Precious metal clay on ceramics

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by: Adam Hunter
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Word Count: 556
Date: Fri, 18 Mar 2011 Time: 6:56 PM
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When looking to take your ceramic designs to the next level through its decoration you may not have thought of precious metal clay when it came to giving your piece a new cutting edge.
Using precious metal clay on ceramics is something that is still relatively new when it comes to the decorating of the piece.

The method offers a wealth of new opportunities and styles to get your creativity flowing and create new interesting pieces that are original and experimental.
So how can you use precious metal clay on your ceramics?

Using precious metal clay
The ceramic piece that has been made firstly can be decorated by the precious metal clay at multiple stages of the process depending on the finish that you desire.

You can decorate the ceramics after the pot has been crafted for example or, if you prefer, you can decorate the pot after the ceramics have been blasted in the initial firing.
This means there is the potential for multiple textures and finishes at your fingertips, just by changing the time you decide to decorate.

Precious metal clay can also be used in a normal electric kiln however it is unadvised to use a smaller sized kiln should not be used at over 2000F as this can cause the kiln to be pushed to its limits.
The ideal kiln to use with precious metal clay is recommended as being a smaller kiln for the precious metal clay projects and a larger kiln for the pottery as these are more suitable to handle the ceramics and the burden the kiln takes.

Working with different pieces
When working with the precious metal clay on different surfaces, different methods are used in order to get the most out of your design.

When using precious metal clay from a piece of glazed ceramics you may want to consider using a stencil firstly to craft the particular design that you are looking for.
Once you are happy with the design, you can drape the design and place it over your ceramic piece and applying the finishing touches.

Once the precious metal clay has then had chance to set before removing it from the pot.
This is just one method that you can use when decorating your ceramics to get one of the many effects precious metal clay can offer to your designs.

There are similar and different techniques that you can use in your decoration with many books and jewellers being able to offer advice on how you can get the most out of your designs.
It is recommended that you experiment with your pieces to find what is best for you as there may be certain techniques that you are more comfortable with and can get the most out of your work through.
Once you have found the best way for you to design your ceramics, you can then try more experimental pieces that require more challenging designs.

If you want to find more information on precious metal clay and how you can use it to take your ceramic designs further, you can find information from specialists online, in books or perhaps in your local jewellers.

About the Author

Adam Hunter - E-commerce Marketing Manager of cooksongold.com. Cookson Precious Metals offer a choice of supplies from over 10,000 products including gold and silver wire, jewellery findings, tools, precious metal clay, fimo clay and polymer clay - gold, silver, platinum and palladium plus technical information for jewellers, jobbers, designer, craftsmen, artisans and students.