Jewelers for the Gulf Donating to a Cause

News

Here in Orange Beach, Al. Many of  my friends are in trouble and more so in Mississippi and Louisiana 

Chris Hierholzer and I are making  jewels and researching a way to help those in need. Anyone interested, enamelist or metalsmith in helping the families whom have lost their livelihood  because of the oil spill stay tuned while we work out the details.

This is a place Chris and I think would be a great to help. Many, as we have found are donating to the Wild Life Foundations but not the people.

• Second Harvest Food Bank of Greater New Orleans and Acadiana is fighting hunger in south Louisiana through food distribution, education, advocacy and disaster relief.
• One in eight people in Louisiana is struggling with hunger.
• We serve approximately 262,800 clients annually across 23 parishes in south Louisiana through over 235 faith-based and nonprofit member agencies.

OIL SPILL RELIEF

• According to the LA Department of Social Services, it is estimated that 47,656 households may eventually require food assistance due to the effects of the oil spill.

Second Harvest Food Bank member agencies have already experienced a 15 to 25 percent increase in the number of new people seeking emergency food assistance since May 1 in affected communities. We anticipate that this number will grow and that emergency food assistance will be needed in coastal communities for the long term.

• Second Harvest Food Bank serves all coastal Louisiana parishes that may be impacted most directly by the Gulf oil spill event – Orleans, St. John, St. Charles, Plaquemines, St. Bernard, Terrebonne, Lafourche, Vermilion, St. Tammany, Cameron, Iberia, Jefferson and Tangipahoa parishes.

Taylor Smiley Development Coordinator

504.729.2820 direct  |  504.722.8864 cell

tsmiley@secondharvest.org

Start sending us your images today and we will begin posting them the first of next week on the eBay Giving Works. Our auction is planned to begin Sept 1  and run through Oct 30.

Some Artist whom have donated:

• Ileana Rojas Bennet
• Caroline Benzinger
• Patsy Croft
• Chris Hierholzer
• Mary McBride
• Tom McCarthy
• Ray Parsis
• Brenda Radford
• Jerry Scavezze
• Mary Timmer
• Kathy Wilcox

Look forward to hearing from you,

Patsy and Chris

Color Plates and Understanding Expansion of Enamels

Color Plates

Color plates are very important. And yet so many choose not to do them. I know it takes time and you can get recommendations of colors from other artist, but if you have a direction in your work, by that I mean, a vision of your complete art form, and you want to get to that vision the practice of doing color plates can not only save you time and frustration but also end with the beautiful jewel you had visioned. As in rendering a water color of your visioned jewel can help you with your color choice, making a color plate to test how the colors work together can make you more successful in this medium.

This  is a color plate,

There is a lot of information on this plate, see what you can find. No matter if you are working in the technique of Cloisonne, Plique a Jour, Champleve, or sifting on colors of enamel, you should know the properties of the products you are working with.

1. This is my pink color plate. Some artist have just a few colors and mix two, to get a color shade in between them. I prefer to have separate colors so I have a choice to set them next to each other to work in a color family and be able to go from light to dark.

I have mixed colors and ended with a speckle effect rather than a smooth transition of color.  Also there are problems here. And if you were to mix some of these together you will have cracking.

2. First I notice the 4th enamel dot did not flow at the same temperature and time as the rest of the enamel dots. This means the expansion rate is different in the two enamels. The one that is grainy has a higher expansion rate, than the ones that are smooth.

You can layer enamels of different expansion rates with the higher on the bottom but if you put them side by side in a cell or on any enamel piece you will have cracking. The odd thing is it may not crack today or even next month, it could be in two years. Enamelist like to use the terms soft and hard enamels. Hard enamels on the bottom and soft enamels on top. Enamels that are hard are used on the bottom as it takes longer for this enamel to fuse and flow smooth. This also gives you a hard base that will not become liquid at the same time as the second and third layers of enamels you use to create colors. What does this mean? If you like warm colors and we all know warm colors burn. This can help you prevent that. The reason they burn is they come in contact with the metal. So ideally you want to keep them away from the base metal. And with a hard base = flux or several layers of flux your warm colors will not penetrated to the lower levels and touch the base metal as the softer enamels will fuse and flow before the harder base enamel becomes liquid= no burning. I recommend Bovano #3 for fine silver as it is harder than other fluxes I have tested.

