Finally!

That's "Finally!" for two reasons: Finally, I am updating my blog because FINALLY I had a bronze clay firing that actually went right. Prior to this, I've done two batches, with a total of four pieces and only one actually came out useable. One over-fired and melted and the other two cracked and are unfixable. So it was with fingers crossed but without high hopes that I put this last batch in.

I should say that I'm using the new "Fast Fire" BronzClay.  You can read about my first attempts at using it here.  I have not used the original BronzClay so I can't compare the two.

So what did I do differently in this firing to make it successful?  Absolutely nothing that I can tell.  I think it was just luck or happenstance.  Other than that the only difference was size and shape of the pieces.  The larger pieces were completely flat and the other pieces were quite small.  I made some plaques that are to be Christmas Tree ornaments.

And here is a photo of a couple that I have finished.  The round plaques are about 1 3/4 inches in diameter.

I also made some bells.  Ever since I went to Haystack this past summer, I was inspired by Donna Penoyer's whistles.  I have though it would be really interesting to make my own type of musical instrument and after having read that large bells are generally made from bronze, I thought the bronze clay would be a good medium to try for bells.  My favorite is previewed at the beginning of this post and all are shown below.  They do actually ring and each makes it's own sound, apparently dependent on the size and shape of the bell.   The tallest of these bells is about 1 1/2 inches. These were experiments but I had so much fun making them I would like to make more, maybe even some that could be tiny earrings!

It's great to have a medium that doesn't limit me as to the size of pieces.  PMC is and will always be my favorite, but I can't imagine making large Christmas ornaments out of it - they would have to be so expensive!  I can only hope that my future firings will be this successful because I would love to experiment more.