These are some stunning pieces of jewelry and metal work, right?


Surprise! They are not metal at all, well kind of. Turns out all these pieces are made from a medium called PMC or Precious Metal Clay. It was first formulated in Japan by the Mitsubishi Motor Company. It has fine particles of silver mixed into the malleable materials. It mold just like clay. Once it is fired in the kiln, the silver melts and creates a fully metallic object. It is pretty neat stuff. The thing I find, is when I learn about new products, or materials, I become curious. So curious that I would love to work with the piece to see how it truly handles. I want to see the extent to which I can push it. PMC is on my list (and it is a long list) to try.


Raku
While it might sound like some sort of Asian food dish or Asian Pop Culture deal, it is not. At the end of this semester, our final project in ceramics is Raku firing. I am looking forward to it! Raku is also developed by the Japanese. I have been at school before when they do Raku firings, and am very optimistic about doing it myself. The Raku firing has a very distinctive smell. Some call it nauseating but I call it wonderful! It smells of campfire and clay.

The appeal of the Raku is its aesthetics. It is usually always full of color and shiny. The colors can blend and merge with each other, creating a beautiful piece, although sometimes it can look a little cheesy. In most cases, Raku gives off this metallic look. Each piece fired will be unique; they never turn out the same. You do have to be careful with Raku firing. It tends to have thermal shock and may explode in the kiln (which is due to the natural process of the firing).

Other than pottery

What really fascinates me are some of the artist out there working with ceramics, that don’t make their pieces just pottery. Ceramics is really a versatile medium and can create amazing abstract and even naturalistic pieces. For instance look at some of Tip Toland’s work. The ability to make it look so much like a real human is remarkable. Tip even goes so far as to use synthetic hair for the pieces. I really love what Tip Toland is doing! I don’t know if I would have the patience for it!