Central YMCA

I have been teaching bronze casting and ceramics here since 1998, and silver casting with general bench jewellery skills, and occasional sculpture / drawing from life, since about 2000.  The two pictures below left are of a sterling ring made by Joanna Harris; the top of the ring consists of an organic saucer-shape made by pouring molten sterling silver into water.  It was then soldered to a sterling band. The pictures right are of a ‘mercat’ made by Segal Patel, in fired clay with glazes and over-glazes.  The purpose of the second picture is that it can be ‘flickered’ with the first so that the heart flashes “Las Vegas”-style.
The items below were made by Alan Reynolds, who was also a member of the JLP ceramics group until it finished in 2007.  He is a prolific and accomplished crafter, working with clay, PMC, wax and silver.
The sterling silver ring below (two pictures) is also by Alan, made in the Spring 2009 jewellery course.  The ring consists of a tapered strip of silver with a slot sawn at the larger end, and the smaller end threaded through.  A tab was then folded over.  Anyone who has tried these kind of operations on work-hardening metal will know that it is a lot more complex than it sounds, and one still has to end up with the right size!  The ring is pictured before sanding and polishing.  Then there are two pictures of floral-themed ceramics by Chris Coggins from the summer 2009 ceramics class.
Below from the same class is another picture of floral-themed items by Chris Coggins, then a brilliant crimson hemispherical bowl with free-form edges by Harriet Bartlett, a polar bear by Elena Nemtseva, and a coil-wound bowl by Anusha Luchman-Roy
Below is a sterling silver pendent by Alan Reynolds; the three sections of strip were roller-textured before soldering to a small sterling tube (behind) to take the chain. To the right of that is a burnished unfired bowl by Danna Walker.  Then we have a set of three sterling textured strips also by Alan Reynolds, and finally a sterling silver bracelet by Joanna Harris.
The two heads are by Michael Storrs, in porcelain paper clay, as yet unfired. These are followed by an unfired buff earthenware / stoneware clay hemispherical pot with lid (it actually has three small peg-like feet below) by Clotilde Passalaqua, and a selection of fired tiles with slip-coloured relief design by Maggie Boyle.
Below we have a heavy hammer-finish copper bangle by Michelle Wong, then Anna Galica modelling her brass hammered bangle in our art room, followed by a close-up of the bangle. Finally there is a fine silver (PMC) flower form with ear wire and sapphire crystal by Magda Brzezniak.