It Feels Like Magic Every Time! June Featured Artist Carrie Michael

Our featured artist of June is Carrie Michael from Kalamazoo, MI. Carrie has extensive creative experience with polymer clay and has perfecting her skills on metal clay since 2012. Her work is whimsical and dreamy! Carrie is giving away a copper metal clay english style ocarina pendant to a lucky reader. Read on to learn how to enter the giveaway and win a piece of her amazing art!

Why did you pick your shop name Carrie Michael?
I picked my own name so that it was easy to find me!


When did you first become interested in Metal Clay? How long have you been designing jewelry using Metal Clay?
Metal Clay called to me the first time I heard of it, but I didn’t have the available funds to work with it at the time. I sold polymer clay jewelry until I built up enough profit to buy my own kiln and fine silver supplies. Metal Clay has been a part of my life since June of 2012, and I am amazed every time a piece of “clay” goes into the kiln and comes out solid metal, it feels like magic every time, I adore it!



Fairy fine silver ear cuff holding amethyst cubic zirconia DTPD by Carrie Michael

Would you tell us your creative process?
For my detailed pieces I normally start by making a digital drawing. Once I am happy with it, I scale the drawing down to size, print it, and trace the drawing onto dry metal clay. After carving, detailing and engraving, I finish the piece in the kiln. Burnish, tumble, polish, and then make a mold so that more of the same design can be completed faster to keep prices affordable! The entire process for the giveaway piece is too long to answer here, but there is a tutorial on my blog: carriemichael.blogspot.com/2014/06/metal-clay-ocarina-tutorial.html


What inspires you?
The beauty and magic of our natural world.

Copper english style ocarina pendant with an included purple sapphire by Carrie Michael

Why did you design the giveaway piece? What is special about your giveaway piece?
Logging in to etsy to read the Metal Clay Heads Team blog, I noticed other recommended groups to join. One of them was for handmade ocarinas. I didn’t join the group, but it got me thinking, I bet I could do that out of metal! My husband is an ocarina player, and a nice sturdy ocarina that he couldn’t drop and break would be a welcome gift. It took quite a bit of trial and error as well as research online to figure out how to make one from metal clay, but I think I have a process that works well. My husband helps me tune them to make sure that they function properly as a musical instrument in addition to being a piece of jewelry. My notes on construction are on my blog so that other metal clay artists can make their own if they wish.

I decided to give away a copper ocarina pendant because it is a unique item that can’t be found anywhere else. This one is the 5th that I made, and since I was still perfecting my design there will never be another exactly like it! It has both copper and white copper (*contains nickel) on the front, and an included purple sapphire for fun.


What are the major challenges when creating metal clay jewelry?
In relation to this piece specifically, metal clay can’t be worked in the same way as ceramic clay, which is traditionally used for making ocarinas. That makes it extra difficult to get the voicing carved and lined up properly, as well as to get the tuning right. Concert tuning would be a nightmare, so this piece is simply “in tune with itself.”

Fairy Dragon fine silver pendant or charm with purple sapphire DTPD by Carrie Michael


What do you enjoy most about working in Metal Clay?
Permanence and sparkle! Every medium has it’s benefits, but a finished metal clay piece should last for generations. It brings me great joy to know that my silver pieces will continue to glitter long after I am gone.

What is your greatest ambition as a Metal Clay artist?
To quit my day job and spend every day making art for people to enjoy!


What is the biggest mistake you've ever made? What did you learn from it?
Making complex detailed pieces and then moving to the next step without doing a test sample first, sometimes leading to irreparable harm to days worth of work. I do this in every media I ever use. Learning the hard way to do test samples is something that has taken years to sink in.


So here are the rules to enter the MCHs blog giveaway:

Every person is eligible to enter the blog giveaway with up to FOUR (4) entries. How can you get an entry? You can do any of the following and then let us know that by leaving a comment here so we can keep track.

1. Follow our blog = 1 entry
2. Check out featured artist and post favorite piece on the blog = 1 entry
3. Heart featured artist’s shop = 1 entry
4. Follow featured artist on Facebook = 1 entry
5. Make a purchase = 2 entries
6. Refer a friend = 1 entry
7. Tweet about the giveaway using key word metalclayheads = 1 entry
8. Share the Metal Clay Heads blog giveaway link on FB (Go to http://www.facebook.com/MetalClayHeadTeam and click Share) = 1 entry
9. If you voted and commented on our last challenge = 1 entry

The giveaway will run for two weeks. We will announce the winner on July 1st. Good luck!

I like to let the material tell me what it wants to become -- Kathy

Kathy of Mostly Stoneware never hesitates to share her expertise on clay-related technicalities, be it the firing schedule, or the special components of certain clay or clay tool reviews. Today, she opens up and talks about her clay, her life as an artist and her inspirations.

Why did you pick the name Mostly Stoneware/Mostly Silver?
I picked the name Mostly Stoneware for my shop because my “full time” job is creating functional pottery from stoneware and porcelain.

I briefly ventured into opening a second Etsy shop for my jewelry and thought I would stay consistent with my 2 shop titles. At the present time I do not have much listed there as I am busy making fall wholesale orders but I do plan to develop an inventory for that store (Mostly Silver) sometime later this year.

