Welcome back to our team challenge. This time we challenge our team members to created a piece of metal clay art inspired by a book, movie, music or TV-series. We have received four wonderful submissions from our super-talented MCHs.
1) Divergent Movie Inspired Soaring Bird Silhouette Necklace by YorkAvenueStudio
Divergent necklace with soaring bird silhouette in Bronze with gold filled chain. The movie Divergent tells a story of people who live in a world where everyone is divided into groups, labeled by their function in society in order to keep the peace. Divergents do not fit just one group, and have creative minds adapting far better and faster than most, which makes them "uncontrollable" by authorities enforcing their rules.
Check out Kathy's creation here.
2) Fan Art Silver Pendant by MostlyStoneware
Inspired by shields and GOT, specifically the Greyjoys
Check out Kathy's creation here.
3) Handmade Dragon Eye Pendant Game of Thrones by TheSinteredArtist
Handmade White Copper with Copper accents Dragon Eye Pendant. Hand sculpted metal clay is fired in a kiln to produce a solid metal piece of jewelry.
Check out Anise's creation here.
4) Hobbit mailbox by Envydesignsjewelry
Hobbit mailbox handmade in silver with a really cool rainbow patina.
Check out Jennifer's creation here.
Please vote using the Poll to the right. Share this post with anyone that might not otherwise know about the Challenge. The Poll is open to the public. Any comments are welcome! Poll will be closed on October 13th.
Don't forget to check out the Artist's work as well by clicking on their name/shop name! Enjoy!
Showing posts with label mostlystoneware. Show all posts
Showing posts with label mostlystoneware. Show all posts
Monday, September 21, 2015
Friday, November 7, 2014
That magical connection of human hand, earth, and fire -- Kathy McDonald
Welcome! Our November’s feature artist is Kathy McDonald, a Canadian ceramic and jewelry artist who operates WillowTree Design near Brandon Manitoba.
This is what she says of her journey after several decades of art and craft.
A little bit about me: I live in Manitoba Canada and have operated WillowTree Pottery here for more than 25 years. My training is in psychology and education. I owe my pottery skills to many potters, jewelry artists and mentors, students, and workshops that I've been part of over the years. Clay has been a wonderful muse for me for these decades.
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.
I particularly like the diversity of combining my work as a potter with work in the metals and metal clays. They overlap and often one inspires or supplements ideas for the other.
My most recent endeavors have included a series of wheel thrown fairy garden lanterns and sculptures and some new designs created with silver clay and gemstones.
The giveaway this month will feature one of each:
This charming handcrafted stoneware fairy house will please even the most discerning woodland creatures that inhabit your garden. Each house is unique and has it's own special personality.
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.
This is what she says of her journey after several decades of art and craft.
A little bit about me: I live in Manitoba Canada and have operated WillowTree Pottery here for more than 25 years. My training is in psychology and education. I owe my pottery skills to many potters, jewelry artists and mentors, students, and workshops that I've been part of over the years. Clay has been a wonderful muse for me for these decades.
 |
| Pottery Chip and Dip Platter by Kathy McDonald |
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.
I particularly like the diversity of combining my work as a potter with work in the metals and metal clays. They overlap and often one inspires or supplements ideas for the other.
My most recent endeavors have included a series of wheel thrown fairy garden lanterns and sculptures and some new designs created with silver clay and gemstones.
The giveaway this month will feature one of each:
 |
| Fairy House by Kathy McDonald |
This charming handcrafted stoneware fairy house will please even the most discerning woodland creatures that inhabit your garden. Each house is unique and has it's own special personality.
The silver piece is a hand sculpted leaf with a 3 mm topaz. Ten grams of clay, it is made from PMC 360. Comes with an oxidized sterling 1 mm chain. Value at $75.
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.
- Follow our blog = 1 entry
- Check out featured artist and post favorite piece on the blog = 1 entry
- Heart featured artist’s shop = 1 entry
- Follow featured artist on Facebook = 1 entry
- Make a purchase = 2 entries
- Refer a friend = 1 entry
- Tweet about the giveaway using key word metalclayheads = 1 entry
- Share the Metal Clay Heads blog giveaway link on FB (Go to http://www.facebook.com/MetalClayHeadsTeam and click Share) = 1 entry
Sunday, September 2, 2012
Yes, Sandra! You Won!
Congrats to Sandra who won our August blog giveaway! Sandra will receive the beautiful Mars Exploration jewelry set created by Kathy of Mostly Stoneware. The Mars Exploration set "was inspired by the recent
exploration of Mars" and Kathy's vision of "how Mars might look" if she was able
to see the surface.
