Metal Clay - Precious Metal Clay / PMC and Art Clay Silver and Gold

PMC and Art Clay Professional Guilds and Organizations

PMC Guild and Art Clay World sites - U.S. and international

PMC Guild (US)

The PMC Guild is an educational organization that has been promoting instruction, research, teaching and exhibition of Precious Metal Clay since 1997. Sponsored by the division of Mitsubishi that manufactures PMC brand metal clay products, the PMC Guild is a fantastic resource that maintains an informative web site, sponsors a great conference with topnotch instructors, publishes the excellent Studio PMC magazine (print and online) for paying members, and fosters a community of sharing and support. The annual membership fee, which includes a subscription to Studio PMC and other benefits, is well worth the annual membership fee (currently $25 for US and Canadian members and $35 for all other members). Multi-year subscriptions are discounted.

PMC Guild of Australia and New Zealand

Australia and New Zealand have very active metal clay communities with many talented members (including Maggie Bergman, who innovated and made popular the use of Photopolymer Plates from the printing industry for use with metal clay). Most of the content on this site is for members only, but anyone can view the terrific work in the Gallery section of the site.

La Guilde Pâte à Métaux Créateur Francophone (French-speaking affiliate of the PMC Guild International)

This French language affiliate of the PMC Guild International was founded in Spring 2007 by Angela Baduel-Crispin, who also is the guild president. Angela not only is extraordinarily talented and knowledgeable about metal clay but also is completely fluent in several languages, so French-speaking metal clay artists have a fabulous resource in this site.

PMC Guild Hong Kong

This is an English-language translation of the PMC Guild Hong Kong site. Not all pages have been translated into English, and it's apparent that the translator's first language was not English, but most of the content is pretty easy to understand.

PMC Guild UK

This PMC Guild UK site shares a lot of content in common with the US guild's site, but adds some great supplementary content tailored specifically to the UK metal clay community and featuring UK metal clay artists.

Art Clay World USA

Art Clay World USA is owned and run by well-known author, instructor and jewelry artist Jackie Truty. It is sponsored by the division of Aida Chemical Industries Co. (the company that makes Art Clay brand products) and serves as a combination information and education hub of the Art Clay community in the US and an online store for Art Clay products and a wide variety of related supplies and tools. The FAQ section provides a lot of excellent information and useful tips for all metal clay artisans, regardless of the brand of products they use.

Art Clay World, Tokyo, Japan (in Japanese)

A content-rich site that obviously has a ton of great information. Unfortunately for those of us who can't read or understand the Japanese language, the machine translations I got by using the Google Translate tool were poor and it was frustrating to guess as the real meaning of the text.

Art Clay World, Tokyo, Japan (in English)

Far less content than the full, "official" Japanese language site, there still is a lot of good, basic information, and the English translations are excellent.

Art Clay Brasil (Brazil) (in Portuguese)

This is the official Art Clay site for Brazil. Written in Portuguese, it contains product information, certification information, and much more. The "TÉCNICAS" (techniques) section includes downloadable PDFs with how-to information and helpful reference tables and charts. Unfortunately, because of the way the site was coded, the pages cannot be translated automatically using the Google Translate tool.

Art Clay World UK

The official Art Clay World site for England and Ireland. This Guild is extremely active and provides many services to its constituents, including not only product information and education (including certification classes) but also events, competitions and a newsletter.

Art Clay Society

The Art Clay Society describes itself as "a community of metal clay artists designed to foster artistic,
business, and personal growth through inspiration, education and communication." It is a vibrant and welcoming community for all metal clay artisans.

Metal Clay Information and Education Resources

Getting Started With PMC

A great overview of PMC and a good place to start if you're new to working with PMC. Explains a lot of the basics briefly but clearly.

PMC: The Magic Clay

This brief but well written overview of Precious Metal Clay is the first page of an excellent three-part guide by Mardel Rein of Cool Tools.

The Metal Clay Toolbox

Part two of Mardel Rein's guide to PMC, this is an extensive and well-organized list of metal clay tools and supplies organized by category. Mardel has asterisked those items she considers essential to even the most basic toolkit.

The Ultimate Silver Clay Firing Guide

This is the third and last part of Mardel Rein's guide to PMC, and it's a valuable resource you'll refer to often (especially if you're new to metal clay). It includes an overview of each type of PMC (lump, syringe, paste and paper) and formula (PMC Standard, PMC+, PMC3 and 22K Gold PMC), as well as Aura 22 gold paint, including the key uses, workability, suitability for embedded objects, and firing options for each material.

PMC and Art Clay Information

Brant Palley, President of www.silver-clay.com, provides lots of helpful information about working with metal clay. The site includes a downloadable PMC User's Guide (and Art Clay, Too!), an edited version of some of Tim McCreight's excellent instructions for PMC that also incorporates information about Art Clay. There is also useful how-to information on the site that metal clay newbies will find particularly useful, including tips on forming, firing, gold clays, working with metal, and a helpful FAQ. Note: Although you can purchase on this site, I recommend shopping on sister site http://www.nmclay.com/ (see Recommended Suppliers, below).

The Alchemy of Precious Metal Clay (Lapidary Journal)

Although from 1998, this article by Nina Cooper in Lapidary Journal is still a really nice introduction to PMC. The sidebar of PMC Step-by-Step Projects contains 3 excellent projects!

Metal Clay Gallery board on Yahoo!

A fantastic resource for those who are serious about working with metal clay, both PMC and Art Clay. Many of the world's best artists and instructors are members of this incredibly active and informational board. The photos of their latest work is truly inspirational!

