Workshops

Precious Metal Clay Workshops

A note about my workshops: All are welcome! Come play! Most of my classes, with a couple of exceptions, are geared toward a mix of beginners and intermediate students. Contact me if you're not sure whether you're ready for a particular workshop, but I'll probably give you a pep talk and say, "Come on board!" – Donna

P.S. I live in Pittsburgh. If you don't, have no fear. I'm happy to travel to your location. Get a group of folks together, and let's make jewelry!

January 9-10, 2010, "Setting Stones in PMC"
Saturday & Sunday, 9:30 a.m. - 4:30 p.m.
$95, plus $60 materials
Weavers' Guild of Rochester Weaving and Fiber Arts Center (Rochester, NY), www.weaversguildofrochester.org, (585) 461-1770
____Some gemstones can be fired in place in silver PMC, but what about those that can’t survive the kiln? Learn how to set flat-backed stones, polymer clay or glass cabochons, and other found objects after firing.

January 18, 2010, "PMC for the Classroom"
Monday, 9:00 a.m. - 4:00 p.m.
$150 price includes materials and lunch
Society for Contemporary Craft (Pittsburgh, PA), www.contemporarycraft.org, (412) 261-7003
_____This workshop gives hands-on experience with a variety of PMC materials and covers how to fire pieces with a small crème brulee torch. Teachers will love the terrific tips on how to transform original images into raised designs on clay, so that PMC can become part of any school curriculum.

January 24, 2010, "Hollow Shield PMC Pendant"
Sunday, 12:00-5:00 p.m.
$55, plus $55 materials
Crystal Bead Bazaar, (Pittsburgh, PA), www.crystalbeadbazaar.com, (412) 687-1513 ____This lovely project teaches how to build a pure silver PMC hollow form using removable armatures. Also covered will be great ideas for decorating with rolled metal clay snakes. Beginners welcome!

February 3 & 10, "PMC for Beginners"
2 Wednesdays. 6:30-9:30 p.m.
$60 members/$75 non-members (less 10% with early registration), plus $55 materials fee
Sweetwater Center for the Arts (Sewickley, PA), www.sweetwaterartcenter.org, (412) 741-4405
____Sample a few techniques in this easy, low-pressure beginners' class. Students will create a simple but lovely bypass ring and small charms, pendants, or earrings—as many pieces as time allows.

February 11, 2010, "Try It! Precious Metal Clay Charms" SOLD OUT -- New Session Added 2/18
Thursday, 6:00-9:00 p.m.
$40 price includes materials
Society for Contemporary Craft (Pittsburgh, PA), www.contemporarycraft.org, (412) 261-7003
_____This will be an ultra-simple beginners' class—low-pressure, low-cost, and just plain fun!

February 18, 2010, "Try It! Precious Metal Clay Charms"
Thursday, 6:00-9:00 p.m.
$40 price includes materials
Society for Contemporary Craft (Pittsburgh, PA), www.contemporarycraft.org, (412) 261-7003
_____This will be an ultra-simple beginners' class—low-pressure, low-cost, and just plain fun!

February 21, 2010, "Focal Point PMC Toggle Clasp"
Sunday, 12:00-5:00 p.m.
$55, plus $40 materials
Crystal Bead Bazaar, (Pittsburgh, PA), www.crystalbeadbazaar.com, (412) 687-1513 ____Beaders and other jewelry makers, here’s your chance to make a shining, pure silver PMC toggle clasp that also doubles as a beautiful pendant, meant to be worn as the focal point of your handmade creation.

March 6, 2010, "Playful PMC Rings"
Saturday, 9:00 a.m. - 4:30 p.m.
$90, plus $60 materials
Society for Contemporary Craft (Pittsburgh, PA), www.contemporarycraft.org, (412) 261-7003
_____Spend the day making ultra-simple bypass rings, fired flat and bent afterward, or explore ways of joining seams in moist clay and controlling shrinkage for accurate sizes. Other demos will include achieving the look of granulation, using PMC syringe, and setting CZs in place before firing.

March 13, 2010, "Water-Etched PMC Whistles "
Saturday, 9:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m.
$100, plus $50 materials
Society for Contemporary Craft (Pittsburgh, PA), www.contemporarycraft.org, (412) 261-7003
_____FIRST TIME OFFERED IN PITTSBURGH! DON'T MISS THIS OPPORTUNITY! Making a whistle in pure silver PMC is easier than it looks when the instructor is known around the world as the Whistle Lady! Students will discover what makes a whistle work, gain expert troubleshooting tips, and make a tube-shaped whistle pendant with a sweet-sounding note. To decorate, students will try the fun and easy water-etching technique, resulting in a unique, raised design on the silver.

March 21, 2010, "PMC Earrings with Tube-Set CZs"
Sunday, 12:00-5:00 p.m.
$55, plus $40 materials
Crystal Bead Bazaar, (Pittsburgh, PA), www.crystalbeadbazaar.com, (412) 687-1513 ____Learn how easy it is to make tubes from pure silver PMC, then set colorful, dazzling cubic zirconia in the ends, to be fired right in place in the metal clay. Leave them as-is for tiny charms, or incorporate them as the focal points of slightly larger fine silver earrings. Great beginner project!

April 6 & 7, 2010, "PMC Keepsake Pendant"
Tuesday & Wednesday, 9:30 a.m. - 4:30 p.m.
$95, plus $60 materials
Weavers' Guild of Rochester Weaving and Fiber Arts Center (Rochester, NY), www.weaversguildofrochester.org, (585) 461-1770
____One of the great tools possible for use with PMC is borrowed from the printing industry: light-sensitive photopolymer plates (PPPs). Through the use of their own black-and-white images (or those provided in class) and a simple UV-light setup, students will make texture plates similar in concept to rubber stamps, then use them to create a pure silver box pendant with personal imagery and messages contained within.