3. The 7th color dot has a bit of yellow in the base color. What would this mean to the enamelist? Enamels have colors bases of yellow, ash or blue. When you line up your colors this way you can easily see which are which. If a color you have chosen for your design and it has a yellow base, you need to add it as you last color in the layer of enamels. So it will not be fired so many times that give it the opportunity to mingle to the base metal. Your enamels with a blue base or an ash base are safer. And yes you have yellows that have an ash base, or ones that are true yellow. = Test plates!

These two images show problem with the soft enamel being used on the bottom and the harder enamel on top. When heated the soft enamel bubbles up and around the hard enamel.

Trinket Kiln

The Trinket Kiln works very well for enameling and cloisonne small projects. You can purchase a thermostat that reads 800, 1300 and 1500 degrees F.

I have enjoy mind when it is just too hot in the summers and I am working on a small project. It can be handy  to do test plates when I am in the development of a enamel or cloisonne jewel.

Here I have a piece of mica to use as a plate to sit my jewel on. And the flat nose pliers make it easy to place the jewel in the kiln and take the hot enamel jewel out. If you use a new sheet of mica you need heat it alone in the kiln a couple of times to break it in. If not it pops and your unfired enamels will not be in the place you originally placed them.

Here is another trivet you can use and still have enough clearance to close the top and not touch the enamel jewel. With my flat nose pliers I can retrieve the trivet without touching the enamel jewel.Here is the size of the little trivet.

Patsy Croft

Enameling on 18k Gold and Repairing Enamel Jewels

Project of the Week

I would like to share my project this week of repairing a beautiful 18k Gold Locket.

When asked by the client if it could be repaired I took a couple of steps to insure them and myself it was possible. They sent me several photos of the locket and had a jeweler in their town verify the karat to be 18k. Enamels are glass really, and we melt it basically. When we crack an enamel jewel in setting, which most of us have had several, we learn we can re-fire it and save, our could be loss.

Yesterday, I carefully looked at the piece and the chips of enamel and started testing. First I wanted to know I could match the color of enamel. 

And I was excited that Bovano’s 27 matched perfectly! Next is to know to the melting point of a chip next to Bovano’s 27 in hopes they would flow at the same temperature and timing. On a test plate, I used a small chip from the locket and a small amount of Bovano’s #27 and fired at 1425 for 1:15 minutes and they both fused.

Here I placed the locket front only on a trivet face down, and slowly heated it with a acetylene torch just enough to add Fire Scoff flux. When I enamel the jewel I would like to avoid oxidation. Looks good.

Next fuse the chips back on and add the new enamel.

After fusing the new enamel on the jewel I noticed the circular cracks were still present. They were there when I first inspected the jewel. I thought at that time it was from the accident the client had and was part of the repair. But being they were still visible after the firing, I realized the enamel is mounted up on the red areas, to show relief. I have tried this in my work and there is a point you can have high spots but if it gets too high it will crack off. Also there is no counter enamel. So I sanded it down with a diamond bur the an arkansas stone.

Ready for the last firing and do not forget to glass brush well so you have no dust of the glass or arkansas stone and the locket is free of cracks and ready to go home to it’s owner.

Patsy Croft

Press Kits

Hi Patsy,(your work and blog are Fab)
I’m sure you have been asked this question one thousand times but, here goes… How to I find a rep for my jewelry. I’m an enamelist and have been doing very well at local juried shows and on ETSY.com, but really want and need to take my work to the next level. My work is moderately priced on copper. My customers love it because they can get a one of a kind piece at a price that is reasonable. My work is also very hip and fun to wear-not complicated or busy.I’ve e-mailed galleries in Michigan to see about how to submit my work, but no one has returned my requests. Any light you can shed would be great! Sincerely-Your friend the desperate enamelist in Michigan, Lisa

Hey Lisa,

Thank you for the visit and the comments.
It sounds like you are on the right road. I must say this is a tough business and a tough economy! I personally have been in other business that were much easier, but my love and addition of enamels keeps me here and trying.

