About

My name is June Martens and I would like to welcome you to Juno Studios.
 
My personal passion is in Art Clay Silver and other Precious Metal Clays.  For the past several years I have been nurturing my passion – developing my artistic skills using a broad range of methods to work with silver and gold, brass, copper, bronze, enamels. I work with precious and semi-precious stones, and beads of every kind, to create jewellery for men, women, and children. Currently in this journey of development, I am the only active certified instructor of Art Clay Silver® in the Okanagan; the sole Canadian distributor for Accent Gold & Minerals®; co-teacher of Art Clay Silver® in the Rotary Center for the Arts Kelowna with Janice Fingado, who has also been a mentor to me in silver smithing.

Passionate indulgence in the art of making jewellery provides a refreshing counter-balance to the rigorous demands and pressures of everyday life. When I teach jewellery classes, I teach people to similarly engage their artistic sides. As I pass on my skills, I also pass on the spirit of creativity that can be a balance for their lives as well. It is this strong desire, both to pursue the art, and to pass it on, that moved me to apply for studio space at the Rotary Centre for the Arts in Kelowna.
 
There are several methhods I use to create jewellery. Often several methods are used in sequence to build the final creation. I use some traditional silversmith methods such as sawing, cutting sheet silver, hammering, and soldering to create pieces like rings, pendants, and bracelets. I use traditional wire-work to produce everything from the ever popular bangles to Viking style chainmaille. I also use traditional enamelling techniques to add colour to fine silver and copper. I set precious and semi-precious stones by embedding them in metal clay or with time-honoured setting methods that I continue to pass on to my students.
 
My search for new methods to produce traditional Scandinavian and Viking style pendants led me to work with metal clays. The result is that beyond the traditional, I specialize in new approaches to jewellery using metal clays such as Art Clay Silver®, which can be formed, cast, or stamped while in its clay form. Once dry, I fire the piece either with a torch or in my kiln where the non-metal components of the clay burn off leaving pure metal jewellery in silver, gold, bronze, or copper. I use advanced techniques including 24K gold, patinas, and coloured overlays to add exotic colours and textures to pieces. My eclectic background in textile arts enables me to use crystals, beads, and semi-precious stones in fine weaving, wire knitting, and crochet to produce my fabric of jewellery.
 
As an instructor, I seek to inspire the artist in every student because I truly believe that the stress relief and life balance, provided through artistic expression, is of key in our current culture. Whether my students are children or adults, each one is given the opportunity to create something of beauty with their own hands, and to experience the joy and satisfaction of creativity. This is great for building self confidence, patience, and a sense of accomplishment in every student, regardless of skill level.
 
My jewellery teaching experiences have been as diverse as my methods. I taught a weekly art class for a home school support group for two years which included basic beadwork. Since then I have taught private classes to high school students, enabling them to create their own jewellery for graduation; to graduate students wanting to experiment in the arts; to children in groups at birthday parties. I have co-taught Art Clay Silver® at the RCA with Janice Fingado and I also volunteered together with Janice to teach school students in the RCA’s artist career day this past year.
 
Over the years I have demonstrated my commitment to my art jewellery passion. I have made a significant financial investment in tools, training, and equipment. I have completed training in both 1st and 2nd level Art Clay Silver® instructor certification courses. I am currently in the application process to gain Senior Instructor status which will authorize me to teach both level 1 and level 2 instructor’s certification courses.

I would like to express my thanks to my mentor, Janice Fingado. She has been a constant inspiration and joy to me. It is so important to have someone in your life who can inspire you to be better than you could have imagined.

 
Thank you and once again welcome!
 

June Martens