This workshop meets Saturday, August 26, 2023, 9:00 am - 5:00 pm with a lunch break
 
Granulation is an ancient metalsmithing technique that has traditionally been done in pure metals, like fine gold or fine silver as the little pieces are fused to the base to create a solid metal piece. It requires some odd materials, such as hide glue and a LOT of patience. Metal Clay has revolutionized the metalsmithing community, and ancient techniques lend themselves to metal clay’s ability to reduce the number of tools needed and simplify processes. In this class you’ll learn how to make gorgeous granulated pieces with an incredibly small number of tools and no special equipment or chemicals. We will look at several granulation traditions to give you lots of inspiration for creating your pieces (and of course, you can always create your own style!) We will talk about the use of embedded jump rings and plain wire, how the size of the granules, as well as the density, affects the shape of the finished pieces and how to incorporate this technique with other metal clay techniques successfully.
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Please bring 10 or more grams of your preferred low shrinkage fine silver metal clay in order to make at least 1 pendant. Most people complete two or more pieces in class. This technique lends itself to making charms, bead caps, small pendants, and earrings.
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A kit fee of $45 will be collected by the instructor during the workshop and includes a selection of fine silver wires in gauges 26-20, an assortment of fine silver jump rings for embedding, a soft charcoal block, fine tip tweezers, and solder snipping pliers.
 
This workshop is part of the Metal Clay Artists Symposium and requires the purchase of the General Registration.