Artists - Mary Lou Moffat
Born and raised in southern Ontario, Mary Lou moved to Toronto in 1972. While studying dental hygiene at university, she made and sold dolls to local stores. After moving to Victoria, B.C. in 1979, her doll-making took the form of folk art snowmen, which she sold at craft fairs. After taking a jewelry making course with the intention of making jewelry for herself and to give as gifts, a new passion developed. She still works as a dental hygienist, but would rather be at home making and designing jewelry. Mary Lou’s inspirations come from nature and vibrant colour.
PMC - What is it? Precious Metal Clay (PMC) is manufactured in Japan and this revolutionary new material is changing the art and jewelry worlds. It looks and acts like clay, but is instead a versatile clay-like material that you can work, roll, cut, shape, and fire - Jill has a kiln especially designed for it. The organic binders burn out and the result is .999 fine silver. It’s simply amazing. There is no care required. A finish is applied to the metal that causes the colors and depth and exposes the design. It will not tarnish further however, if cleaned with a silver cleaning rag, it will become shiny silver (and never again have the finish originally applied).
Viking Knit - Knitted Silver Wire ? The Viking Knit is not done on a spool as many suppose. It is an ancient Norwegian art called Näalbording. It is done in the opposite form, outward on a dowel. This way the artist can control the number of spines woven, the size gauge of wire used, and also the final size of weave. It is then pulled through a series of drawplate holes until it is still flexible and yet the diameter size weave the artist is aiming for. At that point, it is given the same finish as the PMC, with a pickle (non toxic) that gives it some vibrant colors, and it is cleaned on the raised areas with an abrasive, and tumbled in a tumbler until the silver portions gleam. There is no care required.
Quails' Tale: Jill Rockwell and Mary Lou Moffat are associates, as Backyard Beads, Victoria... They join forces to teach Jewelry Making Classes and present jewelry exhibitions. You may notice a similarity of material but there is a significant difference in design...!
