Rings & Things is very excited to add Art Clay Silver to our line of jewelry supplies! You can create an amazing variety of unique, fine silver jewelry and one-of-a-kind beads, with just a few tools. Art Clay Silver is a pure powder of silver, mixed with non-toxic binders and water. When you fire it with a torch or in a small kiln, these binders burn off, leaving pure, 99.9% silver. It’s much easier than casting!
There are just a few tricks to using Art Clay, and we offer a range of tools for learning them. We sell a 31-minute video, 4 different books, and a starter kit complete with its own guidebook and including tools and torch. Plus, our on-staff Art Clay expert Kurt Madison, a certified Senior-Level Instructor, is here to answer your questions and explain techniques on our website Bulletin Board. (Just click “Bulletin Board” on our website.)
We’re very fortunate to have Kurt joining our staff. He’s an accomplished artist in his own right, bringing a talented touch and a professional’s eye to Rings & Things. We think you’ll be quite impressed with Kurt. Click below to see photos of him giving our crew an in-house Art Clay demonstration.
We have 3 pages full of Art Clay products in the new catalog mentioned above. Pick the form of Art Clay that’s best for the project you want to do. It comes in the form of standard or slow-dry clay; sheet; paper; standard, overlay, or concentrated oil paste; or precision syringe applicator. You’ll find descriptions of how to use each of these in the new catalog on our website, along with plenty of useful tools. We also have lots of porcelain bisque beads and pendants you can “paint” on with Art Clay.
The possibilities for using Art Clay will amaze you...hand-make filigree beads, turn a real leaf into a silver pendant, design your own charms, become an earring maker...add it to your items made from glass, ceramics, porcelain, polymer clay, and more. You’ll see why jewelry crafters are so excited about this hot new product!
COBALT AND EMERALD recycled glass
Denise in Sandpoint has found a great source of cobalt and emerald glass for her hand-made glass beads and slumped glass creations. A local ski resort sets aside empty cobalt-blue Skyy Vodka bottles for her, and lets her know when there is a caseload to pick up. Ocasionally they also have an empty emerald-green Jagermeister bottle tossed into the mix.
She then crushes these bottles and uses the resultant chunks and "frit" to decorate her window hangings, pendants, and beads.
Warning: Recycled glass doesn't conform to the same specs as the glass rods and other glass that is specially formulated for glasswork. So pieces made with recycled bottle glass may not be able to withstand as much wear or stress as glass made specifically for glassworking. Also, it may shrink more or less, or faster or slower than your other glass, causing some problems during the cool-down period. But if you are a recycler at heart, or love to make found-object art, then local nightspots just might be great sources for cobalt and emerald glass!
LIZA LOU and the "Genius Grant"
You know you've made it big when the Macarthur Foundation phones you to say they're giving you a "Genius Grant". Bead artist Liza Lou recently got that phone call, and received $500,000 (no strings attached) to enable her to focus just on her beadwork for the next 5 years. The money and the free time will be very welcome to Liza Lou, who creates enormous pieces using millions of beads to depict 3-D scenes from real life. Her replicas of a kitchen, a 528-square-foot backyard, and a portrait of Abe Lincoln, among others, have a stunning surreal impact. If you haven't been exposed to Liza Lou's art yet, we heartily recommend a fine article at the online Bead Bugle magazine http://www.nfobase.com/html/liza_lou.htm, or visit the Macarthur Foundation website http://www.macfound.org/programs/fel/2002fellows/lou_liza.htm. Congratulations to Liza!
A MONUMENTAL PROJECT: "It's a lot to think about . . . with every bead"
It takes a vision and a lot of guts. Three high-school students in Martha's Vineyard, Massachusetts, recently surprised their Global Studies teacher with a stunning term-end project, to create a strand of 6,000,000 beads in memory of the Jews killed in the World War 2 Holocaust. This is not something you can create overnight, and Lizzie Edwards, Amelia Hatchard, and Becca Hamilton hope to finish their memorial "by the time we graduate high school in 2004". With some help from friends and community (volunteers are welcome to contribute to the effort of beading), the girls' plan should come true. Their goal is to use an item as seemingly minor as beads to show just how enormous a number six million is, and once completed, the memorial ought to serve that aim well. (By our calculations, even if the strand only contained tiny seed beads, which it doesn't, it would be around 7 miles long!) Donations and encouragement are welcomed.
You can write to Lizzie, Amelia, and Becca c/o Elaine Weintraub, Martha's Vineyard Regional High School, PO Box 1385, Oak Bluffs, MA 02557.
READYMADE MAGAZINE: Craftsy home invasion
The inspiration behind new ReadyMade magazine boils down to this: Duct tape can be very chic. Many of you reading this will understand. You turn low-cost materials and everyday items into artistic treasures, and we think you'll love the wit and cool that this magazine brings to that creative process. Instead of focusing on a single medium, these wise guys bring the glossy newsstand look to a spectrum of brilliantly kitschy projects. You've got to love the magazine's non-threatening skill ratings for each project ("monkey" through advanced caveman). Know how to make a snazzy lamp out of wire and clothespins yet? If not, ReadyMade will be most illuminating. You may find yourself reading a whole issue at one sitting, learning amazing stuff about The Church of Craft (it exists!), finding desperately needed and hilarious last-minute inspirations for Halloween costumes or holiday decorating, and realizing new ways of showing off your crystal and turquoise beads. You can visit the excellent website at www.readymademag.com, and by the way, the Church of Craft is at www.churchofcraft.org. Enjoy!
RINGS & THINGS SPONSORS BEADWEAVING PRIZE
Rings & Things was proud to underwrite the 1st place prize for "Bead Weaving Technique" at the 23rd Annual Glass Art at the Gardens Art Show this summer. Held from July 24th to August 4th in Denver, this festival featured dozens of the finest glass artists from the Rocky Mountain region, including bead weavers like 1st Prize winner, Vilma Dallas. (Click here to see Vilma's winning piece, "Fiamma") For her splendid work, Vilma receives a $100 gift certificate so she can re-build her stock of beads at Rings & Things. We're proud to support fine craft-art events like this, and we congratulate Vilma on a wonderful piece of bead work!
For more information on the Glass Artists Fellowship, who put on this long-running arts festival, visit www.glassartistsfellowship.com.
