PMC Silver Clay & The LOVE of Diana Frey Continues!

There are times that God intervenes & puts you in the right place at the right time. And that happened when I met Diana Frey March 2009. I had been through a rough time & I needed some new friends & a hobby that I could sink myself into. I had just started looking at Blogs (& had started mine) a few months before. And I saw this…

It was LOVE at first site! I had never done jewelry design before. I HAD DONE SOLDERING… I had taken (& since have taught) soldering. So that little charm with the music note (in the necklace above)… NO PROBLEM! But, the rest of it… Virgin Territory. I signed up for Diana’s class, bought an airline ticket, rented a car, talked a friend into joining me & we were off on our adventure (go HERE to see that trip).

I made mine (above) & have been a Diana Frey Fan ever since(Note: Sandy is obsessed & NOW MUST HAVE ONE TOO). I have been blessed to have taken MANY classes with Diana since. And BEST OF ALL to be blessed with having her as my FRIEND & MENTOR! She then introduced me to my precious friend Diane Cook here in Texas because she said we needed Art Sisters closer than California to tie us over between visits… Since that time Diane & I have become so very close & do a lot of things together (although we do live 5 hours apart) in Texas. Diana also introduced me to Riki who lives near Diana. Riki has become a dear friend too (she came down to go to Round Top with us). And precious Susan Hunt who took care of me in that very first class in 2009. Oh my California sisters of the soul how I LONG to be closer.

So when Diana (Ms Cutie herself in photo above) offered a PMC Silver Clay Class in her studio… Sandy & I were all over it! The plans began to come together. On August 27/28 we had the privilege to spend 2 days in the wonder of it all.

The tray above FILLED with the beauty of her work…

Pieces like the Copper Tube Bead (above) that she created in a class she had taken… And the bird house that reads “BLISS” Oh yes, it is BLISS to be around the talent of this magical soul.

This heart from another class where she worked all day on this one piece (it is hollow on the inside). Front Above.

And the Back also COVERED IN SILVER APPLIQUED PMC CLAY PIECES. STUNNING!!!!!

So the students (there were 8 lucky girls – Back row right is Susan, next to her is Sandy & I’m the tall one in the back) came to The Master to learn…

The bezel (right)created with the silver from the syringe & resin poured to fill & protect the image… You might think “oh that’s easy” NOT!!!! The box made with individual flowers that had been molded & then applied…

And this piece… THE MASSIVE AMOUNT OF WORK that went into this. Each piece molded & applied.

The whole process is… you take a piece of clay (tiny VERY expensive package) & you roll it out or put it into molds & carefully work with it until it has dried, been sanded (in a fragile green ware state), fired, cleaned, hardened, & polished. It is then ready to hang your crystal bead below it & your post above it to create a pair of earrings that you will be proud to say “I MADE THIS”. Or for the pair on the left (that I did) set a stone in before it is fired.

Which ended up looking like this (I don’t know if these are mine or Sandy’s as we both did a pair).

There’s never a minute she doesn’t look like a million bucks! Here’s Diana taking a bunch of our goodies out of the kiln. Oh yeah… ANOTHER TOOL NEEDED!!!!! And baby, that’s a BIG ONE (price wise). The PMC Clay is made of ground silver, a binder, & water. Once made into the piece & fired it comes out to be 99% silver.

Is your heart beating a little faster now? While looking at that bracelet above? I have begged Diana to teach this bracelet class again. Sandy & I want to do it & know that Cindy Craine & Charlotte Perez NEED this class too. Diana, that’s half a class already full… GIRLFRIEND DO YA HEAR ME NOW???? Hee Hee!

And this is a ring (left) made by an artist Diana & I met at Adorn Me. I LOVE IT & NEED ONE! Diana please send me her info. And the piece on the right is one that was on the tray as an example & for some reason it calls to me. Now, let’s look at a few of my pieces that I made.

A bracelet focal point.

A beautiful bird soaring with wide spread wings.

Some small pieces on the left that will be used on other things & on the right a piece for a necklace “Let Your Heart Take Flight”.

Another pair of earrings. And below, is Sandy’s AMAZING piece. It is large & made to go on a necklace. Each thing you see is an individual piece that has been layered onto that base piece. Instead of making a lot of small components, she made one MAJOR FOCAL PIECE! GOOD JOB!

And then below is my friend Susan’s pieces for the bracelet she is going to make. This was her second class with Diana & gives me much hope that I too will be able to master this with some more practice. Susan, I can’t wait to see this finished & envy you being able to get together with Diana to play since you live so close. Although after all the tedious cutting out & stone setting on these pieces she assured me she would NOT be playing with PMC Clay any time soon.

I hope you enjoyed seeing the things from the class. I had such a great time being there. I am off again for another class this weekend with Diane Cook. Hubby is pouting about being left home again but, it’s a quick trip to Austin & back. Pray that the wild fires have been controlled & we have a safe trip back… Next week I’ll do a post about Diana’s studio & some of the treasures to be found in there. Also, I hope to have some photos of the class with Diane. Have a great weekend.

HUGS! Charlene