Students are so creative!

As some of you know I am a certified PMC instructor. Last weekend I taught a PMC (Precious Metal Clay) workshop. The women in the workshop had no prior experience in working with PMC. They learned the basics of how the material works and they each got to use a package of PMC to make whatever they wanted. Below are images of their pieces. What a great job they did!

in the kiln

all polished and pretty!

New Jewelry Making Workshops

Sabina's "girls night out" was such a hit with all the women that participated that I thought others might enjoy it too. That's how I came up with the new "Memories of Summer" workshop that I added to my 2009 workshop schedule. Not only can sea glass, river rocks or sea shells be used for this project, but any found object from a summer vacation can be turned into a piece of jewelry!

samples of sea glass jewelry that can be made in the new workshop

I also added a few new PMC workshops. PMC (or Precious Metal Clay) is a clay like material made of silver particles, water and a binder that holds everything together. It works like clay until it is fired in a kiln. After firing, it then is worked like metal. During the firing process the binder burns away and you are left with a piece of fine silver. I have had a few requests for different kinds of PMC workshops so I am adding a PMC Rings and PMC Beads workshop to the schedule.

Some rings made from PMC

Hollow beads made from PMC

The other thing I thought would be fun is to teach a workshop that would be perfect for people who like to work with metal but might be a little intimidated by using a torch. This is how I came up with a cold connections workshop. Cold connections is a term used to describe any way of connecting metal without the use of fire. Rivets, nuts & bolts, jump rings, etc are all examples of cold connections. My small reversible heart necklace is a piece that I made and attached together using cold connections. It's also a way to add more detail and decoration to a piece. My friend (and previous student) Holly Priester from Blue Fish Moon Studio uses cold connections for a lot of her work. Below is one of her "Peace Key" necklaces. Check out her website to see more of her work. It's really great!

Peace Key necklace by Holly Priester of Blue Fish Moon Studio

Peace, Politics and PMC

Things have been really crazy around here... I taught a workshop on Saturday, had a show on Sunday and headed off to NC to visit my brother and his family on Monday! Nothing like a 9 hour drive after a weekend of traveling and working! I stayed for 5 days and had great time visiting my nephews.

So, as promised, here's a few pictures of the PMC workshop. The top photo is of a student pressing a pattern into the clay. And the photo below is the whole bunch working away at their projects! The students pieces have not been fired as of yet because I just got home yesterday but when they are I'll post images of them as well.

So now that I'm back from my mini vacation, the craziness has started all over again. This weekend coming up is the BMAC show (Buyers Market of American Craft) at the Philadelphia Convention Center. It's a wholesale show that takes place every 6 months and is open only to the trade. Since the last BMAC show I did (6 months ago) I decided it was time to redo my logo and since I was going to have a new logo I might as well have an entire new look for my wholesale and retail booths as well. Not the greatest idea during such a busy time of the year! Set up for the show is 4 days away and I have no flooring (which is mandatory), not enough lighting and I still have jewelry to make! EEEKK!

There is some good news in my stressed world though..... I had my "Broken Heart" necklace chosen to be in the "Peace & Politics" exhibit which runs from Aug 2-4th at the Phila Convention Center. The exhibit is open to the public so if you are in the Phila area stop by the convention center and check it out. It's an exhibit of American fine craft with a mission!

Hello and Welcome!

Hello and welcome to my new blog page! My name is Michele Grady and I am a self taught jewelry artist/silversmith. I started beading when I was young and have been making metal jewelry since I was a teenager. I create jewelry from sterling silver and then set it with semi precious stones or freshwater pearls. I sometimes also add copper, brass, gold, beads (and whatever else I might find) to my work. I now sell my work through my own website www.michelegrady.com as well as at art festivals and through galleries accross the country. I also teach classes and workshops in silversmithing, wire working and PMC.

Speaking of which, I am gettting ready to teach a workshop in PMC this Saturday, July 19. PMC, or Precious Metal Clay, is a material that works like clay until it is fired in a kiln. Once fired it becomes silver and then can be worked like metal. It's a fun material to work with and people get very creative with it. I will post some pictures of my students and their work here as soon as I can. (You can find out more and see a sample of a piece made with PMC here).

I also had some exciting news yesterday. An online interview with me was posted on www.chicgalleria.com (You can check it out by clicking the link). I am now a "chic thing for women" according to them! :)

Well, thanks for taking the time to check out my new blog. I plan on posting here at least once or twice a week so check back and see what's new!