Witten transforms drab clay into silver

A homely, creepy caterpillar spins itself into cocoon and come out months later transformed into one of nature's works of art.

A drab, colorless bit of clay is placed into a kiln and comes out transformed into one of Gina Witten's works of art -- 99.9 percent pure silver. Is it alchemy that allows this artist, recently transplanted to Wartrace, to change sediment to silver? Magic?

No, it's just a product called silver clay.

"There are small, minute particles of silver in an organic binder," she said. "When you fire it and the binder melts away, you're left with the silver."

Of course, anyone can put the clay lump in and pull the silver lump out. Turning that lump into a work of art, however, is another thing altogether. It is a talent Gina has merged with skill for 17 years now, creating hand-formed jewelry and sculptures. She's been working with the amazing, magical stuff since it first became available in the United States, and she was the sixth person declared a "Master Instructor" of the art.

"I've always been artistic," said Gina. A native of Washington D.C., she has spent the last 35 years in the mountains of North Carolina -- fertile breeding ground for the creative soul.

"I came her from a little town called Micaville, close to Asheville," she said. "It has a strong arts community and I was a member of the arts council there."

She is looking forward to getting involved with the arts community here in Bedford County, too, and an exhibit of her work will soon be at the Fly Cultural Arts Center, 204 S. Main St. A reception there will be held from noon to 4 p.m. on Sunday, Feb. 14.

Closer to family

Gina moved to Wartrace to be closer to her daughters.

"They met their husbands here," she said.

They came here to visit their dad and found not only a new home, but love in the form of Janice's Kent Cline and Judy's Danny Phillips. Between them, they have given Gina 10 grandchildren -- and 10 more reasons to move closer.

One of her grandsons, Logan Phillips, stopped by with his mom to ask Gina's help on a school project.

"I need to know what kind of rock this is," he said, holding it out on the palm of his hand.

"It's a mineral and it starts with 'C'," she told him. "We've got lots of books -- you can find it."

Getting her grandchildren, and before that, her children, to think and learn for themselves is part of the creative process.

"I used to have them make birthday cards themselves," she said.

Deeper meaning

Besides silver and clay, she knows gemstones, too. And gold and bronze and copper -- even glass. She has worked with all of them in her career, making pendants of almost unearthly beauty, and, with many of them, deep, earthly meaning.

"I love creating things that mean something to people," she said.

She has one such piece -- a small pendant with the imprint of a seashell.

"When my mother died, she was cremated. We had her services on the beach and I took a seashell I found there and pressed it into the clay," said Gina. "It's a special memory piece for me."

She does sell her work, of course, but even that has come to have a deeper meaning.

"I used to have my own shop, but I didn't want to deal with that anymore," she said. "I do fundraisers now."

Gina brings her art jewelry to a special event raising money for a nonprofit organization. Some of the money she makes goes to the charity and she couldn't be happier.

"It's a win-win-win," she said. "Everybody gives something wonderful, everybody gets something wonderful."

Art and soul

Gina's first forays into the art world had nothing to do with the visual arts and everything to do with the performing arts.

"I started taking dance when I was 3," she said. "I did ballet and jazz. I got into the visual arts when I was 17 and started with fabric painting."

One of her dreams was to make her own jewelry and about 25 years ago, she took up glasswork, making her own beads -- an art form she still engages in regularly. Much of her jewelry is of the silver, but much more of it shimmers and glitters and shines in glass. Often, imbedded in the glass are particles of precious metals or gems.

Embracing the silver clay as a medium solved a big problem for Gina when it came to making jewelry. Lost wax casting is a popular method of working silver, which is not as malleable as gold, but the cast pieces usually have to be soldered together.

"I could never solder well, and you can't be a jeweler unless you solder," she said.

But with silver clay (or the newer bronze and copper clays) you mold, not cast. Depending on the type of clay and the desired affect, she said, you can create sculptures, pendants, pins -- even origami. One kind of the clay comes in sheet form and can folded in the Japanese art form. Once the piece is fired in the kiln, the result is the same figure, only in shining silver instead of dull off-white. The piece is usually smaller than before it went into the kiln. Depending on the type of clay, the process will lose 12 to 29 percent of its volume in the process.

Like regular clay, silver clay can be molded or stamped, although Gina prefers not to use stamps.

"Everyone of my pieces is unique," she said. "I don't want to do assembly-line, cookie-cutter jewelry."

If she does use a stamp to make an impression, the stamp itself is guaranteed to be unique by order of Mother Nature -- such as shells or leaves.

Gina isn't considering another shop, but she would like to get back to teaching, and using that Master Instructor certification she earned. Her house is in the throes of renovation and as soon as that is finished, she hopes to have her studio completed and room for small classes.

"We remodeled with that in mind," she said. "The living room now opens up into the studio. I love to see people's faces who say they can't make anything -- and then they make something beautiful."

The construction chaos hasn't kept curtailed her creativity.

"I do paper art and I make soap," she said. "Creativity feeds my soul. If I couldn't create, I wouldn't be here."

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If you go

The reception for Gina Witten's silver clay art exhibit at The Fly, 204 S. Main St., is from noon to 4 p.m. Sunday, Feb. 14.