Congratulations to Bettina Hauser, winner of the Beginner Category in the Great Combinations Challenge! Her winning entry is a pendant which captures bark and moss found in a walk in a nearby park in a pendant with granite-effect air-dry clay and fine silver. Join us for an interview with Bettina about her winning creation.
“When I was going for a walk towards the main city park, I suddenly noticed big pieces of thin maple bark on the ground that had been brought down by an intense wind. The pieces fascinated me as they showed lovely structures of moss, firmly grown onto the bark, as well as the interesting texture of the bark itself. I decided to experiment with integrating pieces of it into different media.”
“The Fimo Air Dry granite effect clay was the most interesting, as its granite stone and concrete appearance was an interesting analogy to where I found the bark. I also decided to use the bark structure as a repeating pattern on the side of the brooch. With it, something very fragile and delicate, originating directly from nature, has been kept safe and protected.”
“The process of creating it was experimental. I first checked which media I could best integrate pieces of the thin bark into without breaking them or altering their appearance. Fimo Air Dry granite-effect clay was the solution I liked the most, as its texture and shrinkage allowed a rather seamless and safe integration of the bark, and the color of it went along nicely. Then I created three differently sized forms and checked into which one I could best integrate the banderol with “SAVED” (created by pressing letter-shaped pasta into metal clay) and decided which one I liked best.
“I had issues integrating the combined bark/air dry clay into metal clay as I used rather organic forms, not straight lines. Not wanting to cut my object, I checked various resources for possible solutions and decided to try duplicating the object via silicon impression and then casting investment. This worked surprisingly well.”
Bettina learned about metal clay years ago but only recently started using it. “I first learned about metal clay when I joined a first silversmithing course about 15 years ago but continued with traditional silver work. This was until the middle of this year, when, after a longer break from working with silver, I decided I wanted to do something creative again. Following a little internet research, I found a lot of fascinating information on metal clay (including the AMCAW learning center, amongst others), and I ordered my first package of metal clay.”
“I am creating in metal clay mostly on my own. For support, I am referring to either internet media or asking my local metal clay shop for support. In addition, there are initial metal clay courses at local adult learning centers (VHS, or Volkshochschulen).”
“I used to create necklaces from various beads, preferably from African and Moroccan/Berber origins, but so far, I haven’t yet mixed metal clay with beading. Let’s see what the next AMCAW challenge will bring!”
This is the first challenge that Bettina has entered. “I liked the topic of the challenge and wanted to use the opportunity to get feedback related to my first works in metal clay. Being relatively new to metal clay, I was not sure whether my metal clay knowledge would be sufficient to participate. At the same time, I found the topic of the challenge inspiring and stimulating and kept thinking about possible combinations.”
When asked what she’d say to others considering entering a challenge, Bettina said “Don’t hesitate – do it! It is fun to see how other artists have translated the same topic into completely different art.”
About Bettina
Bettina lives in the countryside in Ihrlerstein, a beautiful community located in the middle of Bavaria, Germany.
