Polymer Clay Jewellery

In this lesson students will learn how to create and sculpt using polymer clay. Students will look at Australian culture and how this can be represented in visuals. Students will use polymer clay to create Australian themed jewellery pieces.

Lesson 1

Students look at the jewellery pieces designed by Molly Coombs Marr. Discuss what these works represent and what they are about, what do students think they are made of.

Show students examples of polymer clay jewellery pieces. Describe how polymer clay works and the differences in the clay once it has been baked compared to when it is out of the packet. Discuss Australian culture and what “Aussie culture” means to the students. View what this may mean from different perspectives eg. someone from a refugee background, an indigenous Australian or someone from an older generation.

Students design their own piece of jewellery which represents an aspect of Australian culture based on their own interpretation. Their jewellery piece could be a pair of earrings, necklace, brooch, key chain, etc.

Lesson 2

Students use polymer clay to create their design. Students can mix colours together to create new ones and use clay tools to create textures. Students should think about the size of their work and how this will suit their chosen piece of jewellery. They should also think about the jewellery findings they will be using and whether they will need to add extra holes in their work to loop through jump rings.

Once students have finished modelling their piece they can oven bake it and then add their jewellery findings.

Reflection:

Analyse what your work means to you and how it relates to Australian culture. How does creating a piece based on culture impact its meaning when it is presented as jewellery piece as opposed to an artwork in a gallery setting?