I was so busy rushing around yesterday working on these pieces. I finished my pre-fire refining and hustled on out to the kiln (in the rain) and did a 20 minute dry-cycle before the 30 minute firing cycle.
Here’s what the Art Clay Silver looks like after firing:
Fresh out of the kiln
See how it’s kind of frosty looking? That’s the surface of fine silver after it’s been fired. It must be brushed and burnished to finish. It was kind of a nightmare brushing these pieces last night because my wire brush has a lot of missing bristles. The task is already not the most pleasant and I highly recommend using a rubber glove to protect the fingers of the hand that is holding the piece that you are brushing. Anyway, after about 90 minutes of brushing this is what the pieces looked like before burnishing:
my new work after brushing but before burnishing
I don’t use a burnishing tool for finishing – too much labor! I just throw a grouping of stuff into my rotary tumbler – I have one that’s pretty quiet and I just leave everything in there (in this case about 25 grams) for an hour or so. Here are some of my “finished” unfinished pieces.
tumbled art clay silver components some set with peridot and blue zircon
more tumbled art clay silver components, earrings set with garnets
tumbled art clay silver components
more tumbled art clay silver, necklace set with a pear cut tanzanite
two necklace components, one set with blue zircon
triptych necklace, set with blue zircon
These will be components that I will make into earrings and necklaces. Some of the earrings I will just put on a pair of earwires and leave them plain, others I will wrap a pretty gemstone briolette to the bottom.
Tonight I have a mini-show at a parents meeting at a local school (just in time for Mother’s Day). I hope I can finish some of these pieces beforehand!