CENTER FOR BEADWORK & JEWELRY ARTS
PRESS RELEASE
PMC+CERTIFICATION
WORKSHOP
|
CENTER FOR BEADWORK
& JEWELRY ARTS
A
different kind of school!
718 Thompson Lane, Ste 123 Nashville,
TN 37204
Phone:
615-292-0610
Fax:
615-292-0610
beadschool@landofodds.com
www.landofodds.com/beadschool/
Contact:
Warren
Feld
With,
PMC Connection
Sondra Busch, Senior Instructor
785/272-6360
pmcplus@aol.com
James Alfred Jones Studios
Lampwork and Silver Smithing
2915 Dobbs Ave
Nashville, TN 37204
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P R E S S R E L E A S E . .
.
|
What:
|
PMC+ Level I Certification Workshop
in
fine silver metal clay
Learn to turn
clay into
fine silver jewelry – like magic!
|
|
Who:
|
CENTER FOR
BEADWORK & JEWELRY ARTS
and
PMC
CONNECTION
Sondra Busch, Senior Instructor
and
James Alfred
Jones Studios
|
|
Where:
|
Center for
Beadwork & Jewelry Arts
718 Thompson Lane, Ste 123
Nashville, TN 37204
|
|
When:
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Friday, June 21
thru Sunday, June 23
9am-5pm each day
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Interested Audiences:
|
Any artist,
jewelry maker, beadworker, craftsperson who loves sterling and fine
silver, is interested in working and sculpting with clay, and likes
making jewelry and beadwork pieces.
Any artist
interested in experiencing and experimenting with a new art medium
and technology -- the new metal clay from
Japan.
Any person who
wants to learn about this cutting edge art medium and technology,
and its artistic and jewelry design
potentials.
|
|
Opport-unities for Interviews:
|
Sondra Busch,
the Senior Instructor, will be available for interviews Thursday
late afternoon, June 20th. She may also be
reached by phone (785/272-6360) or email (pmcplus@aol.com).
Reporters may
visit the workshop itself, and see how participants turn clay into
fine silver jewelry.
For all general
inquiries, or to schedule an interview with Sondra Busch, please
contact Warren Feld, 615/292-0610, at the Center for Beadwork &
Jewelry Arts.
|
|
Recently
scheduled related courses at CBJA:
|
CLAYMT4301: GETTING STARTED WITH
PRECIOUS METAL CLAY
Sat, May 25, 9am-2pm
Sat, June 15,
9am-2pm
|
|
Further
Informa-tion:
|
http://www.landofodds.com/beadschool/workshops/pmc-cert.html
http://www.pmcconnection.com/
http://www.pmcguild.com/
Working with
Precious Metal Clayby Tim
McCreight, Brynmorgen
Press
|
|
The photographs presented
here are samples of the work which MaryAnn and Ken Devos of PMC Connection have
created using silver clay. In this collaborative work, MaryAnn has
fashioned the silver clay portions and Ken has created many of the accompanying
chains. [If using these photos,
please reference “MaryAnn and Ken Devos, PMC Connection.”]
The
Program
Imagine that you can take clay and turn it into fine silver
jewelry! All it takes is some
imagination, some simple tools for sculpting and creating textures, and a
kiln. And there you
have it – the magic and wonder of Precious Metal Clay (PMC+).
PMC+ is a revolutionary new craft material. When fired in a kiln, the precious
metal clay object is transformed into fine silver metal. The basis of the clay
is this: microscopic particles of
precious metals, such as silver, are suspended in a pliable organic binder that
burns out, leaving only the precious metal. Besides silver,
precious metal clay is available in gold or platinum. Metallurgists at the
advanced technology research facility in Sanda, Japan, developed this
material.
Precious metal clay comes in a clay form, a paste, a sheet,
and a syringe. As clay,
you work it in a sculptural fashion. As a paste, you can brush it
onto an object, say a leaf, and when fired, the leaf burns away, and you have a
piece of silver in the shape and texture of the original leaf. As a sheet, you can work it
just like origami – fold it into a paper airplane, fire it, and you have a fine
silver airplane. Use the paste in a syringe to encircle a wooden dowel, and you make a
ring. The possibilities are
endless. Anyone can do
it.
The
PMC+ Certification program is a three day class that teaches specific techniques
using the 4 types of PMC+ (clay type, paste, syringe and sheet). The class
systematically takes the student from simple to more complex projects. The goal
of the class is to make the student comfortable with silver clay techniques for
making, firing and finishing, using 8 different projects. The techniques are
very specific but the students are allowed room for personal creativity in their
designs. This understanding of PMC+ will offer solid base for the student to
begin to use PMC+ more extensively. We encourage students who successfully
complete the course to teach the basics, demonstrate and share this new
experience.
WHO
SHOULD TAKE THE CERTIFICATION CLASSES
Level I
Certification is for anyone who is interested in learning the major techniques
using the major forms of PMC+ clay in an intensive workshop
setting. The objective of this workshop is to teach
techniques, and NOT to necessarily turn out perfect project pieces.
If your first desire is to make some wonderful pieces of jewelry, say, to wear,
you might be more interested in taking the Center for Beadwork & Jewelry
Arts sequence of 7-10 precious metal clay courses, where you have more time so
spend working on any particular project. Prior training in
PMC+ or other metal clay is not a prerequisite for Level 1
Certification. The class is fun and the experience will open a
new channel for your creativity.