I have found, you have to keep trying all avenues, and be diversified. Watch the market and place yourself in it. Watch and find where the public buys and what the are buying. And be there.

Today galleries are struggling. As well as shows and we all have hopes the economy will start to move forward this Fall. But it is a good time to do your homework, as well as invest in your skills. In doing your homework, you need to travel to these galleries and see how you fit. And how they sell and if they are selling.

If you can afford to do the shows, by all means do them, meeting the people and watching their spending, will help, but most of all they are buying you. Same as working with Galleries. An email is the least committing on your part. Make a press kit, it shows you are serious about fitting into their Gallery. (Read about making one in Profiting By Design on the resources page.) Send this with great photos and wait several weeks, place a call to the buyer of the store, and ask if they received you packet and what they thought! Then make a personal visit. Your work in person is always more impressive as well as your personality. This shows your commitment.

Work hard and it will come! Patsy

Enameling on Gold

The Hibiscus are chased on 18k gold. Flux is applied which is Bovano #3 the the red enamel in two layers.

Fluxes And Firing Tempertures

Fluxes for transparent and medium firing enameling. And firing time varies on the size of your jewel. I work small and like to start around a min and go up in seconds. Just a quick peak in the kiln at eye level you can see if the enamel has fused.

Copper

Fire at 1450 and up to 1500 degrees

Thompson’s 2030

Ninomiya’s   L11

Bovano’s  #1

Fine Silver

I make enamel and cloisonne jewelry. And Fine Silver is my choice of metals. The weight of the jewel as well as the strength is a factor and in choosing the gauge of the fine silver. For pendants I prefer 20 gauge and for earrings 22 gauge.

Fire at 1425 – 1450 degrees

Thompson’s 2020 medium firing or 2040 for a hard firing. In my work I like a hard firing flux on my bases.

Ninomiya’s  N1

N3 = pre – washed

G 110    hard flux

Bovano’s       #3 this is a hard flux with a blue base

Sterling Silver

Thompson’s 2040

Bovano’s #3   both of these are hard enamels and I think it is helpful in keeping the surface contamination down of the sterling silver away from the layers of enamels.

Gold

Fire at 1425 – 1450 degrees

Bovano #2

Brass and Stainless Steel

Fire at 1250 Degrees – 4-8 min.

Low to Medium expansion Enamels

Finishing Fluxes

Ninomiya’s N4

Bovano’s  518 and 619

Watercolors and Getting Started

Get yourself a set of Winsor Newton Travel Watercolors, A block of watercolor paper that is Hot Pressed and a #3 Sable brush.

The travel kit of colors have 10 – 12 colors, all you need to start designing your enameled project. A block of watercolor paper is just that. The stack of paper’s edges are glued together, because when it gets wet in normal conditions of painting with water the paper would warp , and it prevents that. Hot press is more likely to warp but it is a smoother paper than cold pressed. Great for small painting of detail. And I find a #3 sable brush is a good size to get the job done without spending on several brushes.

Now get busy and start playing!

Carving in the Enamel

Some thing you can do to enhance your work is to carve in the enamel. On this Nautilus Pendant I used white Askansas Stones to carve out the shape of the shell’s spiral.

Hi Jennifer,

Thank for the visit. I was not at the conference, but Merry-Lee Rae presented a lecture on cloisonne and used my images.

On carved enamels, yes I used a layer of flux and two layers of transparent red enamel. You can use a very fine diamond bit and arkansas stone bits. Afterward you should glass brush and or steam the piece to remove any trace of the stone and flash fire.

But as you know the layers are thin as transparent enamels need to be for clarity. And if you lay in the enamel in that small of a space it flows even. The chased flower petals had ridges and valleys. To enhance the visibility of this I carved in the top layer to follow this and expose the ridges more.

The Nautilus is also carved. This is posted in the topic Enamels, under Carving in Enamels. But this is a complete cloisonne piece, so the wires are at least .040″ high. And I actually over filled this, then carved the spiral of the shell into it.                            

