Precious Metal Clay

Precious Metal Clay, also known as PMC is a material developed by Mitsubishi Corporation.  It is made up of organic binders and fine silver particles.  Available in four forms, the most popular is a modeling clay like substance which can be shaped and worked with like clay.  It is fired in a kiln at high temperatures which burns off the binders and fuses the silver particles.  This leaves behind a fine (.999) silver piece ready to be finished by hand.  The only limits are the imagination of the user!

Fused Dichroic Glass

Glass is such a wonderful and colorful medium to work with.  The glass featured on this site is one of two kinds used by the artist.  Fused dichroic (dye-crow-ick) glass is made by layering different colors and patterns of glass and fusing them together at 1470 degrees Farenheit for about 10 minutes.  The beautiful colors come from glass coated with a dichroic (metal reflective) coating.  When used in combination with PMC, you can achieve some very unusual and different looks.

Borosilicate Glass

The pieces on this website that are labled "borosilicate" or "boro" for short are handmade with borosilicate (boro-sila-kit) glass.  These pendants are made using rods of glass that are melted and manipulated in the flame of a propane/oxygen torch.  The melting point of this glass is somewhere in the neighborhood of 2500 degrees.  After shaping it and melting the colors together, the piece is then annealed (cooled) in the kiln to strengthen it for years of use.  This technique is called "lampworking" or glass blowing.  Boro glass can also be combined with Precious Metal Clay. 

Silversmithing

The pieces that are featured in my "Latest and Greatest" section are fashioned using traditional silversmithing techniques. Each piece starts out as raw sterling silver sheet.  A shape is cut using a small jeweler's hand saw and then filed to refine the edges.  Bezel wire is soldered in place, embellishments and bails are added and finally the stone is set.  All finishing is done by hand.  These are all one-of-a-kind pieces.