Metal Clay Academy

The Metal Clay Academy is a new online resource that aims "to provide comprehensive and independent information and resources for anyone interested in finding out about metal clay." It was the brainchild of Lisa Cain, Director of the Mid Cornwall School of Jewellery (the school also sponsored the development of the site). The Director of the Metal Clay Academy is Julia Rai, a UK based metal clay teacher and artist. It is well organized and provides links to personally-vetted content and resources (much like this lens and my other metal clay lenses on Squidoo). Well worth visiting and bookmarking!

CornerStone - PMC Connection blog

The PMC Connection changed from a quarterly newsletter to a blog format. Their CornerStone blog is well worth subscribing to. You'll find interesting and informative posts on a wide range of timely topics, written by a variety of PMC Connection instructors, including President Jennifer Roberts, and occasional guest bloggers.

PMC Online Training Videos (Argentice)

These free online training videos from UK-based metal clay supplier

Metal Clay & Silversmithing Online Training Videos (Cool Tools Video Library)

Mardel Rein of Cool Tools has created a growing library on YouTube of short educational videos that teach and demonstrate specific metal clay and related silversmithing techniques and simple projects. A wide range of material is covered, from how to solder earposts onto metal clay with a butane kitchen torch to how to get a mirror finish on your fired metal clay pieces. She also includes videos about how to get the most out of specific Cool Tools products.

Metal Clay Video Demos (Metal Clay Supply/Metal Clay Guru)

The Metal Clay Guru channel on YouTube (sponsored by Metal Clay Supply) includes video demos of selected products, some of which feature well-known metal clay artist and instructor Hattie Sanderson. The information is useful whether or not you purchase the specific brand of products shown. There also are some videos contributed by Metal Clay Guru featured artists, such as Tim McCreight and Lorena Angulo.

Creating With Precious Metal Clay and Art Clay

My eBay Guide provides a brief but helpful introduction to working with these wonderful materials and includes success tips when creating your own work in fine silver clay.

Firing Gemstones and Natural Stones

This PDF from Art Clay World tells you how to determine which stones will be safe to fire in metal clay.

Photopolymer Plates instructions

A great place to start if you want to make your own photopolymer plates for texture molds. By Aussie artist Maggie Bergman, who introduced photopolymer plates to the world of metal clay.

Kum-Boo Tutorial (PMCC)

This tutorial from PMC Connection uses the hot plate method of keum-boo and Klyr-Fire to help the gold foil adhere to the silver. It's clearly written and is easy to print because it's in Adobe PDF format.

Tips on Using Cork Clay (MED'A Creations)

Mary Ellin D'Agostino of MED'A Creations provides well-written tips for using cork clay as a core for making hollow metal clay objects.

Tips for Using Cork Clay (PMC Connection)

From PMC Connection comes this brief but very useful tip sheet on working safely with cork clay as a core for hollow metal clay pieces.

Kiln Comparison and Tips (Whole Lotta Whimsy)

An excellent guide to metal clay kilns including a detailed comparison chart of the most popular Paragon models, from the inexpensive Firefly to the spacious Home Artist, Explains key considerations, such as height, kiln brick vs. muffle interiors, top-loading vs. front-loading, and the major differences between Paragon and Sierra Evenheat brand kilns. Also includes terrific tips on care and maintenance to prolong the life and performance of your kiln. Author Tonya Davidson is widely respected as an expert on metal clay kilns.

Kiln Buyers Guide (Cool Tools)

Another excellent guide to selecting the best kiln for your specific needs. Includes often-missed important decision criteria, such as will you need to transport it often (for teaching, for example, or if you need to store it and take it out for each firing session), and an excellent section on proper care and maintenance of your kiln.

Comparing Paragon (blue) and Sierra (white) kilns (M'EDA Creations)

A detailed chart compiled by Mary Ellin D'Agostino that compares the general features and characteristics of Paragon vs. Sierra Evenheat brand kilns (not model-specific). If you are trying to decide whether to buy a Paragon or Sierra Evenheat kiln, I strongly suggest reading both this comparison chart and the one on Tonya Davidson's Kiln Comparison and Tips page.

Understanding Your PMC Kiln (Sierra and Evenheat)

From PMC Connection, a helpful guide for those of you who are purchasing (or have purchased) a Sierra or Evenheat PMC Kiln. Includes clear directions for setting up and programming the kiln.

Tim McCreight Answers Common "Kiln Questions"

This article from the Ganoskin jewelry site is extremely helpful to anyone trying to figure out whether to buy a kiln for metal clay work, how to choose one, and lots of other kiln-related questions

Enameling on Fine Silver Metal Clay

This article from the Ganoskin jewelry site includes Excerpts from the book "Enameling with Professionals" by Jean Vormelker. It gives detailed instructions for embellishing your newly-created fine silver pieces with enamels.

Art Clay Brasil's monthly column (in Portuguese)

Talented jewelry artist and metal clay instructor Priscilla Vassão writes a monthly Art Clay column on the Portal Jóia Brazilian jewelry portal in Portuguese. Although I don't speak the language, I'm confident that anything Priscilla writes about metal clay has to be full of great information. (You can get the gist of the content by translating pages with Google's beta translation tool, although metal clay-related terms usually are translated, shall we say, rather creatively.) ;)

Técnicas & Dicas en Metal Clay (in Portuguese)

Angela Baduel-Crispin writes an excellent Portuguese-language column of metal clay tips and techniques, "Técnicas & Dicas en Metal Clay," on Brazilian jewelry portal Portal das Jóias. It's full of great photos (most are of Angela's own gorgeous metal clay jewelry) and well worth a look even if you don't read Portuguese. (You can use Google's beta translation tool to translate the pages from Portuguese to English to help you get the gist, but again, metal clay-related terms aren't in its vocabulary yet.)

PMC and Art Clay Silver Workshops, Specialty Classes and Certification Classes

Finding an instructor, class, workshop or certification class near you

Rio Rewards PMC Certification Program - description and schedule

This page describes the Rio Grande Rio Rewards PMC Certification Program with photos and descriptions of each project and the current course schedule. The course fee includes a one-year subscription to the PMC Guild.