When did you first become interested in Metal Clay? How long have you been designing jewelry using Metal Clay?
I first became interested in trying metal clay when I saw an ad in a pottery periodical called Ceramics monthly about 15 years ago.  It was intriguing to think clay could fire into pure silver.  I ordered it directly from the manufacturer in Japan and all of the instructions were in Japanese.  Thank  goodness the material was much less expensive then, as there was a lot of trial and error.

Fine Silver Leaf Necklace by Mostly Stoneware

What was your first piece of Metal Clay jewelry?
My first piece of metal clay jewelry was a goddess pendant featuring all kinds of coils and curls, and a sculpted face. I think it was almost 50 g of clay, unthinkable for me now.

Would you tell us your creative process?
My creative process usually starts with porcelain clay, and I make the prototype for the metal clay piece I want to make.  I love to experiment with texture and the porcelain gives me a really good idea of the scale and proportion of the texture or carving on the finished metal clay piece.

Years ago the forms were quite complex and involved techniques that I had learned from sculpture or hand building. As the material became more and more expensive I must admit my designs became simpler and more “saleable”. I live in a small Canadian prairie city where most people prefer to buy their jewelry from larger chain stores so I have to be careful with the amount of material I use in each piece unless it’s for a very special person or a custom order.

I think it is that magical connection of human hand, earth, and fire that has been entrancing people for centuries that draws me to the process and keeps me wanting to learn more and more. -- Kathy

What inspires you?
I love the rustic and natural. I like to let the material tell me what it wants to become.

I am inspired by the fabulous work I see others create.  I love natural forms and I love textures.  Often you will find me on a walk with a piece of wet clay in a baggie so that I can take an imprint of that texture to use in my designs.

I’m in awe of those people who take the time to learn and experiment with complex forms, I can do them in my pottery work, but translating them into the tiny forms that are metal clay is quite a complex process.

Pottery Utensil Holder by Mostly Stoneware

What are the major challenges when creating metal clay jewelry?
My major challenge at the present time is deciding where to focus my efforts.  I need to work on skill development to make more complex forms. Cost of my preferred material, silver, makes it necessary for me to explore combinations of working with sheet silver and metalsmithing techniques.

What do you enjoy most about working in Metal Clay?
I love the immediacy.  With the pottery I have to wait until I have about 100 pieces of pottery to fire before I can get any feedback about my process. With the metal clays I can see the fruits of my labour in hours.

What is the biggest mistake you've ever made? What did you learn from it?
I’ve made lots of mistakes over the years, the first was not knowing a firing temperature for the material.  I have a kiln shelf that still sits in my studio with little blobs of molten silver stuck to it to remind me I’m very human and very fallible.

Why did you design the giveaway piece? What is special about your giveaway piece?
I designed the giveaway piece as an experiment to see how copper metal clay would stand up to the enamel process, it was inspired by the recent exploration of Mars and my vision of how Mars might look if I were able to see the surface.

Mars Exploration Jewelry Set by Mostly Stoneware

A lucky person will win the beautiful Mars Exploration jewelry set. To enter our blog giveaway, please follow these rules:

Every person is eligible to enter the blog giveaway with up to FOUR (4) entries. How can you get an entry? You can do any of the following and then let us know that by leaving a comment under this feature so we can keep track.

1. Follow our blog = 1 entry
2. Check out featured artist and post favorite piece on the blog = 1 entry
3. Heart featured artist’s shop = 1 entry
4. Follow featured artist on Facebook = 1 entry
5. Make a purchase = 2 entries
6. Refer a friend = 1 entry
7. Tweet about the giveaway using key word metalclayheads = 1 entry
8. Share the Metal Clay Heads blog giveaway link on FB (Go to http://www.facebook.com/MetalClayHeadTeam and click Share) = 1 entry
9. If you voted and commented on our last challenge = 1 entry

The giveaway will run for two weeks. We will announce the winner on September 1st. Good luck!

Canes from Metal Clay part 2

This is how you turn your clay canes into patterned pieces.

1. Lay your cane out straight

2. Slice it down the middle to check out your design

3. Keep making slices throughout the whole cane

4. Place the sliced pieces in your mold patterned side down.

peeking on the other side to make sure you like how it is coming a long

5. Lay it on the cup warming plate making sure it's protected by sticks or something so the mold doesn't melt. The piece will loosen and fall out of the mold when its dry.

6. This is how it comes out of the mold

7. There are some cracks so I start my sanding in circular eight  motion with 150 grit sand paper. sometimes the sanding makes the cracks disappear, sometimes it doesn't. I am showing you 2 different pieces. One has just been sanded and the other has been filled in and is ready to resand.

8. Continue the sanding. I go from 150 to 220 to 400. I stop when I'm happy with the piece. And I don't forget the sides. Adds such a cool touch to the piece. Once this is done I will add some sort of bail. (not shown here)

9. The last step before firing, when your piece is exactly how you want it, you will burnish it. Burnishing condenses the clay and makes sure the metals you are  joining are in fact joined.

Once this piece is fired and I'm sure it has sintered, I will clean it off with radial discs. If There are any cracks I will fill them and refire, unless I think the cracks are fitting to the piece. 

****This ring has cracks that need to be repaired. I will fill in the cracks and then just do the second phase of firing. Any uneven spots after it is fired I will sand and grind until it's smooth.

When my piece is as I like it, I buff it to a shine with 800 grid polishing paper and then 1200 grid. Then I treat it with Baldwins Patina which brings out the colors in the metals and shows the beautiful patterns that the canes have made.

Visit me on Etsy at DaVoria and my Blog