Handcut Sea Glass Button EARRINGS

An example of the technique we will be 

exploring at the June 11th Workshop

Blue Santa Beads, Media, PA.

 

Pottery & Plate Shards

 July 24th 2021 from Noon - 4PM,

Blue Santa Beads & Boutique, Media, PA

will host "The Allure of Porcelain Blue'

a WORSHOP by Barbara Hanselman

on upcycling Vintage plate shards

into Art-to-Wear...

The pot shards in these first four pictures

are from ceramic plates, pots & trays which met

untimely mishaps in their functional existence...

Their breakage in no way detracts from their

appeal to be worn; the creators' energy shines

through their tragedies...

Their continuance is credited to the craft artists

who saw their potential to become even more

than they once were...

Vintage Blue & White Shards from English 

Johnson Brothers, Coaching Scene Plates,

will be featured at the Blue Santa event

As well as assorted Ceramic Clay Shards from

area Clay Artists. All of these shards spoke to

Emily Cohen and Barbara Hanselman, insisting

on the validity of their continued existence...

We're sure they will speak to you as well!

Barbara is also offering Workshop participants

the chance to transform their own broken & chipped

heirloom dishes into finished shards they can use

to create that special piece to wear...

Simply bring your sized plate shards to the shop

before the 4th of July with an indication on them

as to where you want holes drilled in them.

These raw plate shards ARE QUITE SHARP

so handle them carefully. The easiest way to

break them into small enough raw shards to use

as jewelry components is to place them in a

folded towel and whack them with a hammer.

Notice that shards don't have to match, only

complement each other to be used as earrings.

This pair was made from pot shards which had

patterns on each side, making them reversible!

Making Ceramic Beads & Pendants

Making Ceramic Beads & Pendants

Ceramic Beads and Pendants can take all sorts of

shapes and sizes...

For instance, these textured clay discs have been

connected by a C-lon crochet cord to form a necklace.

These interesting discs could become earrings

or a necklace as well...

And these large discs and lone spirit hole

are connected with Bonn Beads Picasso trades

and blob beads making a subtle statement necklace.

Earrings emerge using pairs of fun clay beads...

Even a pair of button molded tic-tac-toe clay

beads accented with Labradorite drops

or large textured clay discs complemented with

beach glass shapes

become Fun-to-Wear clay creations...why not

plan to join us at our next adventure in 

Making Ceramic Beads & Pendants ! 

Making Easy-2-Wear EARRINGS

The Spirit Hole discs I made are slowly

becoming samples of EARRINGS I will be offering
as prototypes at an upcoming workshop...

The Workshop on the crafting of these earrings

will happen on a to-be-announced Saturday this Fall  

at the Community Arts Center in Media, PA

Participants will be able to choose a one-of-a-kind pair

of my handmade reversible stoneware discs 

as well as complementary components... 

I will then demonstrate how to make the wire swings,

head pins and custom sized jump rings needed to 

complete the designs of mine which inspire them.

So they can go home with their very own pair 

of Easy-2-Wear Spirit Hole Earrings!

Components include Wasser & Beach glass beads, 

stackable discs, 2-holed copper charms or buttons, 

seed bead spacers, blackened steel or copper wire,

all of which will be available from Barbara. 

To recieve more information on this,

email me at BHClaysmith@gmail.com

P I N C H P O T S

Looking into a pinch pot can be a fascinating

experience...

But quite different from seeing one

from the outside!

Terra sigillata, underglaze lines and raw clay

add to the wonderment of the exterior...

Inside: Mirror Black glaze with waxed resist squares

(look carefully and you'll see them)

Bronze Chocolate syrup look in;

Subtle green infinity lines out...

Multiple matte glazes of red and black...

Scroddled clay with carved lines outside

accented with red copper stain... 

But inside, an explosion of deep sea blues!

Several participants chose to layer glazes inside...

Or use the same glaze on the inside 

as well as the outside textures...

And some like Judy made their pots into

catchalls with interesting textured collars...

Hand Formed Headpins & Earrings

Many earrings are 'built' on a headpin.

In the above pair, the hand formed headpin

was made with a spiral bottom design

to carry the hanging clay squares...

This entire earring is made on a headpin;

if you look carefully, you will detect the flat

copper spiral under the last disc which is

really the bottom of the headpin...

This headpin (with a eye pin top) has a simple

diagonal square bottom which holds my

hand painted spirit hole disc under the clay

carved tube bead above it.

Each spirit hole disc is accented with a pair 

of wavy copper spacer discs... 

Time for Making Earrings...

Since I am doing an Earring Workshop in February

at Gallery on Park, Swarthmore, PA, it seemed

like a good idea to bone up on certain skills...

I also wanted to use some of the beads I intend

to share at the event to make samples of earring

possibilities...

Not all the earrings I made include clay beads;

but they do show techniques which work either way.

Amethyst slices and semi-precious beads can make

quite a statement!