JEWELRY-MAKING SUPPLIES & FREE LECTURES AT METALWERX VENDOR DAY

by Metalwerx on October 14, 2011

Oct. 23, 2011, 10 a.m.- 4 p.m., Armenian Cultural Center, 47 Nichols Ave., Watertown, MA

Tools, Jewels and the people who use them are once again the focus of Metalwerx’ 7th annual Vendor day!

Vendor Day is an opportunity to meet some of the best vendors in the business!  Aspiring and professional metalworkers, beading enthusiasts, woodworkers, or the casual crafter can see product demonstrations and find top-quality supplies for immediate purchase with no shipping costs or delays.

Pauline of Warg Enamel and Tool

It can be hard to pick things out from catalogs. It wasn’t until I held my first Bill Fretz’ hammer that I knew I had to have one (now I own three).  Online or in a catalog, when you can’t feel and touch a tool it’s hard to know it if it’s the right one for the job…and forget about picking out a stone from a glossy page or a computer screen!  It just doesn’t have the same sparkle to inspire a new design.

Michael Good's new Fretz Hammers

Speaking of seeing products in action…I was actually on the phone with Bill Fretz a week ago where he was telling me about Michael Good’s new planishing hammer, designed to allow you see forms better while hammering.  It’s full sized but the neck of the hammerhead is thinned out so you can reach into shapes with a lot of curve.  Apparently, it also makes closing spiculums much easier.  I hate closing forms!  Bill will be demoing them next weekend and I’m looking forward to seeing it in action.

Another exciting event in store will be happening at 12:30, where Cynthia Eid will be giving a demonstration and lecture on Lee Marshall’s Knew Concept Saw.  This “knew” design has revolutionized the modern studio with its lightweight aluminum frame and precise, tension-setting mechanism.  When she’s not lecturing, Cynthia will be situated at the Allcraft Jewelry Supply booth so make sure to stop by.

Knew Concept Saw

Apparently, Allcraft will have plenty the much sought-after Japanese Gossiba Patina Solution. It can be hard to come by since they normally don’t ship it – so this is your chance to stock up.  Everyone has been raving about this new patina since Jayne Redman came this past summer and showed us why it’s so special – it doesn’t produce waste (you only use what you need), you can easily achieve an even and predictable colored coating, and it is doesn’t have a terrible odor.  Good-bye Liver of Sulphur – Hello Gossiba!

Tevel of Allcraft Jewelry Supply

But wait…there’s more!  Our popular lectures are happening onsite throughout the day featuring a variety of topics you won’t want to miss:

10:30 AM – Photographing Jewelry with Stan Goldberg, Hunts Photo & Video

11:30 AM – What is MJSA? Helping Artisans and Understanding Manufacturing Processes with Corrie Silva, Manufacturing Jewelers & Suppliers of America.

12:30 PM – Knew Concept Saw: Sawing is Believing with Cynthia Eid, (cynthiaeid.com) Jewelry and Hollowware Designer and Maker

1:30 PM – Safe Soldering Practices for the Home Studio with Karen Christians, Cleverwerx

2:30 PM – JUST ADDED! Artists and Social Media with Lori Magno (lorimagno.com) who reveals simple strategies to incorporate social media tools into your marketing strategy. (Also included – why you need a marketing strategy!)

When you come in, make sure to get your free goodie bag stuffed with resources for jewelers, vendor information, and magazines for metalsmiths. This is going to be an amazing day and we hope to see you there!

Sylvia (Studiomate) dressed to the nines with her goodie bag in hand

Doors open at 10 a.m. There is $6 contribution at the door. Save $1 off admission with our Vendor Day postcard, or if you print the page at metalwerx.com/workshop/230  (only one discount per person).

The Armenian Cultural Center is located at 47 Nichols Avenue in Watertown and has plenty of free parking. Metalwerx Inc., 50 Guinan Street, Waltham, MA, is a 501c3 non-profit educational institution. For more information about the sale, or to learn more about Metalwerx, please visit our website, www.metalwerx.com, give us a call at 781-891-3854 or send an email to info@metalwerx.com.

PARTICIPATING VENDORS INCLUDE:

Metalsmithing Tools:
These vendors will be selling a large variety of hand tools (pliers, tweezers, burnishers…, hammers and other specialty forming supplies, keum boo materials, PMC supplies, a variety equipment (including enameling kiln, rolling mill, Fordom flexshafts), soldering equipment ( ventilation systems, specialty soldering tools), and much more.

Precious/Semi-precious Stones, Beads, Pearls…

Gemstone and bead dealers will have a sparkling selection of every stone imaginable in a variety of price points…faceted gems and cabochons, precious and semiprecious beads, a large variety of pearls, as well as findings.

