Enamel watch dial

[TheEnameller]

Thank you Wallace for the feedback.

It's not actually that hard once you learn the process, but some people are very secretive about sharing how to do it (I'm not). It just takes patience as 5 hours of painting can be ruined by a few minutes in the kiln. You also cannot touch the piece while you're working on it, and you need to properly prepare the piece in between firings. This is why it takes so long.


Through pure trial and error I've actually got the process pretty well learnt, it's the art side of things I still need to improve. I was a good drawer and painter at school but I'm in my early thirties now. So this past year I've been learning to draw and paint again in my spare time. I'm enjoying it a lot.

[josef1]

I think its fantastic,thanks for posting

[medusa]

What particular issue are you having?

Are you using the right enamels?

Painting is done with very finely ground powdered enamel, rather than the more thickly grained enamels used for ordinary enamelling.

You have to mix it into a paint, the consistency of oil paints, using a special solution which you can buy (or you can use pure lavender oil I'm told).

I'd be happy to talk you through painting a picture with enamels. I am still learning myself though.

the enamel just seems to go all blurry. I mostly want to do it at the moment for re-enamelling purposes. I bump up my student bursary with the odd sale of damaged art nouveau stuff that I've re-enamelled. Sometimes I get something like a butterfly which was originally painted with lines etc and I have never been able to get it back. I'm good with the translucent enamels (as long as I'm not distracted. Last time I enamelled something I melted a beautiful Horner scarab on the final firing because someone came into the workshop ).

[Dennis]

I think most people can judge their work, if they see enough pieces by real experts. Any local museum with portrait miniatures or enameled boxes, will be worth visiting.

Don't listen to your family and friends, particularly your mother. ;-) Dennis.

[caroleallen]

The enamel artist who I most admire is Gilly Byrom . I was lucky enough to do a course with her earlier in the year and she had 12 watch backs of famous composers which had been commissioned by a certain Sultan (who I won't mention). They were painted on gold discs and had taken her months to do. No-one was allowed to take photos, even Gilly. I felt very fortunate to have seen such amazing work which she does under a microscope and embellishes with gold lustre.

[TheEnameller]

The enamel artist who I most admire is Gilly Byrom . I was lucky enough to do a course with her earlier in the year and she had 12 watch backs of famous composers which had been commissioned by a certain Sultan (who I won't mention). They were painted on gold discs and had taken her months to do. No-one was allowed to take photos, even Gilly. I felt very fortunate to have seen such amazing work which she does under a microscope and embellishes with gold lustre.

I would have loved to go on a course but my budget - what little I do have - has been spent on materials and living costs while I take a break away from my usual (paid) work.

I must admit, I've never heard of her, I'll be sure to check her out.

Thank you all for the very constructive and informative feedback. I will return later with more examples, you may not see me for a while because I'll be sweating in front of a kiln for the next week or so.

I've decided to do Atlas again, I think deep down I know it's not really good enough, and it can be improved a great deal. I'd also like to have at least a rough first effort of another dial I'm planning to do as well.

Once again, cheers, you've been very helpful.

[TheEnameller]

the enamel just seems to go all blurry. I mostly want to do it at the moment for re-enamelling purposes. I bump up my student bursary with the odd sale of damaged art nouveau stuff that I've re-enamelled. Sometimes I get something like a butterfly which was originally painted with lines etc and I have never been able to get it back. I'm good with the translucent enamels (as long as I'm not distracted. Last time I enamelled something I melted a beautiful Horner scarab on the final firing because someone came into the workshop ).

Hey Medusa, don't take this as gospel because I'm by no means an expert and I've never attempted to repair any enamel. But I think I remember reading that you're not supposed to attempt to repair old pieces by putting them in the kiln.

Or do you mean that you've taken it back to bare metal and completely re-applied the enamel.

If so, it sounds like you're putting on too much enamel. When it melts, it can spread out when it's piled up. Keep it thin.

If painting, like I say, you have to mix it to the consistency of oil paints and apply it with a paint brush like you would if you were painting on canvas. Cake it on too think and it will blur. It's also a good idea to leave it to dry on top of the kiln before putting it in.

For painted enamel, I've found it a good idea to put it in the kiln at 680c, then let it go back up after the temperature drop to 720c, this is when I take it out. This will be a lower temp than your opaque enamel base which will be anywhere between 730c to 780c.

When I come back next week, let me know if I can help further, because I'm not sure I've answered you correctly.

[Dennis]

The enamel artist who I most admire is Gilly Byrom . I was lucky enough to do a course with her earlier in the year and she had 12 watch backs of famous composers which had been commissioned by a certain Sultan (who I won't mention). They were painted on gold discs and had taken her months to do. No-one was allowed to take photos, even Gilly. I felt very fortunate to have seen such amazing work which she does under a microscope and embellishes with gold lustre.

Here she is, a world class portraitist and enameler: http://www.enamelportraitminiatures....01Gallery1.asp. A hard act to follow.

[Goldsmith]

The enamel artist that Carole talks about is Gillie Hoyt Byrom, see; http://www.enamelportraitminiatures.co.uk/
and her teaching; http://www.enamelportraitminiatures....08Teaching.asp
A bit more about Gillie; http://www.art-in-miniature.org/gall02.htm

James

[medusa]

Hey Medusa, don't take this as gospel because I'm by no means an expert and I've never attempted to repair any enamel. But I think I remember reading that you're not supposed to attempt to repair old pieces by putting them in the kiln.

Or do you mean that you've taken it back to bare metal and completely re-applied the enamel.

If so, it sounds like you're putting on too much enamel. When it melts, it can spread out when it's piled up. Keep it thin.

If painting, like I say, you have to mix it to the consistency of oil paints and apply it with a paint brush like you would if you were painting on canvas. Cake it on too think and it will blur. It's also a good idea to leave it to dry on top of the kiln before putting it in.

For painted enamel, I've found it a good idea to put it in the kiln at 680c, then let it go back up after the temperature drop to 720c, this is when I take it out. This will be a lower temp than your opaque enamel base which will be anywhere between 730c to 780c.

When I come back next week, let me know if I can help further, because I'm not sure I've answered you correctly.

Hi Mark,

I do usually strip the old enamel off but sometimes I leave it on if it's a small patch. I had a large Atkins butterfly which beautiful painting on but the enamel had flaked off the wings where it joined the body and there was some wear to the body as well. That repaired fine, the painted sections were ok as well. It's a good tip about using it thin, maybe that was the problem, it was going on too thick, but the first time I tried it, it just seemed to evaporate. I'm thinking now after what you said it could be the temperature as well. I'm maybe leaving it in for a tad too long plus I mixed them with Klyrfire (sp?) and not lavender oil. Next time I get chance to do some enamelling I'll give it a go.

The link below has some of the stuff I've repaired. I'm a bit rubbish about keeping photos so these are just a few.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/gentle-...7625074221475/