Mud to silver

Malinda Goldhirsch holds a small torch over a small piece of seemingly dry, tan clay. The small leaf-shaped item heats glowing red for a short time before it appears as if to almost melt into silver.

“Every time it’s like magic,” Goldhirsch says sitting at her work station in her home studio. “The clay is so fragile and then all of a sudden it becomes silver. It’s so cool.”

Goldhirsch is a jewelry artist who works exclusively with Precious Metal Clay, a material consisting of pure silver and a water-soluble organic binder that burns off during firing to leave behind silver. In its beginning state the substance is very much like typical clay in that it can be rolled, pressed, squeezed, layered and molded into a desired shape. Once it’s heated to 1650 degrees Fahrenheit either in a kiln or by torch, the silver is left behind to be sanded, polished and patina applied to bring out the design.

“This little piece of mud turns into a cool piece of jewelry,” she said.

PMC was developed by scientists working at Mitsubishi Materials Corporation of Japan in the 1990s. The principle ingredient is silver reduced to tiny flakes along with water and an organic binder. After firing the water and binder have completely burned away all that remains is 99 percent silver.

Goldhirsch had long dabbled in art — photography, painting with acrylics, beading and ceramics — but working with PMC to create jewelry became the art passion she wasn’t expecting to find.

“I like making these tiny pieces that you don’t have to be involved in forever,” she said. “In as short as three hours you can make a simple pair of earrings that you can wear — it’s immediate satisfaction.”

Goldhirsch first learned about PMC at Stumptown Art Studio, where after doing art projects with her daughter who was a toddler at the time, she signed up for an adult class on PMC.

“I had always done art and loved art,” she said. “But until I had my daughter, I didn’t know I was missing that. I needed a creative outlet, but one that didn’t take over.”

She started making pieces for herself, but before long through her day job as a special education paraprofessional for the Whitefish School District she was getting requests from those wanting to purchase her jewelry. She recently completed the Montana Artrepreneur Program, which is offered by the Montana Arts Council that is designed to help artists develop a sustainable business.

“I wanted to make jewelry that I like to wear,” Goldhirsch said. “It’s real simple, a little funky and a little bit flawed. I describe it as jewelry you can wear huckleberry picking in the morning and to a music festival at night.”

Goldhirsch has been working with PMC for a decade and selling her work for less than half of that time. She began working at the kitchen table of her home outside Whitefish before eventually turning the home’s office into her studio. Sales have come mostly through word of mouth, but she now has her work for sale at Meriwether and Stumptown Art Studio, along with online at Etsy.

Goldhirsch takes inspiration from the nature around her and just down the road in Glacier National Park. She takes aspen leaves from her yard and presses them into the clay to pick up the unique shapes and patterns of the leaves. Not so long ago she was on a walk near her home and saw a cloud rising up above the mountains and knew instantly she wanted to try to put that into a future piece.

“I’m always seeing stuff and thinking how can I put that into my jewelry,” she said. “There’s always some sort of natural element. Even the hearts I make have dents and flaws because I don’t want them to be perfect.”

A necklace in the shape of Montana may be covered in designs forming leaves and the sun. A pair of earrings sculpted into the shape of feathers is brought out with intricate carvings creating the texture reminiscent of a real bird’s feather.

Much of her work has become making custom pieces for clients. Sometimes pieces are meant to celebrate a celebration such as a 16th birthday or a new grandchild, but often her pieces are more serious in nature as an inspiration for a friend fighting cancer or a memorial for a lost parent. She keeps a sketch pad in her studio full of concepts — inside the pages are filled with pencil sketches of shapes or animals alongside notes she taken from conversations with clients and her own ideas.

Not every artist enjoys working with input from others, but Goldhirsch says she enjoys the collaborative process that happens to turn a concept into a piece of jewelry.

“It’s nice to work with people and bring our ideas together,” Goldhirsch said. “Some of my best pieces have come from trying to help make people’s ideas come to life.”