UV Resin

Have you heard of UV resin? It really is the latest thing to hit the metal clay world. I first got a chance to try it back in April when I took my advanced class in Japan, and I loved it!

The ring here has a little cup at the top, textured with dots, which I filled with resin colourants. After curing them I then filled the entire cup with crystal clear resin which is slightly domed on the surface. It looks gorgeous - like a crisp clear pond with little gems at the bottom. The entire resin part took all of maybe 20 minutes to complete - that includes getting the bottles out and choosing colours!

I've now, after a lot of research and testing, added a fabulous range of UV resin products to the shop (will be available online shortly), and I'll also be holding a one-day course in working with it.

The UV resin is different from normal resin in that it doesn't smell, doesn't need to mixed to exact quantitites (it doesn't need mixing at all unless you want colours!), and, it cures in minutes rather then hours!

Just like normal resin you can trap things in it. I have so many ideas including stones, dried flowers, feathers, special photos, ticket stubs, crystals, shells and sand..... I just need another week in the studio to play!

The nice thing with this UV resin is that it cures rock hard - there is no sticky surface to it. It comes out completely smooth and shiny. And it can be filed to shape, sanded and highly polished.

I'm doing a demonstration of UV resin at the Art Clay World UK Conference on the 15th September - it'll be fun to share this new technique with other metal clay fans - or should that be fanatics?

Metal Clay World Conference

What a fantastic event this was! It was so nice to meet up with people I have "known" for years, but only through online groups, books, and articles in jewellery making magazines. I learnt so much from this event, and I've come back full of ideas after all the inspirational seminars and workshop I attended. Not forgetting all the amazing jewellery that was on display!



Here is a wonderful pendant which I made in a two-day class with Gordon Uyehara and Louise Duhamel. It was a fabulous class - I loved every minute of it. Gordon and Louise were great, and generously shared their knowledge with us.

The piece is just over 60mm wide and 45mm high. I altered the design slightly; it was supposed to be a pin/pendant, but knowing I'd never wear it as a pin, I removed it.

There should also have been a little heart at the end of the curved pistil (above the stone), but my heart looked a little bit too twee. Also, the little decorative balls on the piece are much lager than they should have been - I only realised this after finishing the piece.



It is a beautiful piece, designed by Gordon - if you haven't seen his site yet you must have a look: http://www.honudream.com/

Introductory Class

Some very focused and busy students, working away on their masterpieces. This is from the Introduction to Art Clay Class on the 1st July.

They all made some lovely pieces, and everyone had a go at setting stones, and using the syringe.

We had a lamp worker (someone who makes glass beads, from rods of glass, melted around a steel mandrel using a torch) in the class. She had brought a bag of some of her beads, and they were gorgeous - really beautiful. She made some simple bead caps in silver during the class - I look forward to seeing them used with her beads.

We also had Rachael visiting from craft&design magazine - the new-look bi-monthly magazine, which has developed from Craftsman Magazine. I've been a faithful subscriber of Craftsman, but I must say that this new version gets top marks from me. It's a really nice magazine for all makers, artists, and collectors - anyone interested or involved in contemporary UK craft and design. And, every magazine has a seriously substantial events listing, with loads of crafts fairs listed.

Petra