Master Class with Gordon Uyehara

I’m still recovering from a fantastic weekend with Gordon Uyehara. Hosting the course and having a house full of friends staying over meant it was a busy weekend, and I loved every minute of it!

Gordon landed in Edinburgh, after a very very long journey from Hawaii, early on Thursday morning. I took him on a little tour of Edinburgh to stretch his legs I was thrilled to have been blessed with a beautiful day after a week of rain. I’m not sure Gordon was so impressed with the Scottish weather, mind you, it was a bit chilly in the shade…. I showed Gordon the Castle, the Royal Mile (where we found a very aptly named restaurant), Holyrood Palace, Scottish Parliament & Arthur’s Seat.

Friday was spent setting up the workshop which kicked off on Saturday morning at 9am.  I’d asked Gordon to teach his beautiful Naupaka pendant after falling in love with it as soon as I saw it! The course was fully booked and excitement levels were high as Gordon started to demonstrate.

So off we all went to start on our own pieces. It was a challenging project, taking two days to complete but everyone did a great job. The concentration levels were unlike any Ive seen before in a workshop, with us all holding our breath at one stage or another as we joined the piece together.

On Sunday afternoon Gordon began to fire the pieces that were ready. All of them came out beautifully. The majority of us chose to oxidize the pendant after a brass brushing, to give it that “Gordon” finish. Here is a shot of most of the finished pieces.

I have always loved Gordon’s work and I am so thrilled that he agreed to come to Edinburgh to teach for us. Thanks to everyone who came along and made it a really memorable weekend.

All the pictures from the weekend are up on my face book Art Clay Scotland page which you can find here.

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The latest Issue of Metal CLay Artist Magazine has arrived over here in the UK. Naturally I am always eager to see it – but this edition I was even more so as it includes my article about my trip to Japan in March!! I’m delighted to have written about the trip for such a great magazine!

The really great thing about the magazine is that this month its all about Copper Clay. There are articles on combining copper, bronze and silver clays, lots of copper clay tutorials and there is a profile on Hadar Jacobson too! Talk about coming at the perfect time for me!! Ive been doing test firings and playing with Hadar’s Clays ever since I got home a week ago. My first text firing was unsuccessful so I fired my second test piece for longer and it worked. I’m using my Paragon SC2 which has a bead door – which is probably why the first piece didnt fire fully. Ive made my own box to fire in and have been using coal carbon as I was too impatient to go to the studio and get coconut!!

I fired a large thick piece for 2 1/2 hours – when I took it out of the kiln ALL of the carbon had burned away. I was worried that this must mean the piece wasn’t fired properly, but I tested it with my dremel and its fine. I spent much of the 3 days with Hadar working on my bracelet – which Ive now fired. it needs alot of sanding and polishing and then the magic Baldwins patina solution that is on its way to me from the USA as I speak. Its not looking too hot at the moment ……….. also the components are different sizes despite using the same cutter…… but I quite like that effect.

Hopefully I can post a picture of a beautiful shiny bracelet some time soon

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Blogging about Japan ……..

I said last week that I’d do a blog dairy  of my time in Japan – but I’m  afraid I cant …….because I’m writing an article for Metal Clay Artist Magazine Instead Still – a few more photos wont hurt will they ……

Engakuji Temple and soggy sight seers

The Great Buddha of Kamakura

This bronze statue of Amida Buddha stands on the grounds of Kotokuin Temple. Its 13.35 meters tall and is the second tallest bronze Buddha statue in Japan! Since 1495, the Buddha has been standing in the open air.

A Couple in traditional dress looking at their photos

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Scottish Bead Fair & Japan!!

Well, I think its taken me a week to feel human again and catch up with life simply being at home!! My trip to Japan now, alas, seems a long time ago!!

BUT rather than bore you all to death with a massive long post about the trip I thought I’d break it down day by day = the first few of which were spent in the Factory and Aida Studios!! So if you have always wondered where Art CLay Silver comes from, come back on Monday when I’ll post pictures and tell you about the factory tour! On Tuesday I’ll tell you about our Master Class…… each day of next week will correlate to the day we had in Japan almost two weeks ago! Make sense? Here are a couple of pics meanwhile..

I’m having a nice day today preparing for our Scottish Bead Fair tomorrow. I’ll be there doing a precious metal clay demo – if you are coming please stop by and say hello. We will be taking along info about all our new courses at The Little Bead Shop/Art Clay Scotland.…… some are bound to book up fast – like our Sunday full day beginners class – so if you are hoping for a space try to look for us early in the day!! You can also book onto the fantastic courses with Hattie Sanderson and Gordon Uyehara tomorrow too!!! They are booking up fast so dont miss out!!

Expect pics of the fair tomorrow!

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Japan!!

I’ve been very quiet…. but dont be fooled… there is lots going on, all will be revealed soon, meanwhile I thought I’d share with you my news. Fist off is that this will be my new blog. My other one is going to be inherited by the girls at the Little Bead Shop. I’m still finding my way around here on word press, so please – if you are a reader then do bear with me!!

Second – and far more exciting is my trip to Japan…. in one weeks time I will be IN JAPAN!! How exciting is that!! There are 10 of us from the UK – art clay professionals or addicts – who are going to visit the Aida factory, get taught some classes in the factory by the Masters, visit Tokyo and a whole lot more!! So you can expect this blog to go from being DEAD to swamped with posts to do with Art Clay Silver and Japan. But I’m sure you wont mind if you are remotely interested in metal clay, making jewellery or japan I’m so excited!!

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