I'm one of those odd artisans who came to polymer and metal clay late in life - made a conscious decision to add Metal clay to my jewelry making repertoire about 5 years ago, when two unfortunate events occurred - my mother, who's lived with me since my dad died, developed colon cancer and I developed carpal tunnel syndrome. I knew my hands were giving out and it was going to be very hard to drag stained glass around to chemotherapy sessions- that had been my creative outlet for about 15 years.
I started with beading, making tons of beaded bangle bracelets while mom underwent CT scans, chemotherapy and surgeries. Beading is highly portable, and it became almost a form of meditation for me during mom's many medical procedures. As long as my hands were busy, my mind remained calm....
then I moved on to move complicated peyote stitch necklaces, but was frustrated by the focal beads I found in local bead shops.
I'd seen work that Barbara Becker Simon (http://www.bbsimon.com/) had done with metal clay and thought - I can do that.Looking around, there were almost no general or introductory classes in metal clay available in the area, but I did spot a level 1 certification class taught by Cathy Szemanek about an hour away. 2 hours before my first day of class was to begin, mom suffered congestive heart failure and I spent the day at the hospital with her. days 2 and 3 were busy, busy , busy as I played catchup with a medium I fell in love with. Level 2 cert followed and several classes in specific techniques.
In one class we used polymer clay to make molds of antique beads - and that was my polymer experience for a couple of years. then a friend said "you know, you can do a lot more with polymer . the local guild is hosting a 3 day retreat - why not come along...." and another yellow brick road opened up to me.
the members of the NH and central MA polymer clay guilds that hosted the event (the inaugural Klay Karma in 2005) were very welcoming.
poor Judy Dunn (http://www.moms-studio.com/) had me as a table mate and she very patiently introduced me to skinner blends and clay extruders. The members of the So CT guild held and comforted me as I talked about Mom's cancer . As a result of the retreat, I joined the MA guild 
and about 6 months later, I joined the NH guild to take a class with Kathleen Dustin (http://www.kathleendustin.com/) at Wingdoodle (http://www.wingdoodle.com/) in Warner , NH. Boy, talk about jumping off the deep end. before that class, I could make 4 different canes. At the end of the class I was layering gold leaf with translucent clay , slicing the resultant cane at an angle and overlaying those slices over drawings I'd made on the base bead- and several other canes - then sanding the baked piece to bring out the translucence, It may not have come up to the standards of the other, more experienced, participants in the class, but I'd moved light years ahead of where I'd been 3 days earlier.
Mom's health continues to be a roller coaster ride. but during her good periods, I've found time to expand my interest in polymer and metal clay and fused glass- started teaching metal clay through the Brookline (MA) Adult Ed program, where I'd previously taught stained glass, and jumped off the website bridge with a basic personal website - http://www.silvergoldnglass.com/.
and now a blog... stay tuned for my ramblings.
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