SILHOUETTE DIEFORMING IN POLYMER CLAY
AN ONLINE SELF-STUDY WORKSHOP
Ready to play with clay in a whole new way? Silhouette dieforming is an easy but elegant way to turn decorative polymer clay veneers into finely finished forms. Based on my original adaptations of traditional metal dieforming more than 20 years ago, Relief Beyond Belief remains a definitive course for 3-dimensional bead design, construction, and finishing.
Press play right here to see what’s waiting for you inside the Relief Beyond Belief Self-Study Online Classroom…
REGISTRATION IS ALWAYS OPEN
HERE ARE ALL THE DETAILS ABOUT THIS ON-DEMAND SELF-STUDY ONLINE COURSE…
FROM FIRST BOOK TO ‘FIRST CLASS’
In December 2011, Relief Beyond Belief debuted as a digital MasterClass ebook. Based on an in-person workshop that we had been teaching for more than ten years, my partner Tracy and I chose this process-and-project curriculum for our first book because it combined an innovative new technique with foundational studio skills. Within weeks, it had been downloaded by students in 26 countries, and years later, it remains the prime resource for silhouette dieforming in polymer clay.
In the summer of 2020, we gave RBB a long-awaited re-boot, turning the content of our digital book into an online workshop event. With 165 students ‘in the room’ for the digital classroom debut, it was clear that this bead-building ebook had transitioned well. Here’s a look at some of the beads made by members of our ‘first class’ alumni…
(top row, left to right) Kris Van Dyck, BELGIUM || Helen Henwood, AUSTRALIA || Eileen La Russo, USA
(bottom row, left to right) Corinne Flannery, USA || Lana Fominicheva, RUSSIA || Katarzyna Stefaniak, POLAND
“Thank you for another great class! I purchased the e-book a few years ago, but really enjoyed taking it as an online course. The way I create has vastly improved since taking my first class with you so I really appreciate all of the insight and reasoning behind each process from beginning to end. Looking forward to future classes!”
“Over the years, I’ve taken a number of jewelry-making classes with a variety of well-known instructors. Without a doubt, yours is the best class I have ever taken including the face-to-face ones. Thank you for this exceptional course - I will be your student anytime!”
NOW IT’S YOUR TURN!
We are thrilled to announce that Relief Beyond Belief is now available as a self-study digital course, adapted in format as a new kind of offering in our online school, HoCo!, and expanded with bonus video, downloadables, and other content that takes full advantage of our updated teaching platform.
Your tuition includes full access to four main learning Modules that focus on the dieforming process itself, bead construction, and finishing, followed by a final Module on designing more complex pieces. Once you become a student in the RBB Self-Study Online Classroom, the curriculum content will be available to you, to work through each WorkPhase at your own pace, and then review, repeat, and reference whenever and as often as your like. Relief Beyond Belief remains yours to access ongoing, as long as our HoCo! school is online.
Make one bead, and then make another, and another, and another. Your on-demand self-study seat is waiting…
REGISTER HERE FOR
RELIEF BEYOND BELIEF
SELF-STUDY ONLINE COURSE
TUITION $65 (CAN$)
Please WATCH YOUR IN-BOX for access to the RBB Self-Study Online Classroom
LET’S MAKE A BEAD
Dieforming is an easy way to turn a decorative veneer into a 3D form. The focus of Relief Beyond Belief is structural, both as a technique and in this course, so I won’t be showing you how to make any decorative veneers. But you can start with something simple: canework, mokume, textures, even a simple Skinner Blend… You bring the veneer, I’ll show you how to form it.
Following along through RBB’s fifteen distinct WorkPhases, you can make a bead like this one here, from flat to form to finished, in less than a day.
Or, you can take as long as you like, to learn, explore, refine, and complete a gallery-quality piece.
No matter what your pace, your experience, or your schedule, once you register as a student in our RBB digital classroom, this curriculum will be yours to access as long as you want it, as long as our HoCo! school is online.
