Crafty Days...Professional Development As A Maker
If you work for an organisation you’re familiar with Continuing Professional Development (CPD), but when you’re a self-employed ‘creative’ CPD takes on a new meaning.
My memories of CPD in a large organisation are of torturous self improvement seminars, embarrassing group-work and the extended ‘leadership’ course I took just to get my ‘points’. So if professional development is learning that improves your knowledge or skills, what does that look like as a self-employed maker? I think of CPD in terms of classes, online seminars, books, online tutorials and even exhibitions. In recent months I’ve embraced classes with gusto and have made, with partial success, two ceramic pots, a painting and a silver ring. Only one of these classes was directly related to jewellery, but I firmly believe that aspects of the other classes will be adapted and used in my practice at some point.
Signet Ring Workshop in Birmingham.
I’ve dabbled with silver jewellery over the years, making rings and necklaces for myself and relatives, but since starting TheCluttery I hadn’t made anything from scratch in silver until this workshop run by jeweller Jo Flello Martinez. I loved this class! There were about ten of us around a huge table in a rather grand room at Lightwoods House, Bearwood, each with our own bench peg and tools. Jo was a patient teacher as she helped us through the process of turning a wax ring blank (quite daunting) into a wearable ring.
Starting Point
The rings start out as chunky wax blanks that have to be carved and filed to the right size and shape.
I chose to make a pinkie ring in the British tradition of signet rings (look it up, it’s fascinating). I probably spent too long shaping my ring (there’s a lot of wax to cut away and file) and not long enough on creating the celestial skull design I wanted. Carving away at the wax takes a different mindset to making a ring from a flat piece of metal, which is the technique I have tried before. I didn’t anticipate how hard it would be to carve out my design neatly using the tiny tools on such a small object, or how easy it is to squash the hand-warmed wax, and Jo had to remove my mistakes a couple of times!
Halfway Point
The ring after carving and filing to remove most of the wax.
The finished wax rings are being cast out of silver in a mould as I write this, so I’m yet to see just how ropey my creation is, but I’m glad that I learnt a new technique…perfecting it is the next hurdle.
I took part in a 3 hour signet ring class that cost around £55. No prior knowledge or experience was needed. If you want to try your hand at one of Jo’s jewellery classes, check out her website here.
pottery taster session in Worcestershire
Newly Thrown
My pots before they were decorated, fresh from the wheel.
I had never thrown a pot before taking part in this taster session at Chris Greening’s studio near Claines, so I wasn’t sure what to expect. Over the next 1.5 hours I learnt how to shape wet clay on a wheel and decorate it. I started with a rounded lump of clay and, using thumb and finger, made a depression in the middle that would form the inside of the pot. Then I slowly teased the clay up and outwards to create the wall of the pot. This is of course a simplification, because like the ring carving class, this was harder than I expected! Shaping the clay with your now wet and cold hands, from repeatedly dunking them into the watery clay mixture that surrounds the wheel, is quite strenuous work. Nonetheless I managed, with Chris’s patient guidance, to create two small pots.
Splashy Fun
I decorated this pot with slip which needs to be fired in a kiln to reveal the colours.
After removing them from the wheel Chris force-dried them with a blow torch ready for decorating. This involved a quick dunk into containers of coloured slip (a watery solution of dye and clay), followed by splashing them with streaks of a different colour from a squeezy bottle, which was a lot of fun. The next stage is to let them dry for a week or more before firing in a kiln.
The Final Result
My finished pots were fired, glazed and fired again to create a glossy finish.
When I received my pots a few weeks later, I was pleasantly surprised at how cute and useable they are. I love the soft colours of the glaze and I keep picking them up to hold! Chris is a great tutor, clearly practised in trouble shooting, so when I struggled to finish the base for my green pot, he knew just what to do. I would happily return for more.
I took part in a 1.5 hour taster session as part of a group of four which cost around £50 per person. If you want to make your own pots check out Chris’s website here.
Abstract familiarity Workshop in Bewdley
I’ve done a lot of painting and drawing over the years, so when my friend invited me to this day-long class with Sally Ellis, I knew I was going to enjoy myself. The colourful studio/gallery in the centre of Bewdley was the perfect setting on a winter’s day, and the tea and cakes were also very welcome. With classes limited to five students, Sally was able to spend a lot of time helping each of us through the steps of creating a painting from scratch.
Sally’s technique involves mark-making using crayons and pastels on a board, then layering with a limited palette of acrylic paints, before scraping away to reveal shapes. Again, this is an over-simplification of the multiple stages involved because this class was challenging, in a good way. It’s also a bit of a work-out as each of the stages is quite gestural, and I was genuinely tired by the end of the day. I appreciated the use of unconventional and inexpensive tools and materials – it really gave me the sense that I could try this technique again at home. Sally asked us to trust in the process and I found it refreshing to just wait to see what would be revealed when I started to scrape back the layers of paint, a little like staring at clouds until you see a dinosaur or fish emerge! My finished piece was a jug of flowers, but others saw fruit and even a tree full of birds.
I thoroughly enjoyed this class and would love try one of Sally’s extended courses next. I think my finished painting looks great and being able to take it home at the end of the day was a bonus.
I attended a 6 hour day course which cost around £95. All materials, plus tea and cakes were provided. No prior knowledge or experience was required. If you’re interested in Sally’s course see her website here.