METAL CLAY & COLOR

24 In a Box

Ice cream cones were special. But, my favorite treat was a “24 in a box” crayon set. At that time, this box was considered to hold all the colors of the rainbow and then some. I could spend hours swiping them across the paper, coloring in blocks of letters, melting and combining them, and generally enjoying all their intrinsic colorful beauty.

I got this same sense of the effect of color when I reviewed Kalmbach Publishing newest book, “Metal Clay & Color.” Several years ago I played around with metal clay. Although there were many aspect of the material I found to be interesting, the lack of color to me was a turn-off. Not anymore! This “colorful” book by Mary Wohlgemuth, with a foreword by Celie Fago, is a must see, must have read for all metal clay artisans.

There are numerous projects listed beginning with “Easy keum-boo” where one can even utilize gold leaf, to a series of “Legends Rings” where one is introduced to the use of dichroic glass scraps to create various colored dynamic cabochons.

Color agents such as dye oxides, polymer clay, ceramic clay, and low fire under glazes are utilized in many of the projects. Gilders paste, a durable wax medium is introduced which adds an extra punch to the Flor earrings project. Alcohol ink is another technique used with great success.

This book is a Pandora’s crayon box of more than 24 colors for the metal clay artist. Watch out “Crayola” you now have lots of competition.