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PMC and Faux Bone Pendant
By Robert Dancik

The Amazing New Product Makes a Beautiful Pendant

The malleability of PMC in its wet state makes it easy to form, mold, and connect. After firing I have found the resulting fine silver pieces (which are fully annealed) just as malleable, although in a different way. It is easy to forget that when we remove PMC from the kiln, what we have is a piece of metal and we can bring to bear on that piece any and all of the myriad techniques employed in “regular” metalworking. (Or sculpture or collage or printmaking, for that matter.) This does not mean we need a host of tools or an elaborate workshop. With our standard PMC tools and not much more than an additional file, hammer, and a drill, we can incorporate other materials into our PMC and our PMC into other materials.

The other material I am using for this project is Faux Bone®, a PVC product that is easy to use, extraordinarily durable, inexpensive, and safe. It can be hammered, filed, sanded, polished, heated, molded, drilled, and carved. The PMC can be pushed around or into it and it is so tough you can hammer on it, which I do in the project presented here.

For this project I have sawn the Faux Bone®, filed, sanded, and polished it (all by hand — it’s quick work), and then riveted on a fired strip of PMC. Two eye pins and a chain and you’re done!

About The Author

Robert Dancik has been an artist and teacher for more than 30 years. He teaches workshops at art centers in the US and abroad and his work is found in numerous collections. He is a partner in the gallery “zoe & floyd” in Seymour, Connecticut, near his home in Oxford, where he is an avid cook and collector of toys, maps, and compasses. Robert may be contacted at playcik@yahoo.com. You can visit Robert’s excellent website at www.robertDancik.com

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Daily E-mails

Hi Rena!

I loved reading your tips about orphan beads...Here's taking that idea a step further:

When I go to garage sales I always look for jewelry that I can take apart. I almost always find orphan earrings that people will just give away because they have no mate. I take whatever I can get, and will do my best to find a use for whatever I find.

Sometimes, depending on what kind of earring it is, it can be salvaged. A drop earring can be removed from the earring finding and can make either a perfect focal for a necklace if it's large enough, or it can be added to a charm bracelet with a jump ring. It can be used with other orphans earrings to make a unique necklace or bracelet. If the earring is composed of beads, it can be taken apart, and the orphan beads can be used in all the ways mentioned in your last article. Suggesting this to people who know that I make jewelry has brought me commissions that I otherwise wouldn't have had. I ask them if they have any earrings that they used to LOVE...but lost one and can no longer wear the single. I tell them that I can possibly make that earring into something that they can wear...and they jump at the chance. With the price of Sterling going up and up...those orphans are valuable!

Orphan Stud earrings are perfect for decorating a fabric purse, a jacket collar or a scarf. Either singly or in groups that look good together. I don't have pictures, I'm sorry to say, but try to imagine this: A small turquoise stud, along with a tiny lizard and a kokopeli...all together on a jacket collar. Perfect!

I hope you like my ideas. Thanks for your time.

Kind Regards,
F. N. Fargnoli

We are going to have a lot more on Orphan Beads in upcoming bonus reprints of Tips from Rena issues. We hope that you find these timeless tips fun and interesting and by the input from Ms. Fargnoli we can all see that there still an interest in “What To Do With Those Orphan Beads!”
 

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