April 11 & 13, 2010, "Beaded PMC Worry Ring"
Sunday 12:00-5:00 p.m., and Tuesday 6:00-8:00 p.m.
$80, plus $40 materials
Crystal Bead Bazaar, (Pittsburgh, PA), www.crystalbeadbazaar.com, (412) 687-1513 ____Back by popular demand! Make an amazing silver ring with a band of beads that turn round and round the shank. Learn how to create an accurately sized PMC ring, then embellish it after firing with a band of woven seed beads. Bring or purchase size 11 Delica seed beads for the second session. Some PMC experience helpful, but beginners welcome.

May 21-23, 2010, "Hollow Forms in PMC"
Friday 7:00-9:00 p.m., and Saturday & Sunday 9:00 a.m. - 4:00 p.m.
$215, plus approx. $95 materials
Touchstone Center for Crafts (Farmington, PA), www.touchstonecrafts.org, (800) 721-0177
____Treat yourself to a weekend wooded retreat in the Laurel Highlands! Learn to make pure silver jewelry by building PMC walls and components and pasting them together, utilizing a variety of removable armatures to explore shape and volume. Try cylinders, 2-sided lentils, 4-sided pillows, 5-sided triangle pendants, or free-form shapes. Make beads, pendants, earrings, or even a small tabletop box. Beginners welcome!

June 6-13, 2010, I'm teaching 6 different PMC workshops in Milwaukee:
"PMC and BRONZclay Pendant" (Sunday & Monday, 9:00 a.m. - 5:30 p.m.)
"PMC Leaf Earrings with Pearls" (Tuesday, 9:00 a.m. - 5:30 p.m.)
"Hollow-Form PMC Pendant" (Wednesday, 8:00 a.m. - 3:00 p.m.)
"Pennies from Heaven PMC Earrings" (Wednesday, 4:00-7:00 p.m.)
"PMC Swing Earrings" (Thursday, 8:00 a.m. - 3:00 p.m.)
"PMC Charm Whistles" (Friday, 8:00 a.m. - 3:00 p.m.)
Bead & Button Show (Milwaukee, WI), www.beadandbuttonshow.com
____Sometime you owe it to yourself to attend this amazing retail show, the largest consumer bead show in the world, with a huge shopping floor and hundreds of classes on offer. If you're thinking about going this year, sign up for classes soon. Two of my six workshops have sold out already! Contact me if you'd like new sessions to open up. I'm also stiltwalking at the Bead Social auction night, as Loreen the Rodeo Queen. : )

June 27, 2010, "PMC Earring Fest"
Sunday, 9:00 a.m. - 4:30 p.m.
Society for Contemporary Craft (Pittsburgh, PA), www.contemporarycraft.org, (412) 261-7003
_____Get ready for a cornucopia of ideas for making pure silver PMC earrings. Try making pieces flat, then bending them after firing; creating earrings swingy, blingy, or curly; setting gems; attaching earposts with solder and a creme brulee torch; making your own creative earwires; and more! Work at your own pace to make as many things as you can in one day. Come play! No experience necessary.

July 29 - August 1, 2010
PMC Conference (Purdue University, W. Lafayette, IN), www.pmc-conference.com
____Every two years, the PMC Guild hosts an international conference that brings the metal clay community together for four days of education, inspiration, and sharing. In 2008, I presented my whistle-making techniques to the world of metal clay. This year, I will be teaming up with extraordinary jewelry artist and teacher Robert Dancik to offer various live demos.

August 9-13, 2010, "Mix It Up: PMC & Mixed Metals"
Monday-Friday, 9:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m.
$375, plus materials starting at $150
Society for Contemporary Craft (Pittsburgh, PA), www.contemporarycraft.org, (412) 261-7003
____In this exploratory workshop, students will be exposed to a variety of ways that fine silver PMC can be joined with other metals in order to make interesting jewelry. Emphasis will be placed on materials to be fired in place. Projects may include adding PMC surface decoration to a sterling silver cuff bracelet or ring; embedding wire, nuts, and bolts for imaginative connections; inlaying brass wire as a design element; incorporating wire mesh; and other exciting possibilities. Beginning students welcome!

August 29-September 4, 2010, "Holding Dear and Breaking Free: Dynamic Hollow Forms in PMC"
Haystack Mountain School of Crafts (Deer Isle, ME), www.haystack-mtn.org, (207) 348-2306
_____Containers—treasure chests, nests, cages, ancient urns, secret decoder rings—intrigue us with their mysterious spaces and the precious objects they protect or restrain. Working at their own pace, students will begin to develop their own themes and narratives, using the idea of the miniature container as a jumping-off point. Students will learn to make successful, jewelry-sized structures in PMC and will be exposed to innovative ways of creating imagery in clay. Demonstrations will range from organic, draped forms to systematically constructed frames and boxes, as well as the teacher’s specialty: sculptural, wearable whistles.

September 17-19, 2010, "PMC Nature Jewelry"
Friday 7:00-9:00 p.m., and Saturday & Sunday 9:00 a.m. - 4:00 p.m.
$215, plus approx. $95 materials
Touchstone Center for Crafts (Farmington, PA), www.touchstonecrafts.org, (800) 721-0177
____Treat yourself to a weekend wooded retreat in the Laurel Highlands! Metal clay is wonderful for reproducing natural objects in fine silver, capturing the subtlest of details beautifully. I will present various approaches, including covering leaves, flowers, or pods with PMC paste; taking molds of natural objects such as stones, acorns, twigs, and flowers; and impressing PMC clay directly with leaves, etc., to create a base for beautiful jewelry.