Note: I am Rio Rewards-certified and can recommend their certification program enthusiastically.

Art Clay World - class descriptions, instructors and calendar

This page provides information about the range of Art Clay Silver classes sponsored by Art Clay World, including introductory classes, Level One and Senior Level certification classes, and specialty classes.

The site has a page to help you find an instructor in your local area.

The class schedule/calendar is under construction currently.

PMC Connection - instructors and class schedule (including certification classes)

This page provides the class schedule for all the many different types of classes offered by PMC Connection, including PMC certification. The site provides information about the three levels of certification classes in the PMC Connection certification curriculum and a map of their senior instructors.

PMC Guild - class search tool (including Rio Rewards certification classes)

The PMC Guild site provides a fabulous search tool that lets you look for classes in the US and Canada (including Rio Rewards certification classes) by month/year, state or province, type of class, and even instructor. A great way to find out when and where a particular person will be teaching, or to find classes offered in your state, or to find certification classes in your area or during a particular month, etc.

It also includes a place to read reviews of PMC instructors (or write reviews of people you've studied with).

Metal Clay Classes group on Yahoo!

This is a new spinoff group from the excellent Metal Clay Gallery group on Yahoo! It's intended as a place for instructors to post metal clay classes.

Recommended Suppliers

My favorite suppliers of PMC, Art Clay Silver and Gold, and related tools and supplies

Aftosa

Aftosa carries not only metal clay (PMC, Art Clay, BRONZclay, COPPRclay, Hadar's Clay) and metal clay tools and supplies at excellent prices, they also carry ceramic clay, polymer clay and glass clay, all of which can be combined with metal clay for mixed media designs. They offer an excellent choice of kilns (also at excellent prices). Their selection of textures is quite wide, and they also carry a large assortment of bisque beads, cabochons and other shapes that can be covered with metal clay. They sell their own brand of wax resist that can be used for water etching on metal clay. They also offer wonderful, free project sheets and classes by Rio Rewards Senior Instructor Patrik Kusek.

Argentice (UK)

This UK metal clay supplier sells its own brand of tools as well as metal clay and related tools and supplies. Argentice also has several excellent beginner project videos that you can view for free on their site, runs the PMC Discussion forum, and offers a newsletter you can sign up for.

Art Clay World USA

Jackie Truty, author of the excellent book "Art Clay Silver and Gold," is president of Art Clay World USA. She offers a wonderful selection of Art Clay Silver and Gold products and related precious metal clay tools, supplies, books and videos on this site, including some hard-to-find items like Pikal metal polish, double sided texture molds, and Oyumaru reusable molding material.

Art Clay Brasil (Brazil)

The official Art Clay site for Brazil, written in Portuguese, sells the full range of Art Clay products, plus tools, synthetic gemstones, introductory kits. Online ordering available. Also includes terrific tips, techniques, projects and a newsletter.

Contenti

Contenti carries Art Clay Silver, a very nice selection of hand tools and finishing supplies, and firing supplies and equipment, including the excellent Paragon metal clay kilns and the Blazer Micro Torch. Contenti carries a comprehensive line of jewelry-making supplies, so you'll find tools and equipment that many other metal clay suppliers don't carry.

Cool Tools

Mardel Rein is extremely knowledgeable about metal clay. In addition to selling PMC, Art Clay and Metal Adventures metal clay products, she also sells several products she developed herself, including Cool Slip (anti-stick spray), the Cool Roller (with spacer rings), the Ultra Clay Pick, ClayMate hand conditioner, Slik balm (a lovely, silky release agent that also can be used to "clay-proof" your hands), Texture Tiles,antique button molds, and Silver-Prep (a citric acid-based pickle). Mardel also has made quite a few terrific YouTube videos that demonstrate metal clay and jewelry making techniques.

Fire Mountain Gems

Fire Mountain Gems carries an enormous selection of jewelry supplies. They offer the full range of Art Clay Silver as well as Accent Gold for Silver, plus cubic zirconia, metal clay tools, supplies, kits, books and videos.

Gem Resources International

Shirley offers a great selection of faceted and cabochon natural and lab-created gemstones and cubic zirconia (CZ) stones, many of which can be fired in the kiln. Her prices are unbeatable and she's a pleasure to work with. Sign up on the site to be notified of her excellent monthly specials.

Metal Clay Supply

An wide assortment of clay, tools, books, videos, stones, findings and more. The site carries a full range of PMC, Art Clay and Metal Adventures metal clays, and features HattieS brand products and superb instructional DVDs by well-known artist and teacher Hattie Sanderson, a range of new products by artist and author Sherri Haab, and molds and templates by Mary Ann Devos. They also sell the excellent ClaySafe and ClayVault storage pouches, and the metal clay edition Makin's Professional Ultimate Clay Extruder, the SpeedFire® cone firing system, and Evenheat, Paragon and Lilly kilns.

Metal Clays (Israel and USA)

Israeli-born jewelry designer Liad Wischnia-Nemeth and her husband David Nemeth produce several lines of exclusive production jewelry as well as custom pieces in silver metal clay. When the price of metals (and, therefore, metal clay materials) increased dramatically, they decided to buy their metal clay in bulk to qualify for larger discounts and sell their extra packages at discounted rates through this site. In order to see the full discounts available, you'll need to register on the site (registrations is free). They are one of the only local metal clay suppliers for Israel, and they also sell in the US.

Metal Clay Findings

Owner Anthony Squillacci, Jr. offers a growing selection of fine silver (.999 silver) findings that can be fired with metal clay and/or used in conjunction with fired metal clay (or other fine silver) so that you can market the entire design as "fine silver." Metal Clay Findings offers some really innovative products including "ring liners" (fine silver ring bands scored on the outside and designed to be completely covered with metal clay embellishments) and open-backed fine silver bezel settings with tabs that can be embedded into the clay for a secure mechanical attachment. They welcome product feedback and suggestions from metal clay artists and have added several new products as the result of input from the metal clay community.