You may not want to make a bead at all, at first. You can start by seeing how I do it. With more than 100 step-out photos, diagrams, and detailed written instructions, you’ll see how easy and accessible dieforming is, even for a beginner.
Chapters from Relief Beyond Belief, the book, have become Modules in Relief Beyond Belief, the online course. But the focus of the course remains the same: how to build and finish a unique polymer clay bead using dieforming as the central process.
Here are some highlight visuals . . .
“Thank you so much Dan. I had a wonderful time here and learned so much. This will definitely improve my bead making and finishing. I can’t wait to take another class with you!”
“This has to be the best course I have ever taken. To anyone who is considering this modality, this is a brilliant course and I highly recommend it. Dan has a way of moving you to explore your intuition and will nurture you to find it.”
BEYOND THE BEAD
Relief Beyond Belief was more than just a build-a-bead ebook. In its updated format as an online course, here are some features to look forward to . . .
MAKING HISTORY
The course begins with an introduction to the origins of Relief Beyond Belief as my adaption of traditional metal dieforming, and how it found its way into my work as an artist and teacher.
BE INSPIRED
For both context and inspiration, there’s a gallery of work from artists dieforming in metal.
BE PREPARED
To help you prepare your workspace, I’ve prepared a complete Tools and Materials list, supported by six visual tool tableaus.
KNOW HOW
Every good bead is built on a strong foundation of material familiarity and fundamental studio skills. This course includes four KnowHow lessons that will serve you in all your projects, beads and beyond.
DIY DIES
Dieforming depends on some specialized tools. Not only will you learn how to use them, you’ll learn how to make them using downloadable PDFs created especially for this RBB re-boot.
“Thank you so much for an excellent course. One of the best online courses I’ve done, so professional. I love having a mixture of text, photos and videos, helps to cover all aspects of how we learn. Can’t wait for more courses! Thank you once again.”
“It’s been wonderful to be a part of such a comprehensive course, everything from the technical aspects to design. So appreciative that you share what you have learned and encourage all of us as artists. I so look forward to an opportunity to have more courses with Dan and Tracy!!”
SO… WHAT ELSE IS NEW?
If you are among the hundreds who already own Relief Beyond Belief in its downloadable PDF format, you may already have the MasterClass ebook mastered.
But if you’re keen to revisit this classic in its new format as an online course, you’ll find some bonus content waiting for you . . .
PRESS PLAY
In one of two new video-based lessons, I’ll show you how to turn your printed PDFs into handy dandy DIY Dies.
SEEING IS BELIEF-ING
If a picture is worth a thousand words, more than 100 step-out photos is more than enough to tell this story. But nothing beats the un-belief-able experience of seeing a flat sheet veneer become a 3-dimensional form, with minimal tools and minimal minutes. That’s why I’ve added a second video lesson that shows dieforming in real time.
And for those of you who are graduates from one of our most popular online MasterClasses, yes, that’s the Blurred Lines veneer I made in one of our later lessons…
DIES BY DESIGN
When we first introduced Relief Beyond Belief as a digital MasterClass book, we created a companion book called Designing With Dies. RBB makes use of the Die window, and DWD shows how you can use the Cut-Outs as tools for designing one-of-a-kind necklaces. This online course combines the best of both RBB and DWD in one.
DIES BY THE DOZEN
Your Relief Beyond Belief tuition includes two different DIY Dies – a Circle and a Stamen – simple and simply classic shapes to frame your first projects. By the time you’re through each WorkPhase and have completed your first bead, chances are you’ll be ready for more. And there’s nothing that adds to the fun of making forms than having more shapes to choose from, on their own or in concentric sets.
At the end of the course, you’ll have the option to add to your DIY Die Set collection with twelve downloadable PDF DIY Die Set Trios. Based on favourites from our Geometric, Organic, Insect, Polygon, and Diatom collections, these Trios are available for purchase exclusively to RBB Self-Study Online students.
