Yay! My pottery bib necklaces are finally finished! I love them. They are totally funky and totally cool. They are not for the conservative at heart, that’s for sure!
These are actually test samples. I learned a lot about what worked and what didn’t work. The necklaces on the top left and right were under glazed in black and then one was glazed in green and the other in a periwinkle blue. This was a failure. When they came out of the kiln the green and the blue were nowhere to be found. The black was too dark for the glazes to show through. A friend at pottery had the idea to try decorating them with nail polish because that is a form of enamel. This didn’t work either; the black was too dark. So next I went to these metallic paints I had and they did just the trick. The light hits the metallic particles and they glow. The olive-green one looks hideous in a way, but so cool on. The blue one reminds me of the inside of mussel shells, which is an idea I will have to revisit. The center necklace glazes worked out perfectly. That was nice.
So things to factor in the next time I attempt these is to flatten the arch shapes because the clay shrinks and these finished pieces are smaller than I intended. I need to rework the shape to fit around the neck better and calculate for shrinkage. The other idea I had was to create bezels out of the clay to add Swarovski crystals. This worked for the most part but next time I’d make the holes larger for when they shrink.
Other than that, they are fully functional and ready to wear. I already have my outfits picked out for the week. Ahh, there is nothing like a new piece of jewelry!
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Wow Mary, I never thought they would come out THAT beautiful! I really like the one on the bottom! Another project you’ve done well!!!