New Mexico Clay

New Mexico Clay carries a wide range of metal clay tools, supplies and kilns as well as a full line of ceramics-related products. You can buy both PMC and Art Clay silver and gold clay here (knowledgeable owner and president Brant Palley has been PMC-certified by CeCe Wire and Art Clay-certified by Jackie Truty). The site offers secure online ordering and certified pricing for certified metal clay artisans. Because there is a store with 17 employees, they are able to ship 90% of orders the same day they're placed.

Pam East

Pam East is the author of a wonderful book on enameling on metal clay and is widely respected as an expert on this subject. Although she has closed her supplies business, Pinzart, she continues to sell kilns, a terrific set of color-coded plastic rolling slats that are much more convenient than playing card stacks, and books and DVDs that she has authored (as well as her own beautiful jewelry). She also is a wonderful teacher and artist!

PMC123.com

PMC123 offers a great selection of kits for soldering, patinas, keum-boo, etc., in addition to clay, stones, kilns, supplies and tools. Sign up for their PMC News newsletter. They have a wide selection of brass texture plates for shallow texturing, bisque beads that can be covered and embellished with silver clay, and some nifty tools like a folding ruler and a rubber block with a hole in the center that's wonderful for filing your metal clay pieces.

PMC Connection

PMC Connection has separate online ordering links for PMC Connection-certified artists and for everyone else. They carry an excellent selection of texture tools, kiln and torch supplies, and a terrific assortment of silver chains. They offer a nice choice of dichroic glass cabs including water jet cut shapes, a dichroic glass sampler for those who want to make their own glass cabochons, and compressed cotton spheres and egg shapes for creating hollow forms in metal clay.

Rings 'n' Things

Rings 'n' Things carries Art Clay Silver clays, BRONZclay and COPPRclay, embeddable eyelets, cork clay for making hollow forms, and a growing selection of metal clay tools and supplies.They also carry gemstone beads and footage chain in silver, brass, copper and gold-filled to complement your metal clay designs.

Rio Grande

Rio Grande created the highly respected Rio Rewards certification classes. They sell the full range of PMC silver and gold clays as well as BRONZclay and COPPRclay, and a wide variety of metal clay tools and supplies. They carry a very large selection of CZ's and lab-greated gems that can be kiln-fired safely, as well as gemstones that can be set after firing and gemstone and precious metal beads to complement your metal clay pieces, and a nice selection of metal clay and metalsmithing books and videos. They also sell a nice range of kilns for metal clay, including their own brand, and have one of the world's best selections of metal working and jewelry tools and supplies, including stone-setting burs and rotary tool tips and accessories.

Whole Lotta Whimsy

Tonya Davidson really knows her precious metal clay, and also is a great resource for information on using metal clay on bisque beads. Her online store offers an enormous and constantly expanding selection of precious metal clay products, tools and supplies, and her prices are excellent. It is by far the largest selection of any metal clay distributor I've found, and includes rubber textures, plastic textures, punches, stamps, photopolymer plates and supplies, carving blanks/carvers, Kato Polyclay and Sculpey polymer clay lines, steel stamps, files, extruders, and much more. Tonya also is the go-to expert for advice about kilns, and she'll give you her honest and unbiased opinions about not only the kilns she carries but also other kiln brands and models.

Metal Clay Artists

Some of my favorite metal clay artists' sites

Lorena Angulo

Lorena Angulo is an extremely talented and prolific metal clay artist and instructor whose designs are heavily influenced by the folk art of her native Mexico. Her distinctive art has been exhibited in museums and galleries and has been featured in publications including the PMC Guild Annual books, "Exception Works in Precious Metal Clay" and the cover of Metal Clay Artist Magazine, among others.

Carol Augustine

PMC Studio Art Jewelry by Carol Augustine is original, affordable wearable art. Many of her designs are inspired by nature, and she combines PMC with beautiful gemstones, enamel and glass beads. Wonderful work.

Celie Fago

Celie is one of the pioneers of the metal clay world. Her designs are inventive and rich in color (keum-boo and patinas figure heavily in her work). She often combines graceful geometric shapes with lavish textures. Her craftsmanship is as impressive as her artistry. She's also an exceptionally gifted and generous teacher. Truly inspirational - a friend, mentor, and one of my very favorite metal clay artists!

Liz Hall / Lizard's Jewelry

Liz has a very distinctive and wonderful artistic "voice." She combines organic and geometric forms to frame high-quality gemstones (often unusual), dichroic glass, found objects and intricate, colorfully patterned polymer clay insets in silver and gold. Her designs are contemporary yet timeless, infinitely wearable art that goes from jeans to little black dress.

Laura Hastings - Eclectica

Laura's style is, indeed, eclectic. She has a wonderful artistic sensibility and a real gift for blending realism with imagination, nature with geometry. She combines textures, finishes, colors, lines and form to create unusual and compelling designs.

Kate McKinnon

Kate's designs merge organic and architectural influences into substantial pieces with clean lines.Her work is layered and often complex, sometimes incorporating kinetic elements (e.g., her spinner rings).Her rings are frequently fanciful and always bold. Her books, "Sculptural Metal Clay" and "Structural Metal Clay" are excellent and informative, especially if you want to learn solid dry-building techniques.

Linda Kaye-Moses

Linda is an extraordinary jeweler and metalsmith who marries many different techniques and media. She has published many excellent articles on metal clay and her work has been exhibited nationally in galleries and at juried craft shows, including the Smithsonian. She has received two Massachusetts Arts Lottery Council Grants, three Massachusetss Cultural Council Professional Development Grants and a Niche Award. Many of her pieces include "nesting cases" designed to showcase them when not being worn.