“Always a pleasure to take a class from Dan and Tracy. Dan is a precision artist and Dan and Tracy are able to present complex techniques and basic skills in a way that encourages and inspires the application of what we learn in their classroom. I look forward to future classes. See you all there!”
“Another great class, another unique technique! And, as I find myself repeating at the end of each of the classes I have taken (this is #5, I think?), along with the specifics of the subject focus, there are always a set of “side-benefits”—tips and tricks to apply more generally to my work. Dan’s own pieces are also inspiring. Like the classes, they are clean, clear, elegant, unique.”
READY TO ELEVATE YOUR WORK?
I can still remember the first time I gave polymer a push, exploring the possibilities of dieforming in this medium. Every time I’ve taught this technique in an in-person workshop, I get to re-live that moment.
Sharing it as a digital book, I didn’t get to be ‘in the room’ with my readers, but seeing the beads and other 3D objects that my students have made over the past twenty years has always been a reminder of just how fun, fast, and easy it is to turn flat into form.
It’s been a while since I taught dieforming in person, and the digital book hasn’t been available since 2018. So I’m excited that RBB is getting a refresh as an on-demand self-study digital course.
Others will be there too. As a student in the self-study classroom, you will be part of a global community of Relief believers, all working and playing along with you, attending from the comfort and fully-equipped familiarity of a home studio or workspace.
This is not a teacher-supported workshop event, and there will be no classroom community via Comments. But with all the curriculum content accessible to you 24/7/365, RBB will be there for you as a personal resource for dieforming, bead construction, and finishing.
“Lots of practical information in this course, with clear and thorough instructions, photos, and videos to guide us through. The short format of this workshop was tailored to learning specific techniques leading to a successful outcome. Plenty to digest and practice. The focus on construction and finishing is what I particularly appreciated, and the addition of design considerations greatly enhanced the curriculum. Big thanks to Dan and Tracy for another great learning experience!”
“Dan and Tracy, thanks so much for another exceptional class. Somehow, this class really resonated with me. Because I have taken several other of your classes, I felt like I hit the ground running with this one. I am going to take Bioforming again, and Tracy’s color class. You are my salvation during the pandemic! And Dan, you are the perfect combination of a Type A approach to your work with exuberant creativity. Just perfect.”
I’M A BEGINNER. IS RBB FOR ME?
The techniques in Relief Beyond Belief are accessible to beginners and experienced clayers alike. You might not become a master on your first try, but we believe that the ‘learning is in the doing’ and that craftsmanship comes through dedicated practice. Don’t worry, everything you’ll need to know to make your own un-Belief-able bead will be covered in detail in the course.
“This is my first HoCo course but it won’t be my last. You covered every aspect of what to do with photos, videos and descriptions and offered encouragement and suggestions in response to questions. Your sense of fun in the whole making process was easy to pick up and I hope to maintain that sense of fun and discovery in the future. Thank you.”
“Thanks so much for another great class, Dan! Great content, and I especially appreciated the many tips and tricks on baking, sanding, and finishing. Given the current world lockdown, this class has been such a happy focus, reminding me that creative work really is a cure for so many things. 🌸💖 Thank you for that as well.”
ASK ME ANYTHING
If you have any questions about RBB as an ongoing on-demand online course offering, please get in touch. I’ll be happy to reply as quickly as possible.
And before you go, I have a question for you…
What are you waiting for?
register here for
RELIEF BEYOND BELIEF
SELF-STUDY ONLINE COURSE
TUITION $65 (CAN$)
Please WATCH YOUR IN-BOX for access to the RBB Self-Study Online Classroom
Once you have access to the RBB Self-Study Online Classroom, the complete Relief Beyond Belief curriculum will be waiting for you and can begin to design, build, and finish your first bead.
It all starts with one, but since deforming is so fun, we’re sure it will be the first of many. Remember, this self-study course will be yours to access whenever and as often as you like. As long as our online school is open, RBB will be there for you.