Sierra Madre Mining Company

 Services:

Other items of interest:

By Lindsay Minihan

The show floor in 2010

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Metal Clay a winning choice for MW instructor Michela Verani

by Metalwerx on September 6, 2011

Winning four awards in as many months has left Metalwerx instructor Michela ‘Mikki’ Verani ecstatic: “It’s amazing. I’m shocked. On cloud nine.”

In April, Mikki won second prize in the Bead Dreams Competition  for her metal clay scatter pin, “Dragonfly Nymph”. One month later, Mikki was awarded the Employee’s Choice Grand Prize in the Fire Mountain Gems Competition for her two-part “Dragon’s Hoard” pendant. Her winning streak continued into July with prizes in Art Clay World’s North American Design Competition for her metal clay bracelet, “Garden Dreams”, and the Art Clay Club Chairman Award for her “Iris Inro” pendant.

Dragonfly Nymph pendant, silver, moonstones

But that’s not all. It’s the second year in a row that her work was selected for publication in the PMC Guild’s fifth Annual, a yearly compilation of the best work in metal clay, this time for “Fern Box”. The Annual will be made available in October, which also happens to be when her how-to article, “Ice Storm Pendant,” will be published in Bead Unique Magazine.

“It tells me I went into the right area. That I can submit to contests that have hundreds or more people entering, and come out in the top three,” Mikki said. “I’m moving in the right area in my work, and it’s good work. I guess I’m getting to the top of my game!”

The Dragon's Hoard

Mikki will share her metal clay expertise in three Metalwerx classes this fall, Intro to Metal Clay, Intermediate Metal Clay Techniques, and Advanced Metal Clay Techniques. She has achieved Level II in the Metal Clay Master’s Registry, one of the first in the world to achieve this credentialing, and is also an Art Clay Certifying Senior Instructor.

The Dragon's Hoard, revealed

Metal clay inspires a lot of emotion in jewelers. Some have a hard time accepting it as a genuine jewelry art form, and there are others who love its plasticity. Mikki likes “how forgiving it is. If I don’t like what I’m making, I don’t have to fire it. I can grind it, reconstitute the clay, and make another piece,” she said.

Garden Dreams bracelet

“With traditional metalsmithing—cutting, soldering, hammering, you get to a certain place and if you don’t like it, you’ve destroyed your metals unless you melt it down and reconstitute it. With metal clay, you never lose it,” she said. “I like that it works like clay, so flexible. It’s a nice meld of dimensionality.”

Iris Inro pendant

Metal clay, in which silver, gold, platinum, bronze, or copper is mixed with a water-soluble organic binder, is a relative newcomer to the jewelry making world. Precious Metal Clay was developed by Dr. Masaki Morikawa of the Mitsubishi Materials Corporation in Japan. In 1990, the material was introduced to Japanese artists who produced complex, elegant jewelry using ceramic-forming techniques.

To bring the product to the U.S. market, the makers convened a who’s-who of metal artists at Haystack Mountain School in Deer Isle, Maine, to experiment with it. After a distributor for the product was identified, the material became available here in 1997. Since then, another company, the AIDA corporation, has entered the market with a slightly different product called Art Clay.

“People are starting to realize you can make some nice things with it,” Mikki said. “At first, the people using it weren’t metalsmiths, they were crafters. But I’ve started to see people take it more seriously as an art.”

Michela "Mikki" Verani

Artists in metal clay can now undertake certification programs offered by specific brands, enabling them to receive discounts on material. The international Metal Clay Masters Registry was established in 2004 to formalize the credentialing of these various programs. Working at their own pace, artists complete fifty projects in five categories to be professionally evaluated.  The educational organization, Precious Metal Clay Guild, provides a wealth of information for its members, including a discussion board and a yearly conference.

Mikki has had six winning pieces for the annual Fire Mountain Gems Competition, each of which has been featured in their full-page back cover magazine ads. The exposure has been good for sales, as she gets calls from folks interested in purchasing her work or taking classes with her.

Fern box

“It’s a nice adjunct to metalsmithing,” she said. “Metal clay is more cost efficient in terms of tools. Just think of how casting takes so much equipment. And it has an immediacy to it that can’t be done in regular metals. There are things you can do without having to sculpt or carve or cast wax.”

You can see more of Mikki’s work on her website, Everlasting Treasures. All Fall classes at Metalwerx begin September 19. Visit the Metalwerx online to see a list of all classes and upcoming weekend workshops, or to register.

–by Yleana Martinez

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