It’s been such a busy time for me with a mixture of online work and some personal problems that left me emotionally drained. Not great when you are trying to get creative. As everything slowly quieten down (and after learning how to fit carpets), I was once again in a position of being able to make things again. With someone’s birthday coming up soon, I could make things without any guilt of making for the sake of making.
When I’m making jewellery, it’s quite rare that I have a clear idea of what to make. I usually have a rough image formed of the outcome in my head but sometimes I tweak the product to make it better than the vision. I guess I just want whatever I make to be the best version of itself.
I decided to go freehand this time and got a tiny ball of silver metal clay and decided to just form a random organic shape. A few tries in and I was not getting the results I wanted so I decided to just randomly press the shape on my palm with my index finger.
The technique reminded me of making Orecchiette and if it’s good enough for pasta, it’s good enough for jewellery! The only problem was replicating another piece for the earrings and after a few more tries, I managed to get another shape I liked. Both are not meant to look the same but I at least wanted the size to be similar.
Once both pieces were dry, I drilled a hole for the hook to be attached to and baked it in the kiln. They say “Don’t count on your chickens until they hatch” so I didn’t expect much from it. I was relieved when it came out of the kiln, and had not deformed nor disintegrated. I quickly polished the back of the piece and left the inside rough. The more I looked at it, the more it reminded me of oysters and that’s when I rummaged around my craft box and found fresh water pearls that I had left from a previous project.
With a blowtorch and pliers ready, I managed to attach the components together without breaking anything.
I like how the earrings look good from all angles and have movement when they dangle from the ear. Even the back looked strong on it’s own (and with my palm print permanently etched to the silver).
I really like how these earrings turned out and this will be a technique I will be repeating in the future. Only problem is I am running out of silver metal clay. At nearly £100 for 50g, I think I might have to save up first before I buy more. Maybe it is also time I start selling things I make.
Stephen Yong 