[Jewelry making - Article 00341] - Re: [Orchid] PMC in general

[Lisa Orlando]

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Dear Hema,

    In your position (in a country with no PMC teachers), I would start
    by playing with clay--the ceramic kind--because it's cheap and easily
    accessible. Yes, you can jump right into PMC, and, yes, the texture
    is somewhat different, but I would still recommend this. 

    If you have any friends that work in ceramics (especially
    porcelain), get them to show you how to work with thin slabs, sprig
    molds, slip trailing, texturing, miniature hand-building, etc. This
    puts you on the learning curve for PMC and gives you some idea about
    whether you will actually enjoy the process, before you spend a lot
    of money. it's also a lot of fun to play with clay. (You might find
    yourself seduced, though, and forget all about PMC, so watch out.) An
    additional advantage of starting with ceramics is that fired
    clay--again, especially porcelain--can be turned into great stamping
    tools, molds, etc. 

    If you like the process,  invest in 3-4 books (I still think Tim
    McCreight's is the best), some videos (I assume they're actually DVDs
    now, and I don't know about compatibility with the system used in
    India), a tool kit, and some PMC (all available from our friends at
    Rio Grande). It really is something you can teach yourself. Start by
    doing what beginning potters do--make a bunch of pieces and, instead
    of firing them, cut them up, examine them, and then re-hydrate them. 

    The major problem with learning on your own is not having access to
    a kiln, which is a big investment (most ceramics kilns don't have the
    control necessary to fire PMC successfully). If you use the newer,
    more expensive versions of PMC (which I don't like as much--I love
    the high shrinkage and texture of the original version), you can fire
    without a kiln--lots of info is available on the Guild site, as well
    as the Conference site. And, when it's time to solder posts, set
    stones, and finish your fired work, you're back to regular jewelry
    techniques. So...you really don't need a PMC teacher. You can,
    instead, become the first PMC teacher in India yourself! 

Good luck!

Lisa Orlando
Aphrodite's Ornaments
Elk, CA

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