Master Muse Challenge #24 – Vickie Hallmark

Vickie shares with us a quick synopsis of the steps she takes to create her Silver Metal Clay and Enameled Glass Box. This is the third challenge for the group of 5 Masters. The first team has tackled Metal Clay Clasps, Torch Fired Enamels and Metal Clay and now Boxes with Metal Clay Components. This tutorial is a primer for Master’s Registry C2 Project.

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!

Vickie says “Since my two favorite materials are glass and metal, it was an obvious combination for me to choose to create a glass box to coordinate with a metal clay lid. As most metal clay artists do not work with glass, I tried to keep the glass work simple but interesting. Your local glass shop can easily cut and grind the glass pieces to the desired shape and size, if you prefer to skip that step. The glass is decorated with hand-applied vitreous enamel, made permanent by firing in the same kiln used for metal clay. Then the tiles are glued together with a special glass glue to complete the box, including silver feet.”

If you are interested in the full step-by-step tutorial please stay tuned. It will be available at Whole Lotta Whimsy. They will be in a handy bench format too! This tutorial looks like it will be over 50 pictures with tons of detail in this #24 Tutorial!

In this tutorial you will learn:

• How to make a glass box (cutting the glass and assembling the glass)
• How to paint glass with enamels
• How to sculpt components
• How to use the Makins Professional Ultimate Extruder to create feet, lip wraps, and edges
• How to carve into clay to make texture
• How to polish and patina

Make the Bird Handle for the Box Lid:

Pinch off a small piece of silver metal clay and through a series of specific pinches (as guided by Vickie) taper the ball into a bird form. Repeat with the wings. Attach and sculpt with needle tool. Insert a piece of wire into the bird to allow for attachment later to the box.

To Build the Roof Lid or Box Top:

Next roll out your textured clay and cut into the four sides of the roof lid using a tissue blade.  In the full tutorial, Vickie shows you how to assess the degree pitch to draw out and cut your templates to the perfect slope for the roof of the box.

Carefully align the roof sides and join them together.

Extrude 4 snakes of clay with the Makins Ultimate Professional Stainless Clay Extruder. You will use these to cover the ridge lines of the roof lid.

Extrude 4 more snakes to make a lip around the outside of the roof lid as well. Attach the sculpted bird. Go around to all attachments adding more clay and smoothing out all attachments with a #0 Clay Shaper.

Extrude 4 more snakes and add inner lip to the roof lid. Vickie has also added her logo or hallmark to the lid. This was made with photopolymer plates (PPP) from her original drawing.

Making the Ball Feet:

Using the hexagonal die discs, extrude the clay and cut into even lengths as specified in the tutorial. Roll into balls and flatten slightly. Ball up wire and insert into the clay feet.

Firing and Finishing:

Fire in a bowl of vermiculite at 1650°F for 2 hours. The feet are also in the same firing on a Hard Fiber Shelf. Polish and patina in Liver of Sulphur (all finishing steps are included in detail in the full tutorial).

Forming the Glass Box:

Vickie shares with you the steps for cutting the glass, the size, etc. However, she also recommends that if you are not comfortable with cutting your own glass, you can seek out your local stained glass shop to cut them for you with the specifics she provides. Mix up Tracing Black #1 enamel and Clove Oil on a piece of parchment or freezer paper. Using the Crow Detail Pen, paint your details. Vickie has provided the drawings which can be traced onto the glass. Fire the enamel onto the glass.

Assemble the Glass Box:

Using Vickie’s multiple tips for bracing the glass, support the sides and glue together. Add feet using the glue as well.

This vessel is a special and unique spot to keep a daily blessing or intention.  As it happens, I would love to recommend the book I just picked up by Julia Cameron, “Blessings”.  Printed on scrolls, those blessings would be perfect for this wonderful box.  Make it your daily mediation box.  Or how about a box to keep a special ring or your children’s teeth.  Oh, so many possiblities!

I loved how Vickie could put all her favorite mediums into one piece.  Her genius work soars in this exquisite piece.  She later wrote me and told me that she envisioned the box as a place to keep her special inspirational mementos “one that will help with soaring on my own wings.”  

We’d love to see you take the challenge and make this or a similar piece as well. 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 a Makins Ultimate Clay Extruder this month. 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!

Bridging many medias, Vickie Hallmark pursues her artistic muses in whichever direction calls: metal, glass or fiber. This cross-pollination of different ideas, coupled with her experimental nature as a research scientist, leads Hallmark to combine materials in novel ways. Metal over glass is a particular fascination, be it electroformed copper over lamp worked beads or silver clay formed around enameled-painted tiles.Over the last decade, Hallmark’s work has been exhibited in prestigious juried fine craft shows, including Craft Forms, Crafts National, and Materials: Hard & Soft. Chosen as a Glasscraft Emerging Artist in 2007, images of her beads have appeared in The Flow, The Glass Bead, and Bead Release 3, an annual compendium of the year’s best beads. Metal Clay Artist and Metal Clay Today have showcased her metal clay jewelry. The best of Hallmark’s creations are preserved in both private and museum collections.

Check out Vickie’s work at www.VickieHallmark.com. You can purchase her beads and work online!

Photo credit: final piece Drew Davidson; step-by-step Vickie Hallmark