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Thread: First try with glass enamels - results

  1. #1
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    Default First try with glass enamels - results

    So.. yesterday I tried my hand at glass enamelling for the first time.. and here are my results!



    All enamels were kiln fired.

    Top right:
    Metal: Silver metal clay sample with texture - my own sample
    Enamelling method: Wet packed
    Colours: Translucent cherry red

    Middle
    Metal: Silver metal clay with texture - supplied as part of course
    Enamelling method: Wet packed
    Colours: Opaque aqua blue, opaque apricot, opaque scarlet red on top of translucent cherry red (didn't like the outcome of the cherry red, hence the overlay with scarlet red)

    Far right
    Metal: Copper sheet - supplied as part of course
    Enamelling method: Dry sifting and wet packed
    Colours: Background with opaque mid white followed by opaque buttermilk (both dry sifted and firings in between the 2 colours), painting done with opaque scarlet red, opaque black and opaque apple green (wet packed)

    Bottom left
    Metal: Copper sheet - supplied as part of course
    Enamelling method: Dry sifting
    Colours: Opaque apple green, opaque rose pink, opaque mid gree, stenciled leaves with opaque light blue, opaque arras red, opaque celeste (bottle green colour). The reverse side of the piece was counterenamelled with leftover enamels

    Overall, I was pleased with the results.

  2. #2
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    Great results ~ where did you do your course?

    Did my course at Mid Cornwall Jewellery School with Linda Darty (who was fantabulous!)
    Loved dry sifting for the speed of it but find I'm tending to use more wet packing when actually making jewellery...
    Which technique did you enjoy the most?

    I've got some sample colours on PMC silver in my Flickr stream if you want to get an idea of colour (mainly Soyer)
    Apple Greens a nice colour - do you know what brand it is?
    Nic x
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  3. #3
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    Well done Vi! So do you think you've got the enamelling bug now?! Lovely tests....I particularly like the apple green colour. I've done lots of colour tests on PMC too, but soon to have my first go on copper too. I think opaques are definately more suited to copper...seems a shame covering up areas of shiny precious silver somehow. There should be some of my results in my album on here, if you haven't seen them already :-) Looking forward to seeing your progress

  4. #4
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    Thanks, Nic!

    The course was a one-day beginners classes at the London School of Jewellery.
    I did the 'Metal clay and Mixed Silverwork' course with Lisa Cain at MCSJ last year and loved it. I'm looking to go on another course at the MCSJ this year.

    I did like the subtle effects you get with the dry sifting on flat pieces, but I'd definitely like to try the wet packing method on some textured metal clay pieces. What do you use for washing your enamels prior to wet packing? In the class, it was suggested we use purified water. Is using distilled water or filtered water acceptable as a replacement? The enamel brands available to use in the class yesterday were many and varied! However, I think the ones I used were Lanthams, the Apple Green definitely was

    Thanks for the link to your enamel sample page.. that will come in handy.

    My next foray into the world of colour will be to crack open that resin kit I bought last year, and see what results I get with that

  5. #5
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    Quote Originally Posted by FVT View Post
    Well done Vi! So do you think you've got the enamelling bug now?! Lovely tests....I particularly like the apple green colour. I've done lots of colour tests on PMC too, but soon to have my first go on copper too. I think opaques are definately more suited to copper...seems a shame covering up areas of shiny precious silver somehow. There should be some of my results in my album on here, if you haven't seen them already :-) Looking forward to seeing your progress
    It's definitely fun, watching the colour develop on the metal as it cools down and I guess it takes practice, figuring out when to whip the piece out of the kiln before it burns, in order to get the desired colour.

    I agree that opaques suit copper because of its strong colour. I think it is possible to get a good balance between enamel colour and precious metal if the piece is well designed.

    Thanks for the reference to your samples

  6. #6
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    My first attempts were kiln-fired, and it took me a while to realise I was overfiring a lot of the time as you can't see what's happening in there! So I was advised to do some torch-fired tests, to get a better idea of the timing and the different stages of fusing...and the colours were much 'cleaner' as a result :-)

  7. #7
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    Fortunately I managed to avoid over firing anything in the kiln yesterday, and my colours turned as I expected, but I do understand what you mean about being able to see the different stages clearly during torch firing.

    If I was doing enamelling on a regular basis, I'd prefer to use my kiln as I could see torch firing pieces with multiple layers (the green enamel sample took 5 firings in total) costing me a small fortune in butane!

  8. #8
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    Vi
    I use ordinary tap water but I only prep a little at a time & don't store them wet
    If I wanted the very clearest results or was going to wet store some enamel then I'd use distilled water
    Nic x
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  9. #9
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    Thanks Nic

  10. #10
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    I have to admit to being a little bit lazy in the 'cleaning' department....I've never cleaned my enamels, but always wet pack them so I've convinced myself this sort of cleans them as well

    Having said that, I have a feeling that possibly some of the leaded enamels I've tried could have done with a little bit of a wash beforehand. Maybe it depends on the brands of enamels too.

    Re; my comment about torch-firing, this is obviously limited to small pieces, fortunately I like to work quite small most of the time!

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