Posted by Tom on June 25, 2008, 2:24 pm
189.164.135.199

(PMC is Precious Metal Clay.) I am wondering if anyone in the JBay Area has any experience with this stuff. (Unlikely, I know but nothing ventured, nothing gained, right?) This fall, I am headed for a one week, intensive studio, instructed by Tim McCreight at Haystack School of Craft. I am going into this with very little knowledge of PMC and I am grateful that I was accepted. This school is awesome in many ways. Don't get me started! But if any of you artsy-fartsy types are interested in learning at this school, I can attest that they provide the best of everything; participants, teachers, TAs, food, environment, tools, etc. Okay... I will go-on a bit more. The school is set in a pristine, rocky shored, forested Atlantic Coast of northern Maine; isolated and beautiful. The one week courses run all summer, about 8 or 10 at a time. The instruction is for glass blowing, ceramics, photography, printing, weaving, painting, sculpting, writing, carving, casting... you name it. This is all taught by the most noted "names" in the field, in a studio environment. When you arrive, you set up your space and go there any time you like, day or night. I love it there. Last fall, newly retired, I went there for instruction in box building with book binding materials and technique. The courses are all like that; they are not general in nature. Rather, they are concentrated on a specific aspect of a craft. If they will continue to accept me, I intend to continue this as a yearly event. This is part of the retirement life that I have anticipated for a long time. For people like me, this is the ultimate rejuvenation. Back to the issue at hand, I am looking for someone who can show me their techniques of silver soldering, jewelry fabrication, etc. There will also be an element of torch fired enamel work done in this studio and I have never done that either. I can trade your time for my time showing you around the use of polymer clay. TomHaystack