Lyle Rayfield: Jewelry: Desert Impressions, October 26, 2024

If you love the Sonoran Desert, you’ll love capturing its beauty in silver metal clay, using pricky pear and cholla skeletons, mesquite beans, and other organic materials found in and around the Tubac area. Choose from an assortment of desert materials and create a pair of earrings, pin, or pendant. Learn to use a 2-part silicone mold mix to capture the impression of your selected sample and recreate its shape in silver clay. You will also learn how a simple butane torch can fire your pieces, so you can continue to use organic materials to make interesting jewelry at home without having to buy a kiln. Microscopic particles of pure silver are combined with an organic binder to produce the clay-like substance known as silver metal clay. When fired at high temperatures, the binder burns off and the metal particles fuse into a solid piece of silver. No experience is necessary, and all skill levels are welcome. Demonstration and instruction will cover how to properly roll, shape, refine, fire, and finish metal clay creations. Hours: 9:30am – 1pm