Today I shared the work description with 9 people in the beautiful atelier of Hennie Broers from Wirdum. She runs "Studio Nyello" in the DOAS, a huge building, formerly an old craft school. There, on the first floor, she has a beautiful, large space in which she organizes workshops, courses and masterclasses.

​Hennie has been an Art Clay Silver instructor for quite some time and I know her as a great colleague. She designs her jewelry entirely according to her own style and that is exactly what characterizes her. This is not only noticed in the Netherlands. A few of her pieces have recently been exhibited in Milan!
 
Anyway, I can tell a lot more, but Hennie was our hostess for today. Furthermore were present:

• Renske Dussel of “Renske Art” in Terherne
• Edith van Leeuwen of “ArtiChic” in Hillegom
• Margit Borst-Topper of “Zilver en Zo” in Dieverbrug
• Thea Tuinstra from Lemmer
• Marga Stam
• Pietie Oosterdijk
• Domina Liezenga
• Marietje Klunder and
• Reina Visser

Of course you know a number of names, they are well-known Art Clay Silver colleague instructors. The other ladies are regular students of Hennie.
 
We start around 9:30 am and as usual I ask everyone to read the work description and let me know if it is sufficiently clear overall. We then start by setting up a basic ring. They are all colleagues and/or students who regularly work with silver clay. A demo is therefore not really necessary. Explanation about the sequence to get a perfect working result is not enough for most people, so I opt for hands on the job.

It is quite a job, several parts must be made and these must all be exactly the right size. Demonstrations take up too much time, then we will not get the rings fired.

​We go down at noon. There is a cozy lunch table ready. Delicious freshly made curry soup, pasta salad, baguette and tasty fruit juices. Yes, Hennie takes good care of her student club.
 
Work continues after lunch. And all rings are fired around 17.00. Polishing and finishing completely takes unfortunately too much time and will therefore no longer succeed. Frankly, I did not expect this either. I had already asked if an extension was possible, but everyone is tired of working hard and is going home. Fortunately, they are all sufficiently familiar with the material and know how to treat the ring to get a good result.
 
I thank Hennie for her lovely hospitality. We see each other again in December, then we have a clay date. Tonight I will be driving to Renske. In Terherne we have a bite to eat together at "'t Far" and have a nice chat. In the past 2 years we have seen each other very little, agreements and work take up the necessary free time.

Ladies, I want to thank you for participating in this day.
Hennie, thanks for the good organization and the kind hospitality.
​All good fun with your "Roulette Ring"!

As promised in an earlier blog, today Ellen Arends of "Ela Sieraad" from Zwolle comes again for a visit to Studio "Nevada's Dream". This time for the UV-Resin. Prior to this day, I asked Ellen to make the ring at home, according to the technical work description. And she has taken enough time for that, she made no fewer than two!
 
One of these 2 rings is used today as a piece of jewelry for training. This piece of jewelry can therefore be directly decorated with UV-Resin and color pigments. She opts for different colors, but it may catch the eye, as Ellen thinks.
 
Today we also fill the other ring, but in a different way and with completely different material. I found it very nice to be able to supervise this, Ellen will probably tell you more about it in the long term 😉.
 
In the meantime, she also designs the pendant, which is fired during lunch. This is then sanded and polished, and then also decorated with color. For this she uses different shades, namely green, blue and black.

Both designs look neat.
Thank you Ellen for your pleasant presence and commitment.
​Good luck with setting up your new jewelry line!

The last 3 Mondays, 2 nice ladies have kept me company in my studio. Miranda van den Broek from Horssen and Sjaan-Marie Koenders. You haven't read these names in my blogs before. They are a new addition to the world of metal clay.
 
Sjaan-Marie has mastered the technique of silversmithing in the past and is now looking for a less intensive option to design jewelry. Of course you can always combine both techniques.
 
Miranda already has a healthy dose of entrepreneurial blood. She transformed many Cinderella into a princess, you guessed it: beautifying appearance by taking care of hair and skin.
 
Now the ladies are concentrated on providing workshops and creating beautiful jewelry. Art Clay Silver predominates in this.

Miranda and Sjaan-Marie, thank you for coming, dedication and friendliness. On behalf of all colleagues from the Art Clay Silver Instructor Network of the Benelux, I would like to welcome you.

​Thank you for strengthening our team!