Good luck, Patsy Croft

In Our Weekly Town Meetings

We all know man’s greed has caused many problems in our world. And here in Orange Beach, Al at our weekly town meetings it is visible that man’s greed is killing us and all we love and have lived here for. I will never be able to understand, and I know in my life time I will never see this cleaned up.

The worst of it to me is not only seeing the dolphins wash to shore dead and the pelicans dying, but BP’s lies and our government turning this into a political gain. It  has been as difficult as watching my parents die!

A man died this week as he lost his life here as a fishing guide. A wife and children have lost their loved one. And BP is trying to look like a good guy by paying for his funeral. How ridiculous!

BP Promises to Pay for Kruse’s Funeral – Gulf Shores Alabama

Friday, June 25th, 2010

GULF SHORES, Alabama – BP promised to pay for the funeral of charter boat captain Alan Kruse from Orange Beach, who committed suicide Tuesday. Alan Kruse shot and killed himself June 22, supposedly distraught over the ongoing coastal crisis. Kruse was known as “Rookie” to his friends, and took his own life aboard his boat at the Gulf Shores Marina in Fort Morgan. He was fifty-five years old. He left behind a wife and kids. He was known as a man who would give you the shirt off his back and had a wicked sense of humor.

And yes, as Mayor Tony Kennon says BP is not doing what they say to the media. We have claims here, friends are in a very bad way and BP week after week tell the people they lost their claim, fill again. Or if they process it  a check might be received for 1/10 of the filed claim.  I have heard BP say the check was lost in the mail, so you will have to re-file!

You can watch this commercial and come visit here and you will see a different story.

http://news.yahoo.com/video/business-15749628/20530635

In the paper today, If there is a face of hope in South Alabama these days, it is Orange Beach Mayor Tony Kennon. He is a Republican, but says the partisanship must go.

“Our lives are completely disrupted, and political games are being played on the right and the left,” he said. “It makes me mad.”

“If we’ve become a country that uses the pain of others for our own political gain, we have no future.”

As it rolls in:

Sea creatures flee oil spill, gather near shore

GULF SHORES, Ala. – Dolphins and sharks are showing up in surprisingly shallow water just off the Florida coast. Mullets, crabs, rays and small fish congregate by the thousands off an Alabama pier. Birds covered in oil are crawling deep into marshes, never to be seen again.

Marine scientists studying the effects of the BP disaster are seeing some strange — and troubling — phenomena.

Fish and other wildlife are fleeing the oil out in the Gulf and clustering in cleaner waters along the coast. But that is not the hopeful sign it might appear to be, researchers say.

The animals’ presence close to shore means their usual habitat is badly polluted, and the crowding could result in mass die-offs as fish run out of oxygen. Also, the animals could easily get devoured by predators.

“A parallel would be: Why are the wildlife running to the edge of a forest on fire? There will be a lot of fish, sharks, turtles trying to get out of this water they detect is not suitable,” said Larry Crowder, a Duke University marine biologist.

The nearly two-month-old oil spill has created an environmental catastrophe unparalleled in U.S. history as tens of millions of gallons of have spewed into the Gulf of Mexico ecosystem. Scientists are seeing some unusual things as they try to understand the effects on thousands of species of marine life.

Day by day, scientists in boats tally up dead birds, sea turtles and other animals, but the toll is surprisingly small given the size of the disaster. The latest figures show that 783 birds, 353 turtles and 41 mammals have died — numbers that pale in comparison to what happened after the Exxon Valdez disaster in Alaska in 1989, when 250,000 birds and 2,800 otters are believed to have died.

Click image to see pictures of Gulf wildlife

Jose Luis Magana/Reuters

Researchers say there are several reasons for the relatively small death toll: The vast nature of the spill means scientists are able to locate only a small fraction of the dead animals. Many will never be found after sinking to the bottom of the sea or getting scavenged by other marine life. And large numbers of birds are meeting their deaths deep in the Louisiana marshes where they seek refuge from the onslaught of oil.

“That is their understanding of how to protect themselves,” said Doug Zimmer, spokesman for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.

