those that aren't aware need to be educated.  And craft show organizers and promoters can help by doing a better job of jurying and asking about the price range of peoples' work.

I don't expect the Walmart mentality to disappear.  I just wish people could leave it at home when they come to art and craft shows.
                                             

Selling REAL Jewelry

"This is real jewelry.  Not those store-bought pendants you just hang on a chain."  This is a quote from one of 3 young girls who stopped by my booth this past weekend to look at my fine silver pieces.  Though they didn't buy anything, it was so gratifying to know that they knew the difference.  I'm not certain everyone does.

This was not a very successful show for me and given that the traffic count was easily over 20,000 people, I couldn't help but wonder why I did so much better the last time I attended.   The question of what is handmade came up again as I left my booth in my friend Eva's capable hands and walked around to see how everyone else was doing. 

Crystal who makes "real" handmade bags.

                                   Becky who also makes "real" jewelry. 

About 8 or 10 booths away was a cluster of jewelry sellers, 5 or 6 booths almost in a row, selling pendants for $5 or $7 or the same bangle bracelet in different colors for $10.  I'd like to say that I can't compete with those prices.   But while several of them had people in their tents, it didn't look like they were selling a lot either.

This year on its 10th anniversary stART on the Street accepted 360 vendors, both with 10 x 10 booths and sidewalk tables.  That's over 100 more than last year.  The section of Park Ave. between Highland and Pleasant was completely filled and even included a farmer's market at one end.  As I walked up one side of the street it suddenly occurred to me that I really wasn't taking in anything.  Occasionally a painting would catch my eye but mostly I just browsed.  Between dodging people and the sameness that all the booths became after awhile, I never really focused on anything.

Many of the shows that I do have too many jewelers.  It's not often a problem as my steampunk usually stands out.  I had a corner booth so I was getting traffic from 2 sides.  I just had to put up something that would catch their eye.  So I did a little rearranging and put up a couple of bigger steampunk pieces right out front and some fancier silver pendants on the side.  Anyone who actually registered what they were looking at did stop and comment on the steampunk and the creativity that went into making my unique pieces.  Men in particular were fascinated with what I do with watch gears and sewing machine parts.  And everyone liked the expensive pieces but no one was willing or able to buy them. 

At other shows I encourage people to come in and try something on.  It sometimes leads to a sale. This wasn't an option at stART as we were also very close to one of the stages that featured some very loud repetitive heavy metal type music that made it difficult to hear.   Words don't sound very encouraging when they're shouted.

For me the show wasn't a loss.  Just disappointing.  While the organizers of stART probably did very well financially on their 10th anniversary, adding 100 vendors didn't do the artisans any favors.

You can read a more detailed review for vendors in my side pages.