April brought two cyber members who hadn't been able to make the third Saturday meeting. Because of Easter, the date was changed to the 4th Saturday, and they made the trek. Roxan and Heidi gave a great infusion of energy into the meeting and we were able to ooh and ahh over the work Roxan brought for show and tell, much of which she is thinking of submitting for one or another of the projects. So she is more than halfway to her L1 goal!
I had some questions about a few of the projects, and Tim McCrieght was generous enough to take some time to answer them. With this new clarification, I'm going to go through my own stash of existing work to see if any will fulfill the requirements. Here are my questions, and Tim's answers:
TMc - Any number of panels is ok.
LH - A6: A 'box' is usually thought of as square or round. May we make any shape as long as it has a friction lid? [Friction means that the tension of the lid holds itself inside the box with no other mechanical mechanism. Although the guidelines say that the box may be any depth and size, I was wondering more about the shape of the box - as in a vessel form.]
TMc - Any shape is ok.
LH - A9: Must the chain be soldered, or is fusing ok? The description online references sterling first, but then both fine and sterling is suggested. Do you prefer one over the other? Could we use copper?
TMc - The primary goal of this project is controlled soldering. Fusing would be okay, but since a fused chain is actually more difficult, I don't know why anyone would go there. Copper or brass could be used, but because chains are time intensive and material light, I think most people would choose to use a precious metal like sterling. Fine silver is ok, though as a metalsmith I'd point out that a sterling chain will last longer.
LH - B1: Should we use only a gemstone cabochon or would a flat bottomed, found object (such as a shell or button) be ok as long as it's fully bezel set?
TMc -This should be restricted to a gem in order to keep the evaluation process uniform. Of course there are thousands of gem options, but if we deviate from that it becomes difficult to compare among objects. [Drat! That leaves out many of my existing pieces.]
LH - B2: Must the faceted stones be fired in place or is setting after firing ok?
TMc - Either.
LH - B8: Is there really anything other than colored pencil that would fulfill this project? 'Blend Colors' makes me think that the other materials I've thought of are out.
TMc - You're right that colored pencils are the most common solution, but it is possible to buy paint powders, and for all I know, brightly colored spices might work when combined with a vehicle such as wax. Just wanted to leave the door open for something we might not have considered.
LH - B9: Do patina samples have to be made on metal clay? Is sheet metal ok? What about more than one variety, such as fuming on bronze along with a resist technique on silver for example?
TMc - Yes, working on sheets of copper and brass alloys is probably the best way to go. You'll notice that base metals offer a lot of possibilities, while those people who confined themselves to metal clay didn't get wide results.
LH - D5, 6, 7, 8: With all the base clays available, do you specifically want silver metal clay and sheet base metals, or can we use base metal clays with base sheet metal? I'm assuming the idea is to use sheet, milled, or found object metal of some kind with clay?
TMc - This is a bit of a quandry. You are correct that the projects predate these base metal clays. The idea was to expose participants to various metals so they would understand the benefits and drawbacks of each. Personally I think the inherent qualities of the metals are more obvious in sheet metal and wire so I would recommend that form, but I could accept metal clay versions.
LH - E5: Should we use 30 grams of a single clay body (all silver for example) or may we use more than one type (one silver piece, one copper, one bronze) as long as the weight totals 30 grams?
TMc - I think everyone so far has interpreted the project in a single metal, perhaps because it's easy to start with a 30 gram lump and work from there, but I see no reason why this couldn't be made of various clays.
LH - E9: May we implant an existing nut and screw in a design, or is the point to make a metal clay connector?
TMc - The idea is to make a threaded closure from scratch, examples of which you can find at the website. There are other projects where a manufactured threaded unit might be included. [D9 for example]
LH - Because the online guidelines were written before the development of all these different clay bodies, I wondered if the references to silver clay in many of the project descriptions meant that silver was the only material we could use. This is Tim's reply:
TMc - All types and brands of metal clay are accepted. The only exceptions are D1, D2, D3, and D4, all of which require gold in one form or another. Two of these projects require Aura 22 or a similar liquid coating, and I am not aware of this being applied successfully to anything other than silver, so that is de facto required there.
Mr McCreight is a very busy man with many projects and commitments on his plate, and I'm very grateful that he was able to take the time to share his insight. Hope this helps you in your Master's Registry journey too.
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