Fine Silver Jewelry

Here are several of my current jewelry designs in process. Using PMC or Precious Metal Clay, I have begun sculpting several jewelry items. The clay can be sculpted by itself or manipulated using stamps, molds and other shaping tools. Once formed- the pieces are fired and the clay burns off while the silver particles embedded within it become compressed together and form the solid sculptural item.


Molds can be made out of mixing (bellacold in this case) molding compound together and then pressing found items like shells, coins or small toys of interest into the molding compound and allowing it to set. The mold can then be used in one of several ways.


Cork clay was compressed into the mold then allowed to dry before removing it, Then allowed to dry over 24 hrs to completely dry it out before i then painted thinned out silver clay paste onto the surface, letting it dry repeatedly in between coats. The more coats the greater the strength when the cork clay burns out in the kiln. This method leaves me with a hollow shell.

The butterfly at top right has a cork center and consists of 3-5 layers of paste thus far. The butterfly on the top left has been fired, leaving its center hollow and a few small occlusions which i have now filled with clay and intend on firing again next monday. This will help to correct any weaknesses in the piece.


As is the case with the dragonfly and leaf - PMC clay can be rolled out thinly and then pressed into the mold so as to gain as much detail as possible. Letting it set until quite dry before removing,then sanding lightly to remove imperfections in the surface.



The tardis and dragonfly with leaf were made by pressing clay directly into a mold while the butterfly and the second dragonfly, along with the beads of varying shapes were crafted from cork clay forms.