For nearly four hours Monday, a three-person crew with Greenpeace cruised past delicate islands and mangrove-dotted inlets in Barataria Bay off southern Louisiana. They saw dolphins by the dozen frolicking in the oily sheen and oil-tinged pelicans feeding their young. But they spotted no dead animals.

“I think part of the reason why we’re not seeing more yet is that the impacts of this crisis are really just beginning,” Greenpeace marine biologist John Hocevar said.

As for the fish, locals are seeing large schools hanging around piers where fishing has been banned; apparently the fish feel safer now that they are not being disturbed by fishermen.

Also, researchers believe fish are swimming closer to shore because the water is cleaner and more abundant in oxygen. Father out in the Gulf, researchers say, the spill is not only tainting the water with oil but also depleting oxygen levels.

A similar scenario occurs during “dead zone” periods — the time during summer months when oxygen becomes so depleted that fish race toward shore in large numbers. Sometimes, so many fish gather close to the shoreline off Mobile that locals rush to the beach with tubs and nets to reap the harvest.

But this latest shore migration could prove deadly.

First, more oil could eventually wash ashore and overwhelm the fish. They could also become trapped between the slick and the beach, leading to increased competition for oxygen in the water and causing them to die as they run out of air.

“Their ability to avoid it may be limited in the long term, especially if in near-shore refuges they’re crowding in close to shore, and oil continues to come in. At some point they’ll get trapped,” Crowder said. “It could lead to die-offs.”

The fish could also fall victim to predators such as sharks and seabirds. Already there have been increased shark sightings in shallow waters along the Gulf Coast.

The counting of dead wildlife in the Gulf is more than an academic exercise; the deaths will help determine how much BP pays in damages.

Roger Helm, chief of the Fish and Wildlife Service’s contaminants division, said the government expects a battle with BP over the extent of the damage and has every incentive to be scientifically credible.

“Both sides go to their own corner and interpret the data the way they want,” Helm said. “This is a legal process, and if we can’t get an agreement we’ll end up in court.”

Cracking in the Enamel

Hi Patsy,

First of all, thanks for doing this blog; it’s obviously a big help to many people.

I’m relatively new to enamelling; I’ve done mostly flat pieces that have gone basically well. I just enameled a pair of earrings that developed serious cracks. To fabricate them, I cut two pieces of fine silver, textured them, domed them, and soldered on ear posts using IT solder. There’s no counter enamel… but I have a funny feeling that the square-ish shape, as well as how many layers of enamel (3), might have something to do with the cracking.

The cracks are forming in a circular form in the middle of the piece.

Thanks in advance,
DB

Hi DB,

You have to have the same number of counter layers as you have on the top. So now you can add the counter, and the cracks will go away! Quick edit, it also looks like you have higher enamel in the center than on the edges. This will add to the circular cracks.

Happy Enameling, Patsy

What is the Difference Between Lead and Non Lead Enamels

hi patsy,
i want to know that what is the diffrence between lead bearing and lead free enamel. i am from india, doing cloissone and plique-a-jour as well as traditional enameling also. i am using indian enamels.

Hi Preeti,

Lead bearing enamels have lead in them, which makes them flow and blend together nicely. In the US more than 10 years ago lead became a issue. If products are made here and can possible cause health issues to the public the manufactures wanted to change. Some think if it is airborne as in sifting, is can be inhaled and one can problems. And maybe with the vapors from the kiln this could also bother some people.

Borax has replaced the lead in the enamels as an agent to help it flow smoothly and is now non leaded enamels.

I have not had any problems and have my blood tested every year. I have taken precautions to be safe and get tested but after 20 years have stopped wearing a mask. I do not sift either. I wet pack with washed the enamels. I do not know about your enamels. I still use leaded enamels as in my opinion they are clear and bright in color.

Thanks for the visit, Patsy

Plique a Jour with Brenda Radford

Brenda Radford of Radford Studios joined me last fall at the FSG Wildacres Masters Workshop where we work on alternative backing techniques for Plique a Jour. We researched and experimented with different products to allow us to create large cell openings to hold the the enamels.

