Caterpillar on my Desk

Caterpillar brings back memories to me.

Both the sweet and not so sweet :) When I was small, a caterpillar fell from a tree and landed on my arm before swiftly continuing its journey to the ground. Although the caterpillar dropped over for merely a second, it was the hairy one, so, well, if you’re familiar with it then you know it’s not a good thing. However, then, one of my favorite plush toys came in the form of a caterpillar, really fun and colorful. Along with it was a whole drama which made it even more special, but I save the story for later. The jewelry I made here in a way reminds me of the plush toy.

My Caterpillar brooch is fine silver, made out of Art Clay Silver and silver wire 999. The piece consists of nine oval dome-shaped elements which each has a different texture. I used ready made textures as well as my own. The silver wire was torch-fired to create the ball-shaped end for the ‘antenna’, and I used an embeddable finding for the brooch pin. The forming process of the caterpillar started as a bit of trial and error, but I’m happy with the result, already thinking of making other variations and versions.

To accompany the brooch, I made a pair of earrings. What would be better for a hungry caterpillar than some yummy leaves? Here, the textures came from a mold that I made using real leaves.

“Patternpillar”: my patternful caterpillar :)

The leaves molds I made are staple in my tool kits. I use them to make these earrings from silver and, mostly, bronze clay.

Bronze leaves earrings

I’ve also been making a new jewelry tutorial.

It’s been quite productive days at the studio. I made a silver brooch with stone cabochon that is set with a ready made bezel cup. A big part focuses on how to use the pre-made brooch findings, but I also will show how to make the textures as in the picture. After taking the photographs, I’m currently compiling all the materials together. As you might have known, I make and share free tutorials on a regular basis. Most of them are in Finnish, but if I have any tutorial in English, then I share it on this website. Feel free to subscribe to my newsletter where I’ll notify any studio updates.

“Sunset Sky” brooch

Earlier this week Art Clay has just announced the Silver Accessories Contest (SAC) 2017.

The theme for this year is ‘Power’ or free theme.

“Power” – Cool theme!

I find a contest is always a great opportunity to challenge myself, developing and creating something that I probably wouldn’t do outside the defined time limit. Not to mention SAC is an amazing contest that is all about celebrating the magical world of metal clay and appreciation for the metal clay artists.

There’s something new this year! Beside Ring, Accessories, New Mokume-Gane & Framed Work, there’s a now also a new category: Silver Quilling! I have taught several Silver Quilling certification classes in Finland as well as in Italy, and this is an exciting opportunity for all silver quillers. I enjoy looking at others’ work and look forward to seeing pieces in this category!

As usual, entries for SAC will be submitted through the local Art Clay representative in each country. The practical details might therefore vary, but the deadline will be sometime in May. If you’re a metal clay artist who’s interested in participating, you can contact your local Art Clay representative, and I’m pretty sure the detailed info will be announced soon.

Hope you enjoy this post!

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