Thanks for all of you who have entered and don't miss our next blog giveaway scheduled mid-September by following us! Thanks to Kathy who participated and giveaway such an amazing jewelry set. Our September challenge will be up pretty soon as well!
Happy Labor Day to you!
Thanks for all of you who have entered and don't miss our next blog giveaway scheduled mid-September by following us! Thanks to Kathy who participated and giveaway such an amazing jewelry set. Our September challenge will be up pretty soon as well!
Happy Labor Day to you!
Wednesday, August 15, 2012
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.
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.
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.
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.
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!
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!
Wednesday, April 25, 2012
Inspiration, Imitation and Copying : Trends and the Evolution of a Personal Style.
This post will be part 1 of 2 parts
Part 1.....
Metal clay as a material has limitless possibilities for design and innovation, its only limitation seems to be its expense. I’ve seen so many gorgeous examples of work here on the internet that inspire me and that often leads to a flight of design ideas and new possibilities. Why don’t those come to fruition? I’m afraid to be accused of “copying”. How can I use this wealth of inspiration I see here on the internet to develop a style that is truly my own.
I suspect I'm approaching the topic as an art historian might.
Early 20th century artists and craftspeople have shared skills and worked in smaller groups, guilds and geographical locations and, as such, they could train/imitate/copy and still keep one another accountable. Forgery was frowned upon and could get someone booted out of their "school", guild, or even lose their apprenticeship.
A totally ruined career unless you were:
a :) talented enough to get a bunch of others to defect with you or
b :) could afford to move to another country and set up shop.
Mass commercial enterprise and the "net" have totally changed the rules of the art and craft world.
Everything is fair game and people are trying to "copyright" age old processes and designs in order to make their mark.
A whole industry has evolved to share information and I contend that it leads to a kind of stagnancy when we come to developing our own creative processes and style. Pictures, published materials and experts running workshops set the trends. Seeing the beautiful work is inspiring and can give rise to new and innovative designs and material use. More often, I think, we flock like sheep to copy the latest trend.
I’m guilty!!!
I’ve wondered whether jumping on these trendy bandwagons might be really inhibiting my own evolution of a personal style.
Most alarming is the trend for big off shore manufacturers to "steal” and use imagery, usually that of a craftsperson who makes each item by hand, only then to reproduce inferior quality items to sell huge volumes of these items. That`s new. It makes us all throw up our hands and mutter, ”Why even bother?” if someone’s just going to rip it off.
Is it wrong to copy or imitate?.... and how is it fair that someone can take “your” idea and execute it, promote it and sometimes become much more successful than you were?
These quotes about imitation are cliché but they underline the fact that this issue has been around for a long time:
“Imitation is not just the sincerest form of flattery - it's the sincerest form of learning.”
― George Bernard Shaw
“Parrots mimic their owners. Their owners consider that a sign of intelligence.”
― Marty Rubin
Our inspirations are the sum of our parts, our physical and genetic makeup, where we live and where we have traveled; how we view the world and its beauty, its underbelly and all the wonderful natural idiosyncrasies. Originality is the stock and trade of most artists. Some artistic visions are truly revolutionary, many are original but few exist without studying or at least having been exposed to other artists’ work. It’s a pretty difficult pill to swallow when you’ve worked really hard to evolve a particular design and technique, perfect it and then see that same design mass produced or replicated. With the advent of internet selling the problem becomes exponential. So many artists scrambling to have their work rank high on the almighty Google search criterion.
Ideas and trends evolve via inspiration, imitation, and sometimes outright copying. I think in the fashion industry it is somewhat expected. There are thousands of books, CD’s, tutorials, and
industry publications. Being published and selling one’s methods is often a big or bigger money generator than selling one’s creations. We should not be surprised when people copy our work when the environment that surrounds us has a business model that promotes and encourages this. Trends are highlighted, hot selling items and people are “featured”, magazines encourage DIY and expect artists to publish their process.
Historically, artists considered imitation to be a sign of respect. I suspect many of those who teach and publish books subscribe to this view of imitation. I think learning is really important. One of the people I most admire is my grandmother, known for her fabulous recipes and baking; her motto was, “I’ll tell you the basics, and how hot the oven has to be but the rest you have to figure out on your own”.
She was an inspiration. No tutorials, just her voice in my memory and her handwriting in the margins of cookbooks I inherited. I’ll never make cakes that look or taste the same as hers did, but she inspired me to learn.
Here are a few web based perspectives on this issue:
http://www.squidoo.com/inspiration-vs-imitation
http://www.tekniskamuseet.se/1/313_en.html
http://prettyshinysparkly.com/fbff-when-is-flattery-by-imitation-just-downright-copying/
http://udis-tmc.blogspot.ca/2012/02/inspiration-vs-imitation.html
I’m hoping this is enough info for us to have a bit of a discussion and entertain any comments on the subject then move to the next part in this series that will focus on where we can “find” inspiration and innovative creative processes.