Jeanette Landenwitch

Jeanette's sophisticated design style is evident in her metal clay designs. She has done some gorgeous work with the new PMC gold clay. She's also Executive Director of the PMC Guild and the author of an excellent book on metal clay.

Kelly Russell

Kelly Russell designs exquisite beads and charms that feature highly dimensional textures and wonderful patinas. Many of them include rich gold keum-boo accents.

Barbara Becker Simon

One of the most talented glass and metal clay artists out there! She has been published in Lapidary Journal and her art has been displayed in the prestigious Corcoran Gallery in Washington, D.C. Don't miss seeing her work!

Holly Gage

Holly is an extremely talented and innovative artist who is responsible for developing new metal clay techniques including "metal clay repoussé" (which produces an effect similar to that of traditional repousseé work) and negative space caning. Many of her pieces incorporate rainbow titanium with creative settings that are integral parts of the overall design. Her work is beautiful, varied, precise, elegant and timeless.

Patrik Kusek

Patrik Kusek's wonderful work is heavily inspired by nature. In fact, his new book is called "Woodland Chic: Metal Clay Jewelry as Nature Intended." He also is a well-respected teacher.

Ivy Solomon (Ivy Woodrose)

I have been a fan of Saul Bell award-winning designer Ivy Solomon's work ever since I saw her gorgeous resin-inlaid sterling and textured PMC pendant on the cover of the premiere issue of Art Jewelry magazine in November 2004.

Gordon Uyehara

Gordon's work is extremely detailed, precise, intricate and striking. His very distinctive style blends natural and technological influences in a surprisingly seamless manner. His designs are always fresh and imaginative and his unique artistic voice and exacting execution make his pieces easily identifiable as his work.

Shahasp Valentine (Precieux)

Shahasp Valentine creates some of the most beautiful and intricate metal clay jewelry I've seen. A broad range of stylistic influences, from gorgeous medieval and Renaissance-inspired designs to organic designs.

Metal Clay Instructors

Alice Alper-Rein

Alice teaches PMC courses in the New Jersey area, including PMC Connection Level I and II Certification and Crossover classes, as well as sessions focusing on specific techniques, such as PMC Dichroic Glass Pendants, Fine Silver Jewelry From Your Garden, Thinking Outside the Jewelry Box, Keum-Boo on PMC, Enameling on PMC, PMC Kaleidoscope, Soldering on PMC, and more.

Judi Anderson

Judi is a PMC Guild Certified Instructor and teaches beginners' workshops in PMC as well as workshops on combining PMC with polymer clay and Colores enamels.

Lorena Angulo

Lorena is an extraordinarily talented artist whose work proudly reflects her Mexican-American heritage. Her jewelry designs in precious metal clay have been featured in the 2008, 2009, and 2010 PMC Guild Annual books, "Exceptional Work in Precious Metal Clay" and in a variety of other publications and was featured on the cover of Metal Clay Artist Magazine. She was one of the jurors for the prestigious 2011 PMC Guild Annual. Lorena is a certified PMC instructor who offers metal clay classes on CRAFTCAST and as a guest instructor at several studios including The Ranch and La Ruche Davis.

Carol Augustine

Talented PMC jewelry artist and designer Carol Augustine teaches a nice range of workshops in metal clay and jewelry making, including Keum-Boo, enamels, PMC rings, and Introduction to Metal Clay (I and II).

Maggie Bergman (Australia)

Maggie introduced the use of photopolymer plates for creating custom molds for PMC. She is a PMC Senior Instructor who works in fused glass, lampworked glass beads, and enamels combined with metal (including PMC). She has a special love of textures, and learning to create photopolymer plates will give you an infinite number of designs and textures wo use in your metal clay work. Most of Maggie's workshops are in Australia, but she does teach in the US periodically.

Angela B. Crispin (France)

Award-winning, Brazilian-born Angela Baduel-Crispin is an extraordinarily talented ewelry designer and creator, metal clay artist and certified instructor for PMC and Art Clay. She designs fabulous metal clay jewelry and teaches frequent classes, primarily at her studio on the Northwestern coast of France. She teaches and creates handmade jewelry under the name "L'Ange Est Là." She also is the president of the Guilde PMC Francophone, the French affiliate of the PMC Guild International, and Instructor's Teacher for Art Clay in France. Scroll down her calendar page to view English translations of her schedule.

Lis-el Crowley

Lis-el is a potter, metalsmith, glass artist, metal clay artist and instructor. She owns Art & Soul Gallery/Studio in Windsor, CT, which showcases her work and that of more than 35 local artists/artisans and offers a variety of classes and workshops. Lis-el is a Senior Instructor for Art Clay World and a member of Wesleyan Potters, the Art Clay Society and the PMC Guild. Her classes include metal clay sculptural forms and making and setting fused glass into metal clay. She also has written a fused dichroic glass tutorial lens on Squidoo.

Mary Ellin D'Agostino

Mary Ellin is a Sr. Teacher for PMC Connection and a Certified Artisan, PMC Guild. She is extraordinarily knowledgeable and very generous with her expertise. I believe she pioneered the innovative technique of blending enamels into metal clay to created pastel-tinted fine silver pieces. In addition to teaching Level 1 and Level 2 certification classes for PMC Connection, she also teaches several other workshops on topics including Soldering & Alternatives on Silver Clay, Dichroic Glass Fusing & Silver Clay, and a number of project-specific classes.

Tonya Davidson

Tonya, owner of the fabulous store Whole Lotta Whimsy (where you will find just about any tool or supply for metal clay you can think of), is an award-winning metal clay artist and Senior Instructor for the Rio Rewards PMC certification program. She also was one of the first six Senior Instructors chosen for Art Clay back in early 2000. She has been published in several books and magazines. Tonya is an incredibly knowledgeable and helpful person, and is extraordinarily generous with her considerable expertise. She teaches classes in PMC in her Tucson, Arizona studio and at conferences.

