Congratulations to Wizz Stearne, winner of the Advanced Category in the Hidden Beauty Challenge! Her winning entry is a pendant entitled, “It’s (not) all Rosey.” The piece is made of Art Clay Silver .999 with alcohol ink for color, and Black Max for patina. Join us for an interview with Wizz about her meaningful, amazing piece.
Finding metal clay
Wizz lives in South Gloucestershire, UK, with her husband and cat (who doesn’t like her). She trained as a traditional signwriter and gilder, and still loves to paint and dabble in all sorts of crafts. Wizz says, “I like playing with leather, and doing a bit of silversmithing. I’ve just taught myself wax carving. I like playing with my Cricut and use the software for creating photo-polymer plates.”
Wizz says, “After my father died suddenly in 2016, mum and I made a conscious effort to spend more time together. In that first year, we did classes on willow weaving, enameling, wire weaving, and silversmithing, to name a few. Silver clay was mum’s choice, and I didn’t want to go since I had tried ceramics and really didn’t enjoy it. We had no idea what silver clay was. When we arrived to a tiny 7g packet of mushy stuff, we were surprised. I made a cute pair of earrings; mum made a pendant. Well, I fell in love with it. Within the week I’d bought a blowtorch and raided my cake decorating box for cutters and a rolling pin. The obsession spiraled very quickly after that!”
Symbolism in “It’s (not) all Rosey.”
The image we present on social media is often the best version of ourselves, but this may not be our truth.
Wizz was inspired to create her symbolic piece “It’s (not) all Rosey”, after a dear friend took his own life this past December. Wizz says, “He was in a dark place, but by his social media presence, you would think he was living his best life. I worry about the metal clay community since we work in our own studios, often spending long hours alone.
The rose is strong, beautiful, and successful. All the flowers in the garden want to be her, the butterflies flock to be close to her incredible scent. But behind the façade, the reality is quite different. The rose is wilting. She feels alone and is drying out under pressure. She has isolated herself with these worries, chained to the beautiful image in place, but the weight of reality is taking a toll.”
Wizz finished, “This piece has made me reflect on my own mental health and social media presence. I hope the piece provides comfort to people in the metal clay community: it’s ok to not be ok. It’s ok to ask for support, and then this wonderful community will respond. Locked in the dark, having boxed herself in with strong walls, under the façade of social media, the rose cannot see the reality in front of her. Many of the flowers will reach up to support and comfort her. The sun will shine down its warmth to bring her strength. The butterflies can offer advice and guidance. And every cloud has a silver lining.”
Planning the piece
Wizz said she’s, “had the idea of a ‘matchbox’ for a while and figured out how to do it in my head – but I had no idea if it’d really work. When the ‘Hidden Beauty’ competition was announced, I knew I had to enter this concept. The rose and social media theme just popped into my head from nowhere. I love kinetic things — anything that moves and the mechanics of how things move inspires me. I was brought up in an engineering family, so developed a love for mechanical things and machinery very young. And I like surprising people; generally, people don’t expect jewelry to move or have a hidden compartment.”
Wizz doesn’t really sketch much: sometimes she creates a rough layout but nothing more. She says, “I wouldn’t say I’m much of an artist since my sketches are very rough. My husband is a huge help with the moving parts; we often rough things out on paper together and discuss concepts of how a slide or a screw will work. One of the sliding sides of the final piece is my ‘prototype’ but it came out so well I used it. I do make silver clay prototypes of parts of kinetic pieces. If my silver clay prototype doesn’t work, I just reconstitute it and try again.”
Challenges
Wizz says, “Some of the challenges for me in the piece were creating the runners to operate consistently and smoothly, the polishing (getting into the internal corners), and the hidden chain attachments.”
She continued, “The biggest challenge came post-firing. The whole piece was assembled pre-firing: the sliders slid up and down beautifully. In the kiln, it warped slightly – the warping wasn’t visible by eye, but was enough that it didn’t open. But to start with, it was only meant to be a prototype. I used pliers to pull and twist the sides back straight. I was dripping a tiny amount of lubricant down the sliders to loosen them a little. The other real stress was attaching the chains; there are 2mm jump rings on the back of the front panel to which the chains attach. Even with the piece fully open, there was not enough space to get pliers in and I could hardly see what I was doing since my hands were in the way. But that was totally worth it. I love the way it hangs, and the chains hold the front closed.”
For Wizz, the unexpected additional challenge was emotional. She went on, “The loss of my friend affected me deeply for a long time. This piece isn’t really a tribute to him, but more of a wake-up call to myself. I have struggled with the pressures of social media and have had to have a break from it from time-to-time. The symbolism of the rose and the social media icons for the background have really resonated with me. I don’t mind admitting there were a lot of tears shed during the making as I mourned my friend and reflected on my own journey, but I also feel quite empowered and privileged to be sharing the message of the piece. And I hope it provides some food for thought to the metal clay community.”
AMCAW challenges
Wizz says, “AMCAW challenges help me push myself a little further than I usually would– try something new, develop a technique. I’m not very good at allowing myself time to create for no other reason than my own enjoyment. I’m always thinking “can I turn this into a class”, “can I sell this”. The AMCAW challenges give me permission to challenge myself and freely create for no other reason than I want to.”
Staying connected
Wizz makes a concerted effort to stay connected. She says, “Two of my best friends and I are in a WhatsApp group we call Sisters in Silver. We chat almost every day – not always about metal clay. And there are other artists and creators I chat with on other messaging services. Social media is great too. I love being able to answer other people’s questions, help guide them on their journey and encourage them. The metal clay community is one of the most supportive and friendly crafting communities I’ve ever come across, and I’m grateful for it.”
Sending a message
In closing, Wizz says, “This piece is sending a message, which I want to re-iterate — social media can be a burden. It’s hard work keeping up the façade of being successful. I think we all use social media to present the best version of ourselves. IT’S OK TO NOT BE OK. If your social media looks perfect, but you’re struggling with anything behind the scenes, that presentation becomes harder – and no one knows you need help. Do not be afraid to ask for help, do not suffer alone. Whether it’s a technique in metal clay, tax returns, or something more personal– please please reach out!! I have no doubt anyone and everyone in the metal clay community will support and help you, myself included. Do not suffer, do not lock yourself away, do not hide behind social media.”
About Wizz
Find Wizz on Facebook facebook.com/misswizzjewellery; Instagram instagram.com/misswizzjewellery
Wizz’s website is misswizzjewellery.com, and her TikTok account is tiktok.com/@miss.wizz.
