Silver clay is a material, invented in the 1990s, made up of fine silver particles (usually recycled from the photographic industry, X-rays, electronic devices etc), an organic plant based binder and water. The clay can be moulded, rolled, textured and shaped. We then leave it to dry, file and refine the piece before firing it with a butane torch (a creme brule torch will do!) or in a jewellery kiln. The resulting silver piece can then be polished ready to wear! The resulting silver is of hallmark quality.

There are two types of silver clay, 999 fine silver and 925 sterling silver. In these workshops, we will be using the 999 fine silver as the 925 sterling silver requires the use of a kiln.

In my workshops, we use Art Clay Silver manufactured by Aida. Other silver clay products are available on the market and you will use them in the same way as I teach on my workshops. Some clays have different firing guidance so do check that carefully before purchasing.

Find out more about silver clay in this short interview with me and Lynn filmed by That's TV Scotland in January 2020

What other metal clays are available?

You can get bronze clay, copper clay, steel clay, sterling silver clay, fine silver clay and gold clay.

The majority of these clays need to be fired in a kiln so I do not teach workshops using them. This is part of my ethos and that of the Arienas Collective to teach skills that you can easily do from home. Jewellery kilns are expensive and so not as accessible.