All of the artists at the gallery make what they create because they love the processes of it.  Marilyn Clayton wanted to explain this process.

The cuff bracelet pictured is a good example of Reticulation in Sterling Silver.  This process is one of Marilyn’s faves as it uses one of her favourite tools, a torch!!

The flat piece of silver is super-heated past red hot and just before melting.  What this does is get the copper that is in the sterling silver liquefying and moving around inside the sterling sheet.  This forms to patterns seen in this bracelet which looks and kind of feels, like leather.

As a child, Marilyn Olivia Clayton (MOC) could be found sketching, creating cartoons, beading rings with her cousin Karen, painting, knitting, crocheting, rug hooking and so on.

During her 32-year career as a Registered Nurse, Marilyn used art as a creative outlet and as a healing therapy.

A search for miniatures for a miniature garden led to Marilyn’s exploration of polymer clay as a medium for creating miniature pieces for gifts and eventually to making beads and then of course classes to learn how to put them together and so it began in earnest.

From classes in Polymer clay to jewellery making classes at her second home, Iguana Beads, in Cambridge; where Marilyn met two of her major influences, Deb Benninger of InDividual by Design (A phenomonal creator, and teacher of wire weaving), and Pearl Blay, blogger at the Beading Gem, and fabulous teacher of a variety of metal and beaded media.

Marilyn’s daughter in law, Sarah, a talented artist herself, pointed her to the popular art of mala making which connected her to the gemstones, to which she felt an immediate affinity. By the time she made family, friends, customers, including a native women’s group over a hundred malas, she was a pro at stringing beads and began identifying the healing properties of the crystals(gemstones) she was working with.

From there workshops with the Kims!  Kim Krompf of KW Studio the wonderful world of metal smithing; and Kim Kool of The Hive Encaustic studio where she began her exploration of the versatile, and mixed media world of encaustic painting. Both use torches!  Insert child-like excitement! And the ability to tell stories and create to her heart’s content.

In 2016 Marilyn began to sell her jewellery creations under the name “One of a Kind Jewellery and Crafts”.  She attended craft shows and had a website to sell her wares.  In 2018 she began to show and sell her jewellery at the Fenelon Falls Station Gallery and continues as one of the artist cooperatives’ members at this time.  The Gallery is open from mid-May to September each year and is a historical train station and wonderful backdrop for up to 20 artists’ beautiful wares.

In 2021 Marilyn retired from nursing and decided it was time to focus on the left side of her brain and move to the north country where she could enjoy her family and artistic pursuits in the fresh air and relative simplicity of a tiny town on the southern tip of Algonquin Park.  This 115 year-old school house seemed uniquely suitable for a home base and workshop.

This seemed a fitting time to launch her jewellery and encaustic/mixed media art with a rebranding and so 8th MOC Designs was born.  8th because of her position in her large family of 10 children and MOC of course, for her initials.

Mary Firth’s childhood home on Lorne Pk. Rd.

When I was a kid in the 1940s, Christmas cards were folded in quarters; so my mum saved those that had no writing on the blank inside for us three kids to draw on. No pads of paper for us as, like so many others, our family was struggling after the war. But each of us had our very own box of 8 Crayola crayons – basic colours only! So we spent hours drawing and colouring and reading and playing outside with all the kids along Lorne Park Road. There was no TV, no devices back then.

I loved Friday afternoons in public school- art until recess. Bliss! I took Art all though high school and university, and summer courses at OCA in copper enamelling and paper sculpture, travelling with my former Grade 2 teacher to Toronto. I was fourteen. After completing two summers at OCE I returned the following summer to OCA to start work on my art specialist which I never completed. (I got married – as my principal said, I was taking another course!) But that summer course was lots o fun sketching in Kensington Market, on the ferry to the Toronto islands and there as well.

I sold my first oil painting that summer to one of my roommates for the princely sum of $5! Marriage brought all that fun stuff to halt – teaching, weekends devoted to laundry (wringer washer, clothesline), house work (which I loathe!) and the one bright spot, entertaining our teacher friends. Still have them, by the way!

In 1970 we tore down the old log house, and built new and larger one which was rather unfinished for quite some time. At that point we had two boys, so needless to say I was kept busy with the kids and painting trim, laying and grouting tile etc. Lots of good stuff to keep me out of trouble! So, here we get around to stained glass. When the boys were old enough to understand ‘Don’t touch!’ in 1982, I drove from the farm to Port Perry for a night school course. And here I will break off, but will continue this journey at another time.  Stay tuned.

View from Mom’s Deck

What inspires me?  The project I’m currently working on was sparked by a photo my mother took from her deck…a stunning sunset seen through the leafless trees in late autumn.  I pulled some very old and hand rolled glass from my glass stash…stuff I’ve had for many years but was waiting for the right inspiration.  The pattern I drew was limited by the amount of glass I had to work with.  Pattern placement is key.  No mistakes could be made while I was cutting the glass, or I would not have enough glass to finish that portion of the sunset.  The order in which the cuts were made had to be well planned to successfully cut out the orange sunset pieces.  The panel is almost ready to be soldered.  Once finished, new images will be posted.