Lorrene Davis

Lorrene is one of only seven Certified Master Instructors in Art Clay Silver as well as an award winning jewelry designer. Lorrene is the author of the terrific book, "Setting Gemstones in Metal Clay" which is available only on her web site. She recently joined the faculty of the world-renowned Revere Academy in San Francisco and also teaches monthly workshops at U Bead It Gallery in Sacramento and Sierra Foothills Studio in Placerville, California. She also hosts Open Studios once a month where she mentors fellow artists.

Aimee Domash

Aimee, a PMC and fused glass artist, is a Certified Instructor based in Missouri. She teaches some really interesting workshops, including combining PMC with copper and brass and making silver chain maille as components for PMC designs. She has a terrific sense of design.

Louise Duhamel

Louise is a fabulous jewelry artist who teaches several interesting workshops focused on specific categories of jewelry, such as bangle bracelets, charm bracelets, pendants, rings, and slides. She is an Art Clay Senior Instructor based in California, and her students love her classes. Her terrific book, "Metal Clay Jewelry," was published in August, 2006.

Pam East

Pam East is an enamelist and a certified Master Instructor in Art Clay Silver. She has written excellent articles for Lapidary Journal, Art Jewelry Magazine, and Step-by-Step Beads. Her instructional video and her books on enamel bead making and enameling on metal clay are terrific. She has appeared on HGTV'sCarol Duvall Show and on Jewelry Making on the DIY Network. She teaches Art Clay Level One Certification and Senior Level Certification classes.

Celie Fago

Celie is an experienced polymer clay and metal clay instructor and pioneer, an amazing artist, a trained metalsmith, and an an extraordinarily talented jewelry designer. She is especially well known for her gorgeous work with keum-boo, 24K gold foil applied to fine silver. She has written a number of articles for major publications such as Lapidary Journal, and her keum-boo book and her instructional DVD with Tim McCreight are excellent. She has a written fabulous chapter about creating metal clay hinges in the wonderful book, "PMC Technic." She is a Rio Grande-certified PMC Senior Instructor and also teaches 1-2 private workshops a year in her wonderful brick farmhouse in Vermont. I have had the privilege of studying with her several times and she is a superb teacher!

Holly Gage

Holly is a certified PMC teacher and a superb, prolific and highly respected metal clay and jewelry artist. She teaches classes in her Pennsylvania studio and is wonderfully positive and supportive in her approach. She often combines PMC with hot Moretti (soft) glass. She has written widely applauded articles on liver of sulfur patina techniques and incorporating titanium into metal clay designs, and produces the gorgeous Art and Design of Metal Clay calendars.

Lora Hart

Lora is PMCC/Rio Grande certified and designs fabulous precious metal clay jewelry and art objects. She teaches a variety of PMC workshops, including metal clay origami and combining PMC with dichroic glass and ceramic, in several California locations. She is extremely knowledgeable and supportive.

Judy Haupin

Judy teaches PMC classes in Brookline and Haverhill, Massachusetts. She offers four introductory PMC classes each focused on a different type of PMC (clay, paper, syringe and paste), project-focused workshops (bracelets, rings), a workshop on adding 22K gold accents with Aura 22, one on incorporating glass into PMC designs, and open studio time where students can make work at their own pace on a project of their choice.

Hadar Jacobson

Innovative, award-winning metal clay artist and author Hadar Jacobson has published some wonderful instructional articles on metal clay in Metal Clay Artist, Lapidary Journal/Jewelry Artist, Art Jewelry and Bead & Button magazines. She has self-published several highly respected books on working with metal clay, especially base metal clays. She has her own line of Hadar's Clay powdered base metal clays and teaches nationally and internationally, as well as at her own Textures Studio in California.

Linda Kaye-Moses

Linda is a writer, metalsmith and fabulous jewelry artist who teaches some extremely interesting PMC classes, including "The Next Dimension: Making Hollow Forms with Precious Metal Clay" and "Textural Dialogue: Developng Textures for Precious Metal Clay." She is the author of the excellent book, "Pure Silver Metal Clay Beads." as well as of "Roots, Stems and Branches
a recollection," a fascinating memoir.

Linda Kline

Linda is a Senior PMC Connection Instructor who teaches Level I and II certification classes as well as speciality classes in PMC and dichroic glass. Her classes are posted on her blog.

Patrik Kusek

Patrik is a talented jewelry artist and instructor who teaches metal clay classes and certification workshops in the San Francisco Bay Area and nationwide. He is both PMC and Art Clay certified and is one of 10 senior instructors for Rio Grande. He was a featured artist on HGTV's "That's Clever" and has created projects and tutorials for Aftosa and Whole Lotta Whimsy's Master Muses series. Patrik's work has been published in numerous books and publications and he received the 2007 Saul Bell Award 1st place in PMC. He has written a new book, "Woodland Chic: Metal Clay as Nature Intended."

Jeanette Landenwitch

Jeanette is a PMC Guild certified instructor and the author of "Creating With Precious Metal Clay." Her metal clay jewelry and miniatures are fabulous. She teaches enameling on PMC at shows, conferences, schools and stores.

Donna Lewis

Donna is a talented metal clay artist and educator based in the Phoenix, AZ area. Her award-winning work includes two finalist entries in the prestigious Saul Bell Design Award Competition in 2007 and 2008. Her pieces have been featured in several prominent books and on the cover of Holly Gage's 2008 Art and Design of Metal Clay calendar. Donna specializes in teaching beginners, both in introductory workshops and in private individual or group lessons, and often in students' homes. She also is the inventor of the LiL BeLLA(TM) metal clay humidifier.

