Profiting by Design

I would recommend this book the any artist! And in today’s tough market, Marlene reminds you to take a good look at the bottom line, and where to find your niche.

“Profiting By Design” by Marlene Richey www.marlenerichey

Watercolors

A great way to get a better idea if your

enameling will deliver what you imagined.

I begin my enameling classes with an introduction

to watercolors. Because I enjoy imagery  in my work,

it is not as spontaneous as some. At one time I completed

my jewel to be made in colored pencils.

In searching to improve my artistry I could not find classes

devoted to colored pencils and discovered watercolors.

They use washes and layering. For me the layering is most like enameling, where I apply a layer of enamels and fire before applying another color,  they apply a layer of color and let it dry before applying another.

One book that was useful to me is “Light up your Watercolors” by Linda Stevens Moyers. In her book she starts color with the medium color = value, then going to her warm colors = interest points, and then the cool colors this being her darks. We need to layer in a different order as our warm color would burn out. So I try to apply them in the order of cool colors – my dark color first, and  medium color = value colors and last the warm color to produce the impact of color.

Happy Enameling!

Art Nouveau’s “Imperishable Beauty”

Just left the Cincinnati Art Museum. I will post as soon as I know where it will travel to.

This is a must see. To view this closely these master pieces is unbelievable!

The book is available at Amazon.

Japanese Cloisonne Enamels

The Walters Art Museum, Baltimore, Maryland is featuring Stephen W. Fisher’s collection of Japanese cloisonne enamels. Feb. 14 – May 9, 2010.

History Of Enamels

Coming Soon

What are Enamels

History

Art Enameling on Metals by H.H. Cunynghame  1906

Metals such as gold, silver, iron, copper and fine brass; copper with a small amount of tin, are capable of being enameled. But nickel, zinc, or common brass, which contains a mixture of copper and zinc are not capable of being enameled.  Mr. Cunynghame, first speaks of the art of enameling is simply melting glass on to the surfaces of various substances capable of adhering to it and also capable of withstanding the heat necessary to melt the glass and cause it to flow. Mr. Cunynghame, speaks of the common technology of producing Crockery, with is clays consisting of silicate of aluminia and magnesia, and forming it into shapes and firing it. After this process it is know as biscuit ware, and is hard and porous. At this point glass ground to an impalpable powder is mixed with water and the vessel dipped into the glass slurry, dried and fired to the melting point of the glass. In this respect the glass is called “glaze.” Very similar to our enameling and as well as the commercial applications of enamels or glass on other foundations such as iron= stoves and refrigerators or bathtubs. And don’t forget the use of enamels on signage.

Glass consist of sand and an alkali such as soda or potash, fused together with the addition of ingredients to produce color. He states the peculiar value here of lead. It gives the glass the remarkable ability to adhere to and run over the item being enameled and prevents it from cracking. He state it makes the glass more elastic and enhances its’ ability to withstand extreme temperature changes.  He also says that glass without lead is not suitable for enameling, as it will crack away from the metal.

Coefficient of thermal expansion is when the temperature of a substance changes. The energy that is stored in the intermolecular bonds between atoms changes. When the stored energy increases, so does the length of the molecular bonds. As a result, solids typically expand in response to heating and contract on cooling. This dimensional response to temperature change is express by its coefficient of thermal expansion. To be continued…..

Glass is colored by melting it with the oxides of various metals. Oxide of tin makes it opaque white, iron gives it a sea green and yellow, cobalt a royal blue, and copper a turquoise blue. Manganese colors glass violet, silver and antimony yellow, and gold crimson. Also we have chromium, producing a fine shade of green; uranium, a fine yellow; and iridium, giving enamels the shades of steel gray and black.

Pilque à Jour

What is Plique à Jour

Miniature stain glass window effect in jewelry. Frames of metal with no backing allowing the light to come through. Developed in France and Italy early in the 14th century.  There are several methods of plique à jour, and I will show you the techniques I use.

This is how we usually think of pierced plique à jour. Most artists will use this method with the aid of Klyre Fire, a glue substance, to help  hold in the powdered enamels before firing. This piece of plique à jour is created in 18k gold sheet of 22 ga.  The use of gold gives you more strength and allows you to create jewels in a thinner gauge.

The Bird of Paradise Pendant is more involved. I want to show where you can go with pliqué a jour. Here I have chased the Bird of Paradise in 18k gold sheet of 16 ga. and cut away the negative space. I used 18k flat wire to make the leaves and soldered them in place with hard solder. With such large open spaces the use of foils aid in holding the enamel in, until fired, then removed. The stone setting took place before the enameling. Less worry of cracking your enameled piece.

This is a pair of cloisonné earrings with a drop of plique à jour leaves and a ruby. I would never get a stone cut like this much less be able to afford it. The leaves above the ruby is 18 ga sheet pierced and sawn out and filled with enamels.

