Paula McDowell found her second career when she discovered metal clay. She creates jewelry objects that echo nature’s textures, forms and movements using both traditional and non-traditional methods. Paula is a Hadar's Clay™ Accredited Teacher, and also holds Rio Rewards and PMC Connection Level 1 certifications. A large part of her business is providing instruction in metal clay and traditional metalsmithing methods. Paula enjoys sharing her knowledge and helping others to learn and achieve their own creative goals. Participation in a creative community is very important to Paula. She is a co-founder of the Alliance for Metal Clay Arts Worldwide (AMCAW) and L’esprit du Metal, The Louisiana Chapter of the PMC Guild.

In this video, Paula creates a sea ammonite pendant by carving EZ960® Sterling Silver Clay with the Micro Rotary Hand Tool. While carving holes into the clay, she is able to create connections between each hole. This creates a hollow piece that is lightweight and provides clay dust that can be reconstituted. The Micro Rotary Hand Tool is a carving tool that can create holes, lines and texture in the greenware state.

This technique and project were originally developed by Hadar Jacobson.

The tools and supplies used in this video are listed below.