All levels of ability
Bold design and delicate textures surround beautiful Fire in Place Cultured Opals with a combination of surprising techniques. You’ll create intricate open spaces and surface textures with your rotary tool and various diamond burs in the greenware stage of your Silver Metal Clay. Yeah, your rotary tool! And it’s easy on your hands!
Then you’ll capture the allure of Heat-Resistant Cultured Opals having all the radiance and iridescence you love in a good quality Opal, but unlike Natural Opals, these can be fired at 1650º F or 900º C without burning up from the extreme heat needed to sinter the Metal Clay. After being told a long firing isn’t probable, I went on a quest to figure out how to fire them in place in Metal Clay. After many tests and trial and error, I figured out the secret of firing long and hot for strength without cracking the stones, discoloring, or hazing. I’m really excited about the possibilities, but more than that, I can’t wait to teach you.
Materials List:
25 - 3- g Fine Silver Metal Clay, Fire in Place Opal Round Gems of your choice , Gem Burr to match, Other shaped gems need a matching template 2 – 3 mm bigger than the stone, Super Sculpey Original® or Premo® Polymer Clay, Foam Shaper/Healing Tool, Rotary Tool, Diamond Burr Set, Carbon Paper, Ball Point Pen, 3M Polishing Paper Set, Tissue Blade, Small Pottery Loop Tool, Polishing Pads, 3M Polishing Points - 3mm, Eve® Bristle Brushes, Eve® Rubber Wheels, and Knife, Edge sets, Fused Silica Bead Firing Dish or Fiber bowl, Vermiculite, Grafix® Incredible White Mask, Liquid Frisket, Basic Tool Kit, Kiln.
How to Inlay Opal Shards is a Bonus section
Materials Needed: Art Resin® Epoxy Resin, Opal Shards or Crushed Opal, Toothpick, 3 Small Cups for mixing resin.
Radiant Opal Pendant
Lessons are in a PDF format are for students who need no teacher guidance with the lesson. You do, however, have an option to purchase a 1 hour question and answer session by appointment.
To purchase a private session in addition to the self guided lesson, select the "A Private Session with Holly Gage." separately. You can select how many sessions you would like. Sessions are live on the Go to Meeting platform. This option is for seeking answers to questions and have an interest in seeing Holly Gage perform select demonstrations.
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