An exciting new product that has just appeared on the market is glass clay. The  clay is used in a similiar way to pure metal clay and is fired in a kiln at high temperature.

For those not familiar with pure metal clay the following may be useful: There are various types of metal clay; silver, bronze and copper being the most popular. Of the three the most widely used is pure silver clay otherwise known as pmc or silver art clay. The clay is a mixture of organic binders and particles of pure silver. In it’s raw state the clay can be worked, sculpted and shaped . It is then dried and can be filed and shaped further,  making almost any shape or form possible. When the piece is fired in a kiln at high temperature it “sinters” i.e. the binders burn away and the particles of silver fuse together to form a solid piece of silver. The fired piece can then be sanded and polished to achieve a dull matt or shiny gloss finish.

The pendant above was made using art clay silver and dichroic glass. Several pieces of dichroic glass were fused together in the kiln and then the pendant was shaped from the silver clay. Once I was happy with the shape of the pendant the dichroic glass was placed on the pendant and silver clay was syringed around the glass to hold it in place and form a setting. The pendant was fired in the kiln ,the pure silver particles fused and the resulting 99.9% silver pendant was  formed. One of the exciting things about working with art clay is that I never really know how a piece is going to turn out when I first start working with it, I go with the flow and see where it all leads. The introduction of glass clay makes the possibilities even greater. I have ordered my first batch and cannot wait to start working with it, I will keep you posted.