Callie's love of jewelry-making began when she was a freshman in high school. Her art teacher, having a background in metals, strove to pass on her knowledge of a wide variety of techniques to her students. Here Callie was exposed to the basics, as well as more advanced techniques such as lost wax casting and cloisonné.
Callie continued studying jewelry-making in college at the University of Wisconsin in Madison, although she graduated with a degree in English. In college Callie focused on the technique of forging. After graduation she showcased this work in her first exhibition in July 2000 at the Arlington Heights Memorial Library in Arlington Heights, Illinois.
Callie took a detour from jewelry-making and worked as a flight attendant for two and a half years before being laid off in 2003. Though her days of flying had been great, Callie viewed her lay-off as an opportunity to return to what she had always loved.
She focused her energies on learning to work with a new material called Precious Metal Clay (or PMC). Callie found that PMC was perfect for her designs, and that working with it enhanced pieces that would otherwise be created through casting or forging.
Now all of Callie's jewelry is created using PMC. This amazing material was developed in Japan in the early 1990s. It consists of microscopic particles of precious metal that are combined with water and an organic binder to make a clay-like material. The clay is sculpted and fired in a kiln where the water and binder burn away and the microscopic particles of metal fuse together. After this fusion is complete all that remains is pure precious metal. Callie currently works with silver PMC, resulting in products that are Fine Silver (99.9% silver as opposed to Sterling Silver which is
92.5% silver).
Callie is thrilled to be doing what she loves once again, and her sincere hope is that you will enjoy wearing her creations as much as she enjoys making them!
Thank you for your interest in Callie Seymour Designs.
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