The Art of Metal Clay (revised and expanded)

When I saw Sherri Haab at the PMC Conference, she gave me a copy of her revised and expanded book, The Art of Metal Clay. It was fun to see the finished product - Sherri had asked me to contribute to the new section on etching and she included my instructions and photos showing the water etching process.

The new book looks great. I finally had a chance to look it over today - and even found time to check out the DVD that's included. The original edition of the book is one I've always recommended to students, and the new version will now take its place. Sherri does an excellent job of taking the reader through the basics and sample projects that cover a wide variety of techniques. Her instructions are clear, easy to follow, and well illustrated with photos. You'll find instruction in silver, gold, bronze, and copper clays, as well as info on stone setting, mold making, adding resin, polymer clay and much more. 

Several of the sample projects in the book are the same as the first edition, though a number of those are repeated with a different example demonstrated (like the bezel for delicate stones). Other project ideas are expanded with more instruction or information. There are new sections about bronze and copper, etching, and enamel. Some things from the first edition were not included and there are several new gallery images too.

The DVD has four projects (not in the book) and provides an opportunity to watch Sherri at work. It's filmed very well so you can really see how she does each step. My original edition of the book didn't include a DVD (later versions did), so I'm not actually sure if these are new videos or not. 

And I'm not biased just because I'm a contributor. The Art of Metal Clay (revised and expanded) is a thorough and clear instructional book for working with metal clay. Of course, you might guess that I happen to think the water etching part is one of the highlights...
:)