Kathy
Visit Kathy on etsy at MostlySilver and MostlyStoneware
Part 1.....
Metal clay as a material has limitless possibilities for design and innovation, its only limitation seems to be its expense. I’ve seen so many gorgeous examples of work here on the internet that inspire me and that often leads to a flight of design ideas and new possibilities. Why don’t those come to fruition? I’m afraid to be accused of “copying”. How can I use this wealth of inspiration I see here on the internet to develop a style that is truly my own.
I suspect I'm approaching the topic as an art historian might.
Early 20th century artists and craftspeople have shared skills and worked in smaller groups, guilds and geographical locations and, as such, they could train/imitate/copy and still keep one another accountable. Forgery was frowned upon and could get someone booted out of their "school", guild, or even lose their apprenticeship.
A totally ruined career unless you were:
a :) talented enough to get a bunch of others to defect with you or
b :) could afford to move to another country and set up shop.
Mass commercial enterprise and the "net" have totally changed the rules of the art and craft world.
Everything is fair game and people are trying to "copyright" age old processes and designs in order to make their mark.
A whole industry has evolved to share information and I contend that it leads to a kind of stagnancy when we come to developing our own creative processes and style. Pictures, published materials and experts running workshops set the trends. Seeing the beautiful work is inspiring and can give rise to new and innovative designs and material use. More often, I think, we flock like sheep to copy the latest trend.
I’m guilty!!!
I’ve wondered whether jumping on these trendy bandwagons might be really inhibiting my own evolution of a personal style.
Most alarming is the trend for big off shore manufacturers to "steal” and use imagery, usually that of a craftsperson who makes each item by hand, only then to reproduce inferior quality items to sell huge volumes of these items. That`s new. It makes us all throw up our hands and mutter, ”Why even bother?” if someone’s just going to rip it off.
Is it wrong to copy or imitate?.... and how is it fair that someone can take “your” idea and execute it, promote it and sometimes become much more successful than you were?
These quotes about imitation are cliché but they underline the fact that this issue has been around for a long time:
“Imitation is not just the sincerest form of flattery - it's the sincerest form of learning.”
― George Bernard Shaw
“Parrots mimic their owners. Their owners consider that a sign of intelligence.”
― Marty Rubin
Our inspirations are the sum of our parts, our physical and genetic makeup, where we live and where we have traveled; how we view the world and its beauty, its underbelly and all the wonderful natural idiosyncrasies. Originality is the stock and trade of most artists. Some artistic visions are truly revolutionary, many are original but few exist without studying or at least having been exposed to other artists’ work. It’s a pretty difficult pill to swallow when you’ve worked really hard to evolve a particular design and technique, perfect it and then see that same design mass produced or replicated. With the advent of internet selling the problem becomes exponential. So many artists scrambling to have their work rank high on the almighty Google search criterion.
Ideas and trends evolve via inspiration, imitation, and sometimes outright copying. I think in the fashion industry it is somewhat expected. There are thousands of books, CD’s, tutorials, and
industry publications. Being published and selling one’s methods is often a big or bigger money generator than selling one’s creations. We should not be surprised when people copy our work when the environment that surrounds us has a business model that promotes and encourages this. Trends are highlighted, hot selling items and people are “featured”, magazines encourage DIY and expect artists to publish their process.
Historically, artists considered imitation to be a sign of respect. I suspect many of those who teach and publish books subscribe to this view of imitation. I think learning is really important. One of the people I most admire is my grandmother, known for her fabulous recipes and baking; her motto was, “I’ll tell you the basics, and how hot the oven has to be but the rest you have to figure out on your own”.
She was an inspiration. No tutorials, just her voice in my memory and her handwriting in the margins of cookbooks I inherited. I’ll never make cakes that look or taste the same as hers did, but she inspired me to learn.
Here are a few web based perspectives on this issue:
http://www.squidoo.com/inspiration-vs-imitation
http://www.tekniskamuseet.se/1/313_en.html
http://prettyshinysparkly.com/fbff-when-is-flattery-by-imitation-just-downright-copying/
http://udis-tmc.blogspot.ca/2012/02/inspiration-vs-imitation.html
I’m hoping this is enough info for us to have a bit of a discussion and entertain any comments on the subject then move to the next part in this series that will focus on where we can “find” inspiration and innovative creative processes.
Kathy
Visit Kathy on etsy at MostlySilver and MostlyStoneware
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