Celebrating the end of October with another entry in monthly Handmade Chain Challenge! This time with a handbuilt soda-fired hexagon chain that now lives on the side of a patio deck… draped, swagged & interacting with the plants. Can’t wait to see it drifted with snow… sadly, these plants aren’t going to last much longer!!

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Well, here it is… stamped & soda-fired… and my September “entry” in the MONTHLY CHAIN CHALLENGE! I’ve been working on it for awhile now, and I’ve been waiting to share it here. I think the original intention of the challenge was for metalsmiths to show-off their handmade metal chains… but you can make CLAY chains too! And I did… so there!!! HA!!!

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After bisque firing my chain, I started adding some inlaid glazes into the stamped details. After soda-firing, the chain should be toasty & shiny with some stamped textures & patterns!

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Soon enough the extruded coils started becoming a large chain… complete with some stamped details on every other link & some colored flashing slip accents to boot!

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As we are ending another month, it’s time for another installment of the 2021 CHAIN CHALLENGE!!! And this month I’ve gone for another version of the ceramic chain… each link textured & soda-fired with a bit more gray-reduction & shine than the first one!

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#chainlinks2021

Hard to tell size & scale of my March chain… but with my own little “Carol Merrill” at the ready to model for me, it looks even better when someone is wearing it. Huge thanks to my friend Christine for being around today as I “drafted here” to model it for me!!!

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She’s a trooper… and great artist… yes, she’s the one who made the amazing OREO planter for me!!! Huge “props” to Christine!!!

After soda-firing, my chain looks great with some flashing marks to help accentuate the textures on some of the links. Might not be what all of the metalsmiths expected from a chain challenge… but I think I succeeded again! Yeah, I’ll show them!!! HA!!!

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You know how I LOVE a good challenge… and this is the third month of the 2021 CHAIN CHALLENGE started by my pal & metalsmith Sarah Chapman. I’ve been working on my March chain entry for awhile now… as I don’t have the “luxury” of cranking out a clay chain last minute if I want to get it fired. Since today is the last day of March, it’s also the big DEADLINE!!! So here’s a glimpse into the making of my chain for the challenge! Constructed ring-by-ring, sprayed with a little slip… and then soda-fired.

2021chainchallenge – #handmadechain – #chainlinks2021