Vera Lightstone

Vera is an amazing artist who has sculpted in clay, bronze, and now silver. She teaches in her loft studio in midtown Manhattan. Her work has been shown extensively in museums, galleries and stores throughout the country.

Kate McKinnon

Kate is an extraordinary jewelry designer, metalsmith, metal clay artist, author and teacher best known for her exquisite clasps. She has written some terrific metal books (some with companion DVDs), including "Structural Metal Clay" and "Sculptural Metal Clay." She is teaching metal clay classes less frequently, so check her site for her most current teaching schedule.

Marissa O'Brien

Marissa is a delightful, energetic and multi-talented artist and instructor who teaches workshops in the greater Boston area for a variety of artistic media and techniques, including metal clay jewelry and Viking knit chains. Broken Branches is her jewelry design business, and she has pictures of her work as well as detailed class descriptions on her site. She often co-teaches with her terrific husband, Jim.

Kate Qualley Peterson

Kate is a well-known metal clay artist and instructor who teaches a variety of metal clay classes including Level 1 and Senior Level Art Clay Certification classes. Her work is absolutely gorgeous!

Hattie Sanderson

Hattie is the creator of an entire line of metal clay-related products including HattieS Patties, HattieS Maglettes, HattieS Embossed Effects Texture Mats, and a large number of other excellent products. She is a Senior Instructor for both Art Clay and PMC and has achieved Level II in the prestigious Metal Clay Masters Registry. If her three superb PMC instructional DVD sets are any indication of her teaching style, her workshops should be fantastic. She is especially well known for her fabulous rings and is working on a metal clay ring making book that should be exceptional. She offers a wide range of workshops on request.

Barbara Becker Simon

PMC Guild Senior teacher, glass and metal clay artist, and author Barbara Simon is a much sought-after instructor and certification teacher. Everyone who takes a class with her raves about it! She is well known for her hot glass work as well as her innovative metal clay designs. Her book, "Metal Clay Beads," is a must-have for any metal clay artist.

Jackie Truty

Jackie is an Art Clay Master Instructor and the President of Art Clay World, USA. Her books "Art Clay Silver and Gold" (and its companion video) and "Metal Clay: The Complete Guide" are terrific. She has been featured on numerous television programs and teaches a wide variety of classes, including Level One and Level Two Art Clay Certification courses. An extremely knowledgeable instructor!

Gordon K. Uyehara

Gordon is a multi-award-winning jewelry artist, one of my favorite metal clay artists, and an incredibly cool person (with a great sense of humor). He is based in Honolulu, Hawaii and teaches Art Clay Certification courses as well as Art Clay workshops in silver charms and pendants, beads, rings, Art Clay Silver with cork clay, and open studio sessions. He has become a highly sought-after instructor, so plan to sign up early if you want to get into one of his classes.

Sherry Viktora

Sherry creates absolutely gorgeous jewelry is a PMC Connection Senior Instructor. In addition to teaching PMCC Certification 1 and 2 classes, she also teaches an Intro to PMC, PMC and Enamels, and a PMC Botanicals class. Most of her classes are in Illinois and Wisconsin, but she also will teach classes for 5 or more students at your location or at her home studio.

Metal Clay Projects

First Metal Clay Project for Beginners: Step-by-Step Tutorial (Textured Earrings)

Gale of Capescapes Jewelry has written this simple, clear and easy-to-follow step-by-step project tutorial especially for people who are using metal clay for the first time. This quick and easy beginner's project will help metal clay newbies create a great pair of textured fine silver earrings they will be proud to wear or give as a special jewelry gift.

Quilted Silver Beads

Tammy Powley's "quilted" silver beads are a quick and easy project for beginners. A good way to get started.

Textured PMC Earrings

Celie Fago's excellent tutorial shows you how to make TWO pairs of stylish textured metal clay earrings, one of which also incorporates polymer clay for color. This is one of my favorite tutorials. The earrings are not difficult to make, the explanations are clear and detailed, and the simple steps yield elegant, sophisticated results. An intermediate project from Lapidary Journal, November 1999.

Bell Earrings

Carl Stanley's lovely and graceful Bell Earrings from Lapidary Journal, January 2004 are made from folded PMC+ paper. An intermediate project. This link is to Part 1 of the project. Here's the link to Part 2.

Silver Artichoke Pendant

This pretty pendant from well-known author and clay artist Sherri Haab was on the Carol Duvall show on HGTV. It comes from her book, "The Art of Metal Clay." This intermediate project teaches you how to use cork clay as a base for silver metal clay.

Silver Clay Photo Charm (Video Tutorial)

Another Sherri Haab project from the Carol Duvall show on HGTV. This intermediate project video shows how to add a photograph to a silver charm and protect its surface with resin. This link is to Part 1 of the video tutorial. Part 2 of the photo charm tutorial.

Silver Clay Openwork Pendant

This intermediate project uses Art Clay Silver lump and syringe to form an openwork silver pendant with apatite gemstone beads suspended inside the lace-like exterior.

Silver Clay Box

This intermediate project by Sherri Haab, from HGTV's Carol Duvall Show, is a textured box with a fitted lid. It uses PMC+ over a cork clay armature and can be adapted easily for many different types of textures and embellishments. There also is a 2-part companion video tutorial. Search the HGTV web site for "silver clay box."

Multi-Strand Necklace with Seed Pod Pendant

The Fire Mountain Gems site offers this intermediate-to-advanced tutorial by Tammy Honaman for a graceful seed pod pendant hung on a multi-strand necklace. My suggestion is to substitute vermiculite for the fiber blanket, which can pose health hazards.

Metal Clay Quilt Pendant

Hadar Jacobson's PMC quilt pendant uses twelve different textures. An intermediate to advanced project from Lapidary Journal, August 2005.

