[Jewelry making - Article 00538] - Re: [Orchid] Article: Minimal Metalsmithing

[lora hart]

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    I have to address the mistaken belief by many (including some metal
    clay users) that the certification process is an MLM or pyramid
    scheme. 

    Certification is an education process only. 

    When you attend say... Revere Academy to take a class, your
    successful completion of Fabrication One allows you to later take
    Fabrication Two. The successful accomplishment of that enables you
    to go on to the more intricate and complicated techniques in
    Fabrication Three and so on. You pay a fee to the school for that
    education. Part of it goes to the teacher, part of it goes to the
    institution. At the end of it you get a certificate of completion. 

    The same is true for metal clay certification programs. There are
    two companies who import PMC from Japan. All other retailers buy
    their stock from either PMC Connection (PMCC) or Rio Grande. Art Clay
    Silver is a separate entity of course. Each company has it's own
    certification program. From the beginning that certificate granted
    the student the title "certified artisan" NOT certified teacher. It
    was never meant to train or legitimize teachers. There is no way a
    two or three day class can prepare a person to teach competently.
    What it can do, and has always meant to do, is give a new user a
    thorough education in many aspects of metal clay in all of it's
    varied forms including lump clay; slip; clay packaged in a syringe
    and the paper type, foldable clay. It also used to entitle one to a
    discount on the clay. 

    Practically, this is no longer true. Speaking only for PMC, I've
    found that web e-tailers have chosen to use metal clay as a loss
    leader for the other great products they carry on their sites. As a
    certified artisan, I now pay only about fifty cents less than non
    certified users. I long for the old days when I could make a bit of a
    profit from my re sales to students (just as conventional teachers
    might mark up the raw supplies or tools that they make available to
    students). Let's not get into the fact that there's not (and has
    never been) a real wholesale price for the material. It's a sore
    subject for many. When you take a certification program from PMCC,
    there are three levels you might choose to complete. Completion in
    level one grants you access to level two and then on to level three.
    Rio Rewards has only one level. In both programs only Senior
    Instructors with the skill and experience can teach certification
    programs. Senior status is invitational and rare. While PMCC has more
    Seniors than Rio, there are never more than two per state and only if
    the size/population of the state warrants it. California, for
    example, has one instructor that covers Northern California and one
    in Southern California. Rio only has about twelve (not sure of the
    exact number) to cover the entire United States. Obviously they
    travel. Even when you add both programs together, there are fewer
    than one Senior Instructor per state and many states don't have one
    at all. Part of the fee (materials included) for the multi day class
    goes to the teacher and part to the company. That's it. No pyramid,
    no MLM. 

    I can't speak for Art Clay. I know that they have basic
    certification, Senior certification which is open to many more
    interested people than the PMC programs, and an invitational Master
    Instructor program. 

    I hold certifications with Rio Rewards, levels one and two with PMC
    Connection (level three is brand new and I hope to take it when my
    schedule allows), and the basic certification with Art Clay. All of
    these programs change their curriculum occasionally, to allow for
    changes in technology and new techniques. 

    No one forces new users to take a certification class. There are
    plenty of skilled teachers who offer classes in many different
    techniques, using all forms of the clay. The large bead conventions
    offer classes by top instructors that many students wouldn't
    regularly have access to. There are also many great books and tapes
    available and for those students who aren't able to get to a class or
    who like to learn on their own. And of course magazines like Art
    Jewelry, Jewelry Artist (formerly Lapidary Journal) and Step by Step
    Beads that print terrific articles. Since 1998, the National PMC
    Guild has offered it's membership a subscription to it's fabulous
    quarterly magazine Studio PMC, edited by Suzanne Wade. Starting next
    month this will be replaced by Fusion, a more technical journal, and
    an annual four color book containing images of the best of that
    year's work by artisans from all over the world. PMC Connection has
    an online newsletter called Connections with articles and projects
    that are free for the downloading. I know that Art Clay Silver has a
    newsletter too, but unfortunately I've never seen one and can't
    comment on it's content. 

    So please, if you'd like to try metal clay yourself, instead of
    relying on outdated information by folks who have little or no
    practical knowledge of the material, I invite you to take the plunge
    and make up your own minds whether the material is something that
    you'd like to explore further. Heaven knows it's not for everyone.
    For the skilled goldsmiths on the list with years of experience with
    conventional metalsmithing et al under their belts (and handmade
    buckles), it would probably be superfluous, but I ask that you keep
    an open mind about materials you have no personal interest in adding
    to your skill sets. It may be just the thing for someone else to
    involve them in the art of jewelry making. 

Lora Hart 

 
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