Scholarship Voting

The course is METAL CLAY I: FUNDAMENTAL TECHNIQUES at William Holland School of Lapidary Arts.

Course description:

In this class you will use fine silver metal clay to complete at least four projects of increasing complexity, as you learn new skills. Metal Clay is microscopically ground metal combined with water and an organic binder to hold it together. It is malleable, like typical clay, but once it is fired it becomes solid metal which can be hammered, soldered, and worked like traditional metal. You will start out learning the basics of how to work with the material – rolling, texturing, cutting, and forming it into jewelry items such as pendants, earrings, beads, and rings. Fine silver metal clay comes in a variety of forms – lump, syringe, paper, and slip or paste – and you will incorporate them as appropriate into your designs. There will be materials available for you to make your own personal mold. Lab fee covers materials to make the first four projects including molding compound to make several small molds, a consumables kit, and the use of the instructor’s tool kits.

Date & Cost:

Date: 10/5/2025-10/10/2025

Commuter - $275 (Tuition, Sunday dinner and all lunches) + Class Fee: $155 = $430 total for scholarship. There is an estimate for materials fee of $200. I believe that is if I want to purchase extra material or tools. I will pay for those myself.

What you expect to learn and/or how it will help you in your clay work:

Metal clay can be added to ceramic pieces through a specific process. While that process will not be covered in this class, once I learn the basic fundamentals (it's a refresher course since many things have changed since I last learned about metal clay about 20 years ago) I should be able to bridge the gap after I have a better understanding of the new clay(s) and their firing processes.

I will share the process and techniques I learn with the membership at our 2026 Member Workshop. I have a small kiln for firing that I will bring and members should be able to make silver pieces at the workshop.