EVALUATION
Eight
separate projects are assigned. All the eight projects must be completed and will be evaluated by a
Senior Instructor. The pieces are evaluated on construction, design and
finishing. Students who do not complete their projects during class can take up
to 1 month to submit the work to their instructor for evaluation. When the
student has satisfactorily completed the course, he/she will qualify for dealer
pricing from PMC Connection.
PROJECTS
Technical
sheets for the projects are provided. You may use these sheets to help you
prepare classes or for personal reference. We hope you will develop and teach
introductory classes. We will assist you any way we can. However, only our
Senior Instructors can certify students.
These
projects cover the basic use of PMC+ clay, paste, syringe and sheet types. The
Senior Instructor will do the demonstrations, guide and evaluate the
students.
PROJECTS BY
PMC+ TYPE:
1. Reversible
slide pendant with texture and stone setting.
2. Beads – assorted
sizes, cores and decorations.
3. 2 Dimensional syringe
drawing
4. 3 D syringe ring
project with optional torch firing.
5. Amphora or
Birdhouse – hollow form
6. Free form paper
project pendant or sculpture.
7. Dichroic glass
pendant
8. Origami or fabric
folding project
About
the Center for Beadwork & Jewelry Arts
The
Center for Beadwork & Jewelry Arts was founded in 2000, and began offering
classes in 2001. The CBJA is a school for beadwork and jewelry arts,
providing elective and progressive track courses for students at all levels of
skill. The CBJA is committed to offering a comprehensive range
of bead and jewelry related course topics, from bead stringing and bead weaving
to lampwork bead making, silversmithing, polymer and metal clay, wire work and
wire wrapping, and fiber arts.
The
CBJA is a different kind of school. CBJA offers classes
structured in a particular order, rather than just a collection of
mini-workshops. The CBJA uses a skills-based, rather than a
project-based, approach to curriculum design. That is, in
designing courses and structuring a curriculum of courses, attention is paid to
what set of skills should be taught, and in what order these should be
taught. The emphasis is more about, for example, teaching the control of
thread and its tension in a stitch, or learning how to shape and use the
structural tension of wire to make jewelry. While every course uses
a project in which to provide a context for applying skills, the outcome we are
seeking is the learning of skills, not merely completing a project.
We have
also tightly focused on the quality of instruction. We believe that
each class must present material in written, visual and oral forms. All
teachers are required to provide written instructions. Written
instructions have been pretested to improve clarity and usability.
Teachers are required to provide physical samples of the projects taught in
classes.
We have
tried to structure and interlink courses so that it becomes clearer for the
student how best to develop his or her skills. We have
specified prerequisites, and progressive course pathways so that the students in
any one class are more similar in their beadwork or jewelry making
development abilities and needs.
Beadwork
& Jewelry Making
Beadwork
and jewelry-making are not only crafts, but arts, as
well. As art, they have definable sets of
interrelated skills which can be taught, creatively applied, and further
developed. These skills can be used to create and enhance color,
shape, texture, sensibility, perception, sensuousness and emotion.
They can be applied to bring meaning, cognition, culture, connectivity and
wisdom to a situation. They can be used to create the tangible from
the intangible, and the object from
nothingness.
The skills
of combining materials of physical and/or esthetic wealth into wearable art
forms and adornment -- this is jewelry making.
Beads,
wire, jewelry findings -- they bring visual and tactile feelings and thoughts to
life in the objects we create from them. There is a sense of awe and
power, esthetic feeling and historical connection. The CBJA
develops and educates its students, through its elective and progressive
track courses, for joining the professions of beadworking and
jewelry-making, and expanding their horizons.
The
CBJA offers courses, for all levels of beaders and jewelry-makers, in the
following areas:
- Bead Stringing, including Attaching Clasps, Pearl
Knotting, Hemp Braids and Knots
- Bead Weaving, including Peyote, Brick,
Loom, Right Angle Weave, Stitch of the Month, and other bead-weaving
stitches
- Wire-Working and Wire-Wrapping
- Art & Craft as a
Business
- General Co-Curricular Skill Areas, including Color, Jewelry
Design, and Strap/Edge/Fringe
- Silver Smithing
- Lampworking
- Polymer
Clay
- Precious Metal Clay, including PMC+ certification
- Fiber
Arts
The
Precious Metal Clay Curriculum at CBJA
PMC+
Level One and Level Two certification workshops are offered 3-4 times each year
at CBJA. In
addition to these workshops, the CBJA offers a series of precious metal clay
courses. These 4-6 hour
courses cover the major metal clay working techniques. Certification is not required for
these classes.
Core Courses
CLAYMT4001:
Getting Started With Metal Clay - Slab Pendant
CLAYMT4002:
Surface Embellishments: Pendant and Earrings
Electives
CLAYMT4005:
Coils and Logs
CLAYMT4006:
Hollow Forms
CLAYMT4007:
Turning Textiles and Natural Materials Into Silver -- Almost the Midas
Touch
CLAYMT4008:
Making and Using Molds with PMC+
CLAYMT4106:
Beads
CLAYMT4107:
Rings
