Join talented jewellery designer and maker Helen Drye for an inspiring full-day workshop creating beautiful silver clay and enamel jewellery.
The day begins with Helen guiding you step by step through designing and making your own silver clay pendant or pair of earrings. After lunch, you’ll bring your pieces to life by adding colourful, vibrant enamels, learning professional techniques for a high-quality finish.
During the workshop, you will learn how to:
- Design & form your silver clay using techniques such as rolling, texturing and cutting silver clay
- Properly dry and refine your Silver Clay piece before firing.
- Safely fire metal clay using a kiln.
- Sift and wash transparent enamels to ensure maximum clarity and brilliance.
- Use the “wet-pack” technique for applying enamel smoothly onto the silver clay.
- Kiln-fire the enamel to a beautiful, professional finish.
A selection of transparent enamels will be available.
What to expect
Time at ArtisOn is designed to take you away from it all and provide the environment, the time and the guidance you need to create. You can expect a warm welcome, skilled and friendly tutors plus the chance to meet like-minded people keen to share ideas and experiences. You can even leave us to clear up the mess! There will usually be two workshops going on and we encourage everyone to mingle and be nosey about what the other workshop is up to.
Arrive in time to meet other participants over a cup of tea or coffee and biscuits before beginning your session at the appointed time. There will be a mid-morning break for refreshments and a chance to talk over progress with others. Lunch is usually around 12:45 for about 45 mins – you can expect a homemade 2 course lunch. The main course will be delicious but don’t overdo it as the puds are usually worth waiting for! There will be a further afternoon break with the most wonderful cakes from Roots & Fruits Home Bakery, a North Yorkshire micro-bakery producing handmade bread and cakes. All food and refreshments are included in the price of the workshop.
Finish time is given as a target – there are occasions when the session may overrun so do let us know if you need to be away promptly.
We aim for your day to be a real treat… of course you could always learn a new skill in a shed or a draughty village hall with a curly sandwich, but we want you to have more fun than that! So we make it a day being looked after, with good food, good company and great inspiration!
What you’ll need to bring with you
All essential metal clay tools and materials are provided but please come in clothes you don't mind working in.
