Angela Baduel-Crispin – Master Muse Challenge #15

 Angela shares with us a quick synopsis of the steps she takes to create her Art Clay Copper and PMC Pendant/Brooch. We hope the tutorial will serve to inspire you to create! No matter if you just get out your sketch book and draw a similar project based on these challenges. It’s a place to start. It’s a way to start off your day in the right frame of mind with a creative exercise!

Angela found this great design in her sketch book from 5 years ago. So you don’t always have to reinvent the wheel. Keep your sketchbooks handy and remember that you can reuse/recycle/reinvent these designs that now inspires you!

If you are interested in the full step-by-step tutorial please stay tuned. It will be available in July atWhole Lotta Whimsy. They will be in a handy bench format too! This tutorial looks like it will be 90 pictures with tons of detail in this #15 Tutorial!

In this tutorial you will learn:

• How to make a polymer mold for a piece
• How to account for shrinkage and build templates
• How to combine both Art Clay Copper and PMC
• How to create an amazing pin back and bail so a piece can multifunction as a brooch and pendant!
• Learn how to create engineering inside the piece. The magic is in the supportive pieces.
• Learn to use the extruder.
• Learn how to get a heat patina and finish both metals.

Making the polymer base form:

Make a volume model of your design using scrap polymer clay. Place the polymer on a smooth surface such as piece of glass. Bake it following the instruction on the package. The temperature for polymer allows for the glass to go into the oven with no problem. Sand and refine the model if necessary.

Preparing the copper clay piece:

Roll out the Art Clay Copper Clay. Apply a small amount of lubricant or olive oil to the polymer shape. Carefully drape the copper clay over shape, cutting around the edges in sections.

Making the Templates:

Make several templates using the copper clay pieces as your template master. You’ll need one for the silver back plate. The second one will be for the silver support component and shrinkage measurement (see full tutorial for detailed steps).

Draw and drill the placement of the holes on the copper piece in this step. This is both an aesthetic choice and a mechanical one since the holes will also hold the copper and silver pieces together.

Roll out the PMC. Drape the clay on the inside of the copper piece. Cut off any excess with a craft knife at the border of the copper. Allow to dry in place and remove.

Place the copper piece onto fiber blanket, face down. Place the piece into a hot kiln (approx. 1112°F or before the kiln gets red inside) and fire to the manufacturer’s instructions. In the case of Art Clay Copper, fire at 1778°F for 30 minutes.

Remove oxidation from the piece (with Angela’s tricks in the tutorial). Next, apply Penny Brite with a moist sponge in order to clean the surface. With a Mini Fiber Polishing Wheel on a flex shaft, accentuate the taper at the lip of the copper piece. Burnish the piece thoroughly to close the pores and prepare the surface for a smooth, polished finish. Next, use graded polishing papers or silicone polishing tips on a flex shaft to complete the finish.

Preparing the silver clay backing:

Roll out the PMC with texture. Make sure to roll out enough silver clay to allow for the template size. Cut around the template. Allow to dry. Sand and refine.

Apply the dome to the PMC base and hold in place with pressure. Using a size 0 chiseled clay shaper, firmly spread the clay on both the domed piece and the base piece. Refine the inside joint with a fine and ultra fine grit sanding sponge. To texture the dome, sand using coarse sand paper (approx. 280 grit). Cross sand the dome’s surface. This will create tooth for the connection later to the copper component.

Making the pin and bail tubes:

For the first small bail tube, extrude a thin 1 cm long coil of PMC using the Professional Extruder with the round hole adapter disc that comes with the tool. Sand down one side of the tube flat on sanding-paper or a salon file. This will give more surface connection to the base later.

For the second tube bail, roll out a long slab of PMC and cut 2 parallel lines making a 1 cm wide strip of clay. Moisten the surface of the clay with a wet paintbrush. Wrap the clay around a thin, lightly oiled tube. Blend the joint with a clay shaper. Allow to dry. Sand the two ends flat. Sand flat one side, in the same way as the pin tube, in order to create as much of a flat surface as possible.

Making the pin catch:

Make a “V” shape with wire. Roll out the clay and cut the PMC around the template you’ve made for the catch. Wrap the clay around the “V”. Place it onto the back of the silver clay piece.

Placing the pin’s tube catch & bail:

Work on one piece at a time and attach the pin tube bail and catch. Wet both ends to be joined and allow the moisture to seep in slightly. Apply paste to the back of the tube or catch. Join together, pressing firmly. With the other hand remove excess paste with a brush or shaper. Allow to dry. Reinforce any tiny holes with syringe. Fire to 1650°F for 2 hours.

Scratch up the silver domed section and the area where the coil will attach on the front and back. This will help to create tooth to connect the copper clay piece to the support underneath.

Roll out small coils for clay and press into the holes from the back to create the faux rivets or embellishments.

Connect the copper top to the domed silver section with thick paste and on PMC shims if needed. Add the coil to create a secondary capture component. Fire again to1650°Ffor 10 minutes. Repeat Angela’s trick for removing the oxidation.

Now it’s time to heat treat the copper! Place the piece on a tripod and steel mesh. Set the torch for a reduced flame. Considering the piece is rather thick, begin by heating up the entire piece from underneath. Stop when the colors are pleasing. Allow to cool. Apply Wax Varnish (Renaissance Wax) to the entire surface with a soft cloth. Allow to dry. Rub the surface with a clean soft cloth for a nice shinny surface.

My son’s school has a great slogan, “make a new plan”. This applies to so many areas of our lives, including our art. When I create art, my pieces always tell me what they want to be. The final pieces are never as I plan them. There are detours and I make a new plan. This project is a great example. Angela had intended on enameling this piece. However, this is a large piece and a simple butane torch will not torch fire it. It’s too much of a heat sink. So she decided it should have a heat patina. I’m sure the enamel would have been beautiful, but I really love the simplicity of the heat treated copper instead. Don’t you?

We’d love to see you take the challenge as well to make this Copper Clay and PMC Pendant/Broach. Can’t wait to see your pieces. Send them and we’ll post pictures in a future Challenge Gallery. Challenge yourself!

Don’t forget to leave a comment. We are giving away an set of Ice Resin next. How to win? Leave a comment on every blog (even older posts) or get two entries for tweeting, putting it on Facebook, the Metal Clay Yahoo Gallery forum, your blog etc. Just send us a copy of the link to support@wholelottawhimsy.com! Let your friends know how to make their Wednesday’s rock…. with of course, the Master Muse Tutorial launch!

Angela Baduel-Crispin is a jewelry designer and maker living in the Northwestern coast of France where she teaches metal clay and makes her line of handmade, one-of-a-kind jewelry under the name “L’Ange Est Là”. Angela is passionate about her work and about sharing her knowledge. To this effect, Angela teaches metal clay under her own program, is the president of the Guilde PMC Francophone, is Instructor’s Teacher for Art Clay, France, and is a contributor to Metal Clay Artist Magazine. Angela’s work has been published in a number of respected books and magazines in the field within the United States and Europe. She is currently one of the 5 finalists in the Saul Bell 2010 Design Award, metal clay category.

Check out Angela’s work at www.LAngeEstLa.com. You can purchase her work online.

Photo credit: final piece Angela Baduel-Crispin; step-by-step Angela Baduel-Crispin