Winning four awards in as many months has left Metalwerx instructor Michela \u2018Mikki\u2019 Verani ecstatic: \u201cIt\u2019s amazing. I\u2019m shocked. On cloud nine.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Dragonfly Nymph pendant, silver, moonstones<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

But that\u2019s not all. It\u2019s the second year in a row that her work was selected for publication in the PMC Guild\u2019s fifth Annual<\/a>, a yearly compilation of the best work in metal clay, this time for “Fern Box”. The Annual will be made available in October, which also happens to be when her how-to article, \u201cIce Storm Pendant,\u201d will be published in Bead Unique Magazine<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt tells me I went into the right area. That I can submit to contests that have hundreds or more people entering, and come out in the top three,\u201d Mikki said. \u201cI\u2019m moving in the right area in my work, and it\u2019s good work. I guess I\u2019m getting to the top of my game!\u201d<\/p>\n

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The Dragon's Hoard<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Mikki will share her metal clay expertise in three Metalwerx classes this fall, Intro to Metal Clay<\/a>, Intermediate Metal Clay Techniques<\/a>, and Advanced Metal Clay Techniques<\/a>. She has achieved Level II in the Metal Clay Master’s Registry, one of the first in the world to achieve this credentialing, and is also an Art Clay Certifying Senior Instructor.<\/p>\n

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The Dragon's Hoard, revealed<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Metal clay inspires a lot of emotion in jewelers. Some have a hard time accepting it as a genuine jewelry art form, and there are others who love its plasticity. Mikki likes “how forgiving it is. If I don\u2019t like what I\u2019m making, I don\u2019t have to fire it. I can grind it, reconstitute the clay, and make another piece,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

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Garden Dreams bracelet<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\u201cWith traditional metalsmithing\u2014cutting, soldering, hammering, you get to a certain place and if you don\u2019t like it, you\u2019ve destroyed your metals unless you melt it down and reconstitute it. With metal clay, you never lose it,\u201d she said. \u201cI like that it works like clay, so flexible. It\u2019s a nice meld of dimensionality.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Iris Inro pendant<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Metal clay, in which silver, gold, platinum, bronze, or copper is mixed with a water-soluble organic binder, is a relative newcomer to the jewelry making world. Precious Metal Clay was developed by Dr. Masaki Morikawa of the Mitsubishi Materials Corporation in Japan. In 1990, the material was introduced to Japanese artists who produced complex, elegant jewelry using ceramic-forming techniques.<\/p>\n

To bring the product to the U.S. market, the makers convened a who\u2019s-who of metal artists at Haystack Mountain School in Deer Isle, Maine, to experiment with it. After a distributor for the product was identified, the material became available here in 1997. Since then, another company, the AIDA corporation, has entered the market with a slightly different product called Art Clay.<\/p>\n

\u201cPeople are starting to realize you can make some nice things with it,\u201d Mikki said. \u201cAt first, the people using it weren\u2019t metalsmiths, they were crafters. But I\u2019ve started to see people take it more seriously as an art.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Michela "Mikki" Verani<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Artists in metal clay can now undertake certification programs offered by specific brands, enabling them to receive discounts on material. The international Metal Clay Masters Registry<\/a> was established in 2004 to formalize the credentialing of these various programs. Working at their own pace, artists complete fifty projects in five categories to be professionally evaluated. \u00a0The educational organization, Precious Metal Clay Guild<\/a>, provides a wealth of information for its members, including a discussion board and a yearly conference.<\/p>\n

Mikki has had six winning pieces for the annual Fire Mountain Gems Competition, each of which has been featured in their full-page back cover magazine ads. The exposure has been good for sales, as she gets calls from folks interested in purchasing her work or taking classes with her.<\/p>\n

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Fern box<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

“It\u2019s a nice adjunct to metalsmithing,\u201d she said. \u201cMetal clay is more cost efficient in terms of tools. Just think of how casting takes so much equipment. And it has an immediacy to it that can\u2019t be done in regular metals. There are things you can do without having to sculpt or carve or cast wax.\u201d<\/p>\n

You can see more of Mikki\u2019s work on her website, Everlasting Treasures<\/a>. All Fall classes at Metalwerx begin September 19. Visit the Metalwerx<\/a> online to see a list of all classes and upcoming weekend workshops, or to register.<\/p>\n

–by Yleana Martinez<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"