Category Archives: PMC

wanaree tanner’s winning entry

Sign up here to receive the DAM newsletter.

A recent shout out on Facebook by Tonya Davidson, congratulating Wanaree Tanner on winning First Prize in Art Clay World’s North American Design Competition, sent me on a hunt for more from this self-taught artist.

Anam Cara, art clay copper soldered on to silver clay

Anam Cara means spiritual friend. A true spiritual friend will guide us past all the beauty and distraction of our many layers to the truth that resides within. Wanaree Tanner

 

Anam Cara on display

Tanner’s winning entry, Anam Cara, isn’t just a metal clay vessel holding a necklace, it is a story about the journey inward. She begins to unravel the story for us by explaining “Generally I believe everybody is at least three people, the person the world sees, the person our loved ones see, and our true self. Sometimes I think we tend to close ourselves off from the outside world, work very hard to decorate our outer selves, and hope that that’s all people will see us for and yet hate it when they do. To me it’s the deepest conflict of self, this desire to have the world embrace who we truly are, yet afraid of the vulnerability this position puts us in.” On her blog, Tanner addresses how each original illustration and component of Anam Cara represents her belief. Read the whole story here.

Tanner’s vessels appeal to my love of the container as art – perhaps I’ve been searching for a container to hold and protect my inner self? Something for me to think about today.

When Apart, Always Together

When Apart, Always Together – open

Book of Kells, Tree of Life

Wanaree Tanner’s website
Blog
Crafthaus
Etsy shop
Flicker stream

sue mcnenly’s framed pmc vignettes

Sign up here to receive the DAM newsletter.

My daughter is in town today – it’s her first time visiting me in my little room above the ocean and it was love at first sight for her.  We are going to spend the day playing – you know, doing girly things – she’s a soon-to-be 29 year old woman but she’ll always be my little girl.

Boing!

While we play, take a look Sue McNenly’s whimsical, framed fine silver vignettes. This is a nice application of PMC and a welcome departure from jewelry – gives us a chance to see there is more to Precious Metal Clay than we thought.

Twisted Sister

Nose In A Book

“. . .for those who want to be reminded of a simpler time when kids had to learn to tie shoelaces, and school photo retakes only happened if the photographer forgot to put film in the camera.”

Water Baby
via Gera Chandler

hattie sanderson’s metal clay rings

Sign up here to receive the DAM newsletter.

These wild rings by Hattie Sanderson are part sculpture, part jewelry – and the combination works. Sanderson  lives on a farm in Illinois that is home to corn, soybeans, cattle, hogs and a metal clay studio where the certified metal clay instructor creates one-of- a-kind jewelry.

[nonmember]The remainder of this archived post is for Members Only. Click here to become a member or to get a one day pass. If you are a member, please login to view the post. [/nonmember]

[private_archives]

sanderson1

sanderson_ring2

sanderson_ring3

sanderson_ring

sanderson_sketch

Somehow this busy artist finds the time to travel around the world teaching workshops (the Magnetic Pendant Focal Clasp workshop caught my eye). Look at the sketch above to see how she takes the seed of an idea and fleshes it out.

Thanks to Lorrene Baum Davis for the link.

[/private_archives]

gordon uyehara: changing direction

Sign up here to receive the DAM newsletter.

Gordon Uyehara’s career path is a pleasant reminder that it is never too late to change direction. Graduating college with a Bachelor of Science degree, the Hawaii native spent more than a decade working in the information technology field before he decided that he wanted to pursue a path that allowed him to fully realize his artistic expression. 

[nonmember]The remainder of this archived post is for Members Only. Click here to become a member or to get a one day pass. If you are a member, please login to view the post. [/nonmember]

[private_archives]A 2002 class in Silver Clay helped him find his medium and today you can see the full time jewelry artist’s work on the cover of this month’s Art Jewelry magazine.

gordon1

Ancient Life, Silver Clay

gordon2

Sun Garden Sanctuary 2

Now a well respected metal clay artist and teacher, Uyehara is also one of the artists experimenting with the new clays – take a look at the BronzClay finger helmet and mask pendant below.

gordon_bronzclaymaskpendant

BronzClay Mask Pendant 1.75″ tall

gordon_bronzclayhelmet

gordon_bronzclayhelmet2

BronzClay Finger Helmet, front and back view

He packs a lot of detail and movement into all of his diminutive metal clay jewelry.  Want to know how he does it? Gordon Uyehara will be teaching at the Metal Clay World Conference in July. Maybe it’s time for a road trip.

 

[/private_archives]

barbara becker simon’s bronzclay

Sign up here to receive the DAM newsletter.

I’m not sure how to categorize Barbara Becker Simon.  She’s been a jeweler for more than 35 years -  a lampwork and bead artist since 1996.  She holds a Master in Fine Arts degree in metalwork. Known for both her lampworked beads and her metal hollow core vessels, she began teaching PMC in 2004 and recently added BronzClay to her artist’s toolbox. Well rounded? Indeed.

[nonmember]The remainder of this archived post is for Members Only. Click here to become a member or to get a one day pass. If you are a member, please login to view the post. [/nonmember]

[private_archives]Barbara sent along this picture (not on her website yet!) of a BronzClay bangle she made recently. I’m thoroughly enjoying a front row seat as artists reveal their creations with the newest clays on the market.  Copper clay next?

barbarabeckersimon

Barbara Becker Simon, BronzClay Bangle

Within the first week of jewelry class in college, I knew that this was where I wanted to be: designing and creating art to wear. And when introduced to the world of lampworking, I was gleefully consumed with the drive to create small, intimate objects in glass.

Manipulating hot glass is, for me, an exciting, joyful process. When I can combine my glass with my metalwork, I feel that the best of both worlds has been achieved.

bbsimonBarbara Becker Simon, glass, silver beads

[/private_archives]