The process of making porcelain or stoneware jewelry paired with fine gold begins in a relatively new and renovated warehouse studio.
Where something is made is important not just for the end user that gets to flaunt their new piece, but for those that work in a healthy and happy environment. Porcelain and Stone's founder, Kimberly, was professionally a designer of buildings as well as a LEED Accredited Professional. Consulting on the environmental benefits of efficiently reducing energy consumption, minimizing waste stream, and designing with natural daylight in mind... greatly increased occupant happiness. A good space to work in is like a clean palate, just waiting to take on new designs!
Working with ceramics in particular yields great benefits as well. Sketching out and shaping designs are created weekly in the studio. If a tested design piece is not up-to-standards for the design studio, it can be reclaimed and rehydrated on another date, so it can be worked again into a new piece. Nothing is truly lost or wasted if you work with ceramics.
The finicky nature of porcelain is entertaining and challenging to boot. It is easily influenced by how much humidity is in the air, or if it is a cold day versus a warm day. Which makes it all the more a love affair to constantly work at and get to know, over and over again.
The process of designing, shaping, finessing a piece all lead up to the first firing in a small batch kiln. These kilns are small, electrical kilns that happen to run on a typical household 120V circuit. They fire fast and efficiently making turn around time that much more snappy. By fast, they can fire-up and cool down in about 12 hours or less.
Once items have been bisque fired in the kiln, they go through another round of inspection and get cleaned up for glazing. All the glazing that is done is hand-applied with small, sweeping brush strokes. The glaze is layered in different ways depending on the type of glaze and the particular sculpture.
Firing pieces up to 2223 degrees F, the pieces become vitrified (water-tight) and are ready for being mounted to fine, jewelry hardware or to receive 22k gold and go into another round of kiln firing.
Working in a ceramic studio is beautiful and messy, day-in and day-out. Keeping the workspace clean and inspiring to work in is always the goal and only leads to more chances to flesh out a new design concept.
Many of the designs --if not all-- of Porcelain and Stone's work is influenced by coastal elements and all things nautical in nature. You'll find a lot of heirloom pieces being created in this artisanal studio and we invite those that wish to visit to connect with us!