This is a nice option when you have an unusual shape or maybe you do not have the color of stone you would like for your jewel on hand. This can be accomplished with creating a shape with 18k gold wire and soldered closed. The enamels in this case were laid in after the ruby was set. You can use Klyre Fire or back with foils to aid in holding the enamels in place prior to firing.

This enamel jewel of plique a jour is made of 18k gold sheet. The pedals have been sawn out and formed in a dapping block. The opens were pierced and filled with enamels  using foil for support. And assembled after firing.

Building a Strong Foundation

I know this is not what most beginning enamelist, or even enamelist in general, want to spend time doing. We all have that sense and need of immediate gratification. But enamels are not like color pencils, water colors, or oils paints, where you can see your colors by just laying them out. Our color palate is in fine grains of enamel with no color relationship to the fired enamel. Thus making it impossible to know what the color will look like after we fire our jewel. It is no fun to look at a fired piece and say yuck!

Make color plates and know your colors, this will build a strong foundation of an excellent enamelist!

I will return with plate samples. But take all your blues and lay them out next to each other, make that perfect gradation. Try layering diferent colors on top of each other. And reverse that. You will be very surprised that the reverse can be so different!

WWF Launches Earth Hour 2010! March 27 8:30pm

WWF Launches Earth Hour 2010!

World Wildlife Fund is proud to announce Earth Hour 2010 will take place Saturday, March 27, at 8:30 pm. National Monuments including Mount Rushmore, the Empire State Building, the Las Vegas Strip and the Golden Gate Bridge have already pledged to participate but it’s your involvement that we really need.

The effects of climate change are visible in every ecosystem where we work, jeopardizing 50 years of conservation successes. Thousands of species including polar bears, tigers and marine turtles are in serious danger.

With your support, we have worked tirelessly to bring the international community, governments around the world and corporate leaders to the brink of breakthrough action on climate change in 2010. That’s why it’s so important we demonstrate our unity on climate change action, right now.

Last year, nearly one billion people–including an estimated 80 million Americans–united to make a difference in the fight against climate change. It was the single largest mass action in human history. This year we need you to grow it.

Please join millions of people around the world in turning off the lights for Earth Hour to raise awareness and demand action to fight climate change. Have your voice counted at EarthHour.org and learn how, united, we can make a difference. You’ll also have access to videos and toolkits to help grow the movement as well as fantastic ideas on how to make Earth Hour a special event in your home, community or business.

Join Gansokin.com

It is easy to join Gansokin. And if you have not joined be sure to do so. It is a great place to see what other jewelers are talking about and has a hugh resource library.

The Ganoksin Project
http://www.ganoksin.com/index.htm

The gem and jewelry world’s foremost information resource on the Internet. Open to the public, Free of charge – a substantial library of articles, publications, reports, and technical data on gem and jewelry related topics; as well as a sizable collection of art and jewelry galleries, for both the casual visitor and the professional.

Stone Setting in Enamels

Happy New Year Patsy- I will definitely pre enroll for the class- love the idea of the website!! Am currently working on a pair of earrings set with tiny (3mm) sapphires. I decided to wing it and go ahead & set the stones in a 24k thin bezel on top of gold foil and an initial coat of B3. So far they have not cracked or changed color. Any other tips that you could email me re: stone setting in enamel would be so appreciated.
Thank you so much! Karen

Karen,

I would love to see photos, I have fired sapphires, good choice, and did not have any problems. You can do all the enameling and set them before the last firing, or after you have polished the piece. I usually put stones in the kiln at 1400 degrees to see it the will take the heat, small ones = 1 mm incase they crack, I am not out too much $. When we get together I will show you how to set a stone that will not take the heat after all the firing. Good to hear you went for it.

Dear Patsy- thanks so much for the fast and valuable advice. I was worried about the empty bezel warping- that is why I set the stones so early on in the enamelling process. Will cross my fingers & hope the stones remain O.K. Will send pictures when my technological situation improves. Again, thank you!! Karen

Karen,
I have only seen the wire work warp when there is enamel on the inside of in a small space, and no enamel on the outside of the wire work, here the wires will pull in. So leaving it open or putting the stone in will be fine. If you send photos about the work as you are working on it, I think this will be interesting to others.
Thanks for sharing!

Readings

Enameling on Metal, by Louis-Elie Millenet 1927

Metalwork & Enameling by Herbert Maryon

Art Enameling on Metals by H.H. Gunynghame

These last three were not written in our life time. But we sure have had plenty. These are interesting to me as you get a chance to hear how our Masters worked with enamels.

TRANSFERRING YOUR DESIGNS

TRANSFERRING YOUR DESIGNS

After you have drawn your image on paper, it is sometimes difficult to transfer this image to the base of Fine Silver. A couple of things that might help you, after you have fired the flux coat on the Fine Silver base, is to use either a Stabilo pencil or Spot Pens (made for black and white photography retouching). You can sketch out the design on the fired flux enamel coat with either of these, and place your cloisonne wires accordingly.

The lines of both will disappear in the first firing and not effect your enamels.