The rings featured in this post are the 4th ones in the book, Creating Metal Clay Rings: Designs Inspired by Nature by Irina Meich. Ring 3 is based on a twig, but I need to find a twig and make a mold for that one, so I did this one first. I can’t remember what this ring is called in the book and my book is temporarily misplaced, so I am calling them infinity rings. Meich calls for a device called a ring maker to make these round, slightly rounded rings, but I am not in the market to pay over $50.00 for a device that only makes one size ring. You need accessories, it seems, to make different widths, and a whole new device to make other sizes. I made my round rings by rolling a thin snake and wrapping it around the mandrel. Where the clay meets for the seam, is slightly flattened on these rings, but it is the back of the ring. It makes sense for it to be flatter there. 
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The second project in Creating Metal Clay Rings: Designs Inspired by Nature by Irina Meich, is created from a leaf imprint in the clay. For my ring, I used a set of small leaves from greenery including in an arrangement of purchased flowers. When I cut the slice for my band, I used the center part of this impression, and a small bit of the leaves imprinted. I chose to embellish my ring with a small (3mm) man made garnet for a touch of color. I am pleased with this one!  Wrapped Leaf Ring The first ring from Irina Meich’s Metal Clay Rings: Jewelry Inspired by Nature is called River Stones. I wrote about my experience making this ring in a previous entry. It is a great exercise in controlling the use of syringe clay. Ring numero uno in Meich’s book (see last entry) is air drying now, and will be ready to fire tomorrow. The kiln is busy tonight with some clasps for two copper bracelets that didn’t come out the first time. So… would have been easier had I worked with a purchased ring ‘blank’ as called for in the book. A blank is a band that is already manufactured. I have made ring bands before, so I hand made my band. The hardest part of this ring was controlling the syringe so that the squiggles didn’t just look like a big mess. Woah baby! If you haven’t practiced with controlling the syringe clay, you may want to. I wiped it off twice - third times the charm they say, so I just left it. First pass – tried to just do free form … no pattern. Looked bad. Then I did across the ring. Looked bad. Then I did, as the example used, length wise lines … better. Maybe I was just better at controlling the line by now. I took a palette knife and cleaned all the syringe clay off the surface of the ring twice, which is hard to do on an unfired band, as the wet clay adheres and essentially melds into becoming part of the band. It would be much easier to wipe off it you use a ring blank, or fire your band before you add the squiggles. It’s not like I’ve never used the syringe clay before, either. Just a heads up. Firing the pieces and pictures posted soon!
Now I’ve got it! I just got a new book by Irina Meich, Metal Clay Rings: Jewelry Inspired by Nature. It looks extremely promising and I really like her ring ideas. Her new book features 18 rings, beginning easy and progressively adding difficulty and new techniques. My plan is to work through each technique, adapting it to make at least one ring- more if they style is appealing or has other avenues to naturally explore. |
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I like to have a challenge or a goal to help me get and stay motivated, as well to spur me onto learning new techniques. So far, the few I’ve thought of recently have been unrealistic – like make a pair of earrings a day. Right. That would last … um …. one day? Maybe a week or two?