Jewelry project

A few posts ago, I mentioned that I have two side projects running. One is my out of the Darkness project and the other is my ceramic jewelry project (or as I affectionately call it, my jooree project). 

When I studied art, I became immersed in three areas: painting, printmaking & ceramics. Due to my circumstances, I decided to focus on painting. It was a challenge to keep up with the printmaking and ceramics, because everything I needed was so far away. But I still have some of my ceramic supplies, and recently I decided to marry my love of ceramics and jewelry to create my own body of work.

There are a few benefits to this project:

1. I keep up with my skills and techniques in ceramics. The old adage, "Use it or you'll lose it" is very true.

2. I get to work on my own jewelry. I think  that clay lends itself perfectly to this, since I'm obsessed with the earth and its geomorphology. Clay slip is ideal because when it's dry it renders out beautiful ridges and valleys, just like in nature. 

A few of my porcelain earrings

My earthenware earrings are slathered in colour.

Thus far, I've done two different types of clay, porcelain and earthenware. Next on the agenda is Chocolate black, a beautiful dark brown clay that looks like chocolate when fired.

It's been a great process for me because I'm learning the ins and outs of design. Using clay involves considering the thickness of the piece (to ensure comfort to the wearer), the type of glaze to be used and where it should be placed, what type of hardware will compliment it etc. This is a huge learning process and I'll keep learning with the practice.