Dimensional Textured Earrings

Patrik Kusek's excellent free project sheets for Aftosa provide clear, step-by-step instructions and excellent photos. This one shows you how to make simple but elegant earrings that are textured and curved over a drinking glass for more interest. (I recommend against using alumina hydrate as a firing support, since breathing in the fine dust can be harmful to your respiratory system. Use vermiculite instead.)

Water Etched Pendant

Another project sheet by Patrik Kusek for Aftosa. This one shows you how to use the water etching technique to create a subtle "etched" texture on metal clay by applying a resist and then sponging away a layer of the surrounding clay. The resist burns off in the kiln. This project also demonstrates the use of a ping pong ball sawed in half as a drying support for the domed pendant and shows you how to set a kiln-safe gemstone into metal clay. Again, Patrik provides clear instructions and excellent photos in this tutorial.

Butterfly pendant

This tutorial by Patrik Kusek for Aftosa teaches you to make a metal clay butterfly pendant by combining and modifying commercial textures to make them your own. This intermediate project also shows you how to make a custom drying support and make secure connections between individual dried metal clay components.

Metal Clay Over Bisque Beads

Covering bisque beads with fine silver metal clay is an easy way to create hollow silver beads, and the thin layer of silver over the bisque substructure makes this a much more affordable approach than creating the beads entirely from silver clay. This excellent intermediate-to-advanced tutorial by Patrik Kusek for Aftosa takes this technique even farther. In addition to teaching you how to cover bisque beads with silver clay slip and embellishments, Patrik also shows you several other ways to adorn bisque beads with fine silver metal clay embellishments and how to carve the bisque and color it with fired glazes for even more interest.

Domino Earrings

This intermediate Lapidary Journal/Jewelry Artist magazine project from Hadar Jacobson shows you how to make unusual domino-inspired earrings by hinging together silver metal clay frames with balled silver wire and filling them with tinted tile grout to add color.

Rainbow PMC Earrings

Mary Ellin D'Agostino of MED'A Creations developed the technique she calls "Rainbow PMC" that involves mixing powdered enamels into metal clay to produce delicately tinted fine silver. This intermediate project provides general nstructions for making some very pretty earrings.

PMC Hidden Silver Clasp

Linda Bernstein's intermediate-to-advanced tutorial shows jewelry artists how to make their own custom clasps from metal clay, embellished as they desire. It uses a polymer clay armature, which is a useful technique for other metal clay applications as well. From Lapidary Journal, May 2001.

Copper Clay Lace Heart Pendant

This simple heart-shaped copper clay pendant project from About.com's Tammy Powley is textured with a piece of lace.

My Other Metal Clay Lenses on Squidoo

Metal Clay Types

This lens explains the unique characteristics and foremost uses of the four major types of metal clay: lump, paste, syringe and paper.

Metal Clay Brands and Formulas

This lens describes the different metal clay formulas available from the two major brands (PMC and Art Clay), including three generations of silver clay formulas, specialty silver clay products, gold clay formulas, and gold clay paints (including Aura 22 and Accent Gold for Silver). It lists the key characteristics and best uses of each formula, based on the specific needs of your project.

BRONZclay (Bronze Metal Clay)

Base metal clay products are significantly different from precious metal clays (gold and silver metal clay). This lens describes the differences between BRONZclay™ brand bronze clay and silver clay and provides comprehensive techniques, tips and firing schedules from top metal clay experts, artists and instructors from around the world.

Metal Clay Tools and Supplies Lens

An in-depth look at the tools and supplies I recommend for your basic needs, as well as other great items you may want to add over time. Links to additional excellent tools and supplies recommendations from others, as well as recommended suppliers.

BRONZclay Tools & Supplies

This lens describes the tools and supplies needed to start working with BRONZclay™ brand bronze clay and provides links to authorized BRONZclay™ dealers worldwide.

Overview of Metal Clay Techniques

An overview of metal clay techniques. From this overview will be links to other lenses focused on specific technique areas so that each can provide the most useful, in-depth information.

Setting Gemstones in Metal Clay

This lens provides a range of techniques for setting gemstones (both cabochons and faceted stones) in Precious Metal Clay (PMC) and Art Clay Silver and Gold. It addresses settings for stones that can be fired in place as well as for stones that must be set after firing. Bezel settings, syringe settings, gypsy settings, faux pave' settings and more are presented.

Creating Textures in Metal Clay

There are virtually infinite ways to add texture to your Precious Metal Clay and Art Clay designs! This lens provides ideas for creating textures with common household items as well as techniques using purchased texturing tools and one-of-a-kind texture tools you can create yourself with molds, carving, photopolymer plates, tearaway texture papers and more.

Weaving With Metal Clay Paper

This lens is an extremely detailed, illustrated, step-by-step tutorial that will teach you how to create woven fine silver items using PMC+ Sheet or Art Clay Silver Paper Type metal clay.

Making PMC Silver Metal Clay Oil Paste (AKA Lavender Paste)

This lens tells you how to make your own homemade oil paste out of PMC3 silver metal clay, which can be used to make strong attachments on both fired and unfired silver metal clay. It also discussed alternative pure essential oils that can be substituted for lavender oil successfully.

Drying Metal Clay

There are several ways to dry metal clay, and each has advantages and disadvantages. This lens describes the recommended methods and explains the pros and cons of each approach.

Reconstituting Dry Metal Clay

Step-by-step instructions and helpful tips on reconstituting dried metal clay scraps, filing dust, and even entire packages of clay that have dried out.

Metal Clay Storage

Wrapping fresh metal clay airtight in plastic wrap is not necessarily the best way to keep it moist and pliable. This lens explores several different storage solutions for keeping metal clay fresh during work sessions and also during long-term storage.

Metal Clay Product Reviews

This lens includes my personal reviews of products related to working with metal clay. It features a hand-picked selection of some of my favorite products, their advantages and limitations, tips & tricks for using them, and more.