Tales of the Heart Competition Winners Announced!

The Tales of the Heart Competition has proved, yet again, that the creative potential of PMC is limited only by the imagination. Sponsored by Mitsubishi Materials Corporation, the competition challenged artists to create an original work of art from PMC and gave them just one constraint—every piece must incorporate a heart. The 28 artists who entered the competition each had a different "tale of the heart" to tell. Fittingly, the winners were announced on Valentine’s Day.

The judges, Bill Griffith, Patrick Kusek and Annie Pennington, had a hard time singling out just three entries for recognition. "The quality of work was impressive," says Annie. The most important qualities were craftsmanship, content, and design. They also looked for pieces that told a story and pushed beyond simple heart imagery.

First place winner Kimberly Nogueira crafted a mechanical memory box and time piece in honor of her son, who recently left for college.

"I was trying to capture the extraordinary wonder and bliss of watching him grow," she says. "I was trying to capture a mother's love, which must balance embracing and then releasing."

The figure in the heart is her son as a toddler, eating cotton candy, his favorite childhood treat. Turn a knob on the back and a golden comet, similar to the one they watched together when he was a baby, flies through the sky above him.

For Kimberly, the competition offered an opportunity to push the boundaries of her abilities and create something outside of her comfort zone.

"I used the competition as a self-teaching medium, allowing myself to put together a project on paper that was beyond my skill level and forcing myself to figure out how to make it," she says.

The result is truly spectacular.

Meenu Devrani’s second-place heart pendant was inspired by the words of the poet Rumi, which helped her get through a particularly difficult time in her life:

                               Allow yourself to break, so you can

                                                 know my certainty

                                Live my fragility, so you can come

                                                  into my strength

    My majesty is eternal, yet trembles in each flower

          My power is deathless, yet weeps at each death.

"I like beautiful ornate work and often combine an ethnic and organic look and feel in the jewelry I create, but at this time in my life, all the ideas of joyous, pillow-like hearts went out the window," she says.

Third-place winner Catherine Witherell found her inspiration in her favorite childhood story—The Nightingale by Hans Christian Anderson.

"It's a beautiful little story, and I read it over and over," she says. "When I made this pendant, my memories and my love for the story came rushing back to me, as though it was part of me. I think hope is a little part of you, deep inside, that is beautiful and keeps you going."

Each of the winners wanted to thank Mitsubishi Materials Corporation for sponsoring the competition, the judges for their time and consideration, and the PMC community as a whole for its support. To learn more, you can visit the Tales of the Heart Competition website and you can view larger photos of the winners’ work on Rio's Flickr photo stream .

Comment on this article

---

Discover Rio’s Hands-On Jewelry-Making Classes and Workshops

Andy, a self-professed “non-jeweler,” dives into a Beginning PMC class by the one and only Yvonne M. Padilla. What will he create?

...Read the Rest

---

Save $200 When You Register Now for Metal Clay by the Bay!

With a huge list of metal clay artists and teachers, and ten different packages covering four days, the Metal Clay by the Bay conference in San Diego next August is sure to be an exciting and rewarding educational experience. Will you be there?

...Read the Rest

---

Attention PMC Artists: The Tales of the Heart Competition is Just for You!

Put your heart into this free contest, PMC artists, and you could win big. . .

...Read the Rest

---

Book Excerpt: A Project from Contemporary Metal Clay Rings by Hattie Sanderson

Have you heard about Contemporary Metal Clay Rings, the new book by well-known artist and teacher, Hattie Sanderson? Earlier this week on the Studio, we reviewed this must-have gem and today we’re privileged to share a step-by-step Interchangeable Spinner Ring project directly from Hattie’s new book! What better way to get a sneak peek of a great new book?

...Read the Rest

---

Carving Wax Metal Clay Molds: A Video with Mark Nelson and an Upcoming PMC® Class with Barbara Becker Simon!

Do you love to create surface texture in your Precious Metal Clay pieces? Today, we’re featuring an inspiring video with Mark Nelson, in which he shares his techniques for transferring texture to metal clay pieces. If the video leaves you wanting more, you can also join an upcoming Intermediate PMC class with Barbara Becker Simon!

...Read the Rest

---

Book Review: Contemporary Metal Clay Rings by Hattie Sanderson

In Hattie Sanderson’s wonderful new book, Contemporary Metal Clay Rings, Hattie doesn’t take anything for granted — She shares her knowledge and experience with the reader as if they are being fully mentored in her studio. Check out today’s review of her book and stay tuned for a fully excerpted project of her Interchangeable Spinner Ring in just a few days!

...Read the Rest

---

Making Custom Stamps and Stencils with the Imagepac Stampmaker

Have you ever wanted to make your own metal clay stamps and stencils at home and quickly? The ImagePAC Stampmaker is the answer! It’s super easy to use, takes no time at all to learn, and you get to make your own one-of-a-kind stamps and stencils!

...Read the Rest

---

Check Out the New PMCGuild.com!

Rio is honored to now host the PMC Guild’s website. If you’ve never checked out all the irreplaceable information and inspiration PMC Guild has offered over the last fifteen years, now is the time!

...Read the Rest

---

Video Project with Candace Gates: Making a Metal Clay Ring

Today’s post on The Studio features a video with artist Candace Gates, in which she shows us how to make a beautiful metal clay ring using one of her own Dynasty Stamps and a handheld butane torch. As she demonstrates, Candace provides helpful cleaning, finishing, and torch-firing tips. Come on over and check it out!

...Read the Rest

---