Julia R / Precious Metal Clay (PMC) Jeweller
Areas of expertise
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Silver Art Clay & Precious Metal Clay (PMC)
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Traditional silver jewellery making skills
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Fingerprint Jewellery - Direct imprint PMC
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Hand and Foot print Jewellery - Photopolymer print method
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Extensive teaching experience.
About
Award winning jeweller Julia R is one of the most experienced and qualified metal clay teachers in the UK. She is a Senior Art Clay Instructor, has a Diploma in Art and Design and holds a range of metal clay qualifications such as Higher Metal Clay Diploma, Rio Grande PMC Certification, Clay Level 1 and Level 2 Certification.
Julia has also achieved the Metal Clay Masters Registry credential at Level IV, the first person in the world to do so.
Julia has been developing and refining her work with metal clay jewellery work for over 10 years. Her work has been featured in numerous publications and exhibitions worldwide. These include regular contributions to magazines such as Metal Clay Artist, Beads and Beyond and Making Jewellery and features in books including Metal Clay and Color, Contemporary Metal Clay Rings and The Metal Clay Techniques Book.
Julia is also the director of on-line resource The Metal Clay Academy and a member of the Association for Contemporary Jewellery (ACJ).
As an expert tutor in Precious Metal Clay and Art clay, Julia has developed a variety of courses to assist students develop their own work Metal Clay jewellery. With her business partner , she developed the first fully accredited qualification; The NCFE Level 1 Award in Creative Craft (Jewellery) in 2013 and The NCFE Level 2 Certificate in Art & Design (Mixed Media) also includes metal clay in 2014.
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Julia’s teaching style is relaxed and supportive and she loves to introduce beginners to this incredible material.
Julia Rai
Julia Rai
Julia Rai
Julia Rai
Julia Rai
Julia Rai
Julia Rai
​Julia's Metal Clay short courses cover techniques such as;
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Unique Patterns and Textures
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Complex Hollow Forms / Beads / Making and/or Using Glass Cabochons with Metal Clay
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Box making with Metal Clay
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Keum Boo / Chemical Patination on Metal Clay
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Adding Colour to Metal Clay
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Art Clay Level 1 & 2 Certification
photographed by Paul Mounsey
Location
Cornwall - This tutor may be willing to travel to you.
Learn from Julia one-to-one
To check Julia's availability and to obtain a quote for a 1-day one-to-one session with her, contact Dawn Meaden-Johnson at : bespoketraining@virginmedia.com
Tutor | Additional Course Options
This class will cover making fingerprint jewellery using a direct imprint method. It will cover taking a direct finger imprint into silver clay, engraving names and words onto the clay, finishing, firing and polishing to a high shine. It will also cover oxidisation of the print to increase its impact.
This class will cover making jewellery using inkless wipes and photopolymer plates, a safe, clean and easy way to get hand & foot prints from babies/children which are then manipulated by computer and printed for use with photopolymer plates to create an image stamp. The class will cover working with inkless wipes, scanning, reducing, enhancing and printing images, photopolymer plate production and use with silver metal clay. It will also cover finishing, firing and polishing to a high shine.
What is Precious Metal Clay (PMC) / Silver Clay?
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PMC is a non-toxic clay-like material made of fine silver particles and organic materials which when fired (jheated to a high temperature) will leave behind pure silver, which is suitable for hallmarking.
What is Photopolymer Print Method?
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Photopolymer plates are used in the printing process and require UV light to cure. Where the UV goes through the clear part of acetate, it hardens the plate. Where the dense black image is blocked the UV and the plate remains soft. After the exposure time the plate is washed to remove the soft parts leaving a rubber stamp of the child’s hand/foot. This is then used to imprint into the silver clay.
What is the direct Imprint Method?
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The direct imprint method is where a surface is pressed directly into silver clay (PMC) to make an imprint.
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What is The Metal Clay Masters Registry?
The Metal Clay Masters Registry is a structured program linked to an independent evaluation system that is the most prestigious and professional credential in the field of metal clay.
A rigorous curriculum of fifty projects provides artists with a challenge that will propel them to improved technical skills and into new creative realms.