She is kind enough to share her work after returning to her studio in Ontario Canada. 18k White and 18k Yellow Gold,  and Diamonds.

Thank you Brenda for sharing, Beautiful work!

White Specks in Your Enamel

If you see white specks in your enamel, remove them. This is a sign of deterioration. Some times there is only a few and you can remove them before you place any enamel in your work. Sometime the enamel sits on the bottom and water will not penetrate the enamel at all. This it time to throw them away!

If you did not see this until the enamel is fired you can drill it out with a diamond bur and re-fire the piece before adding more enamel. This way you will not have a shadow where you removed the speck.

This is a real issue when using transparent enamels, an it comes from the enamels being left wet too long.

Repairing Enamels

Enamels are not very difficult to repair. If a piece has been dropped and cracked you can clean the piece with a jeweler’s steamer to remove any dirt that might have made it’s way into the crack. Let it dry!! so not water could be in the crack on top of the kiln as you dry your enamels before firing. An fire. Use the same temperatures yo know for the metal it is on and the the firing times you know from the size of the piece. Usually there will be an indention in the work and you will need to choose to fill with a soft firing flux that is made to be a top coat or sand the piece down to match all the surface again.

In the initial firing I recommend checking on the piece in the kiln through time to see when the enamel flows. Especially if it is not a piece you have made. This way you will know if the enamels are  harder firing or softer firing. Then you can match what enamel  you decide to add.

I can across this in a repair of a bangle bracelet from India. The enamel was much harder than any I had. But the design of the bracelet was in cloisonne and I was able to remove all the red in the broken cell and apply new enamel.

Cloisonne and Torch Firing Enamels

Cloisonne and Torch Firing …….Chris Heirholzer

Amazing simplicity with astounding depth and detail. When art makes you want to look into it and hold it, he has achieved true art. This is Chris Hierholzer’s Collection and Technique. An artist of many forms from pottery, music, woodworking, even piano restoration, his collection and technique of torching enamels is inspirational.

I was fortunate to spend the day with Chris and see his technique first hand and yes he is making enamel jewelry even cloisonné jewelry with a torch.

Chris and I began our conversation after reconnecting when I started this new website. I will leave the beginning of these comments as there is valuable information in them also. Be sure to read all the way down as he shared a photo demo of his technique.

May 2, 2010

“My only experience with torch firing enamels is in trying to add a finding that has come off in the process of making a cloisonné jewel. What I found is you have to heat it indirectly as the fumes from the flame discolor the enamels.” Patsy

“The discoloration most likely came from the enamel being leaded. If you heated from the top then it will discolor. Sometimes when I fire leaded with a torch if the flame is to big combined with it being a reduction flame it will discolor the edges. Only fire from the bottom…..I place a thick soldering screen on 2 fire bricks on end and fire from the bottom…slowly bring fire up so the thermal shock won’t warp the metal or fracture the enamel…I start with the tip of the flame about 8 inches bellow the piece and stay there for 2 min. or so and then come up another 1 inch and stay for a minute or so…just keep repeating until the enamel melts…don’t let the tip of torch come closer than 2 inches from bottom of enamel….also I fire on a 3 prong trivet on top of the soldering screen….the soldering screen should be substantial….

…….since the leaded enamels don’t do so well after multiple firings with a torch……….Coral Schaeffer has some Ninomiya unleaded enamels that compliment thompsons… and work well with torch firings”.

Some of Chris’ work,

Congo Mask, Missionary Series…Cloisonne,fine silver,fine gold foil,sterling silver. Tab set and torch fired. Brooch 2006      Jelly Bean Mask, Animation Series…Cloisonne, fine silver, fine gold foil, sterling silver. Leaded Enamels, Ninomiya. Tab set and torch fired. Brooch 2006

.Color of water series….Limoges,copper,fine silver and gold foil,sterling silver. Non Leaded Thompson Enamel.Tab set and torch fired. Brooch 2008

Chris sharing his torch firing technique.

Chris fusing the counter enamel.

And fusing the flux coat on the front of a copper disc.

Slowly heating and coming a little closer,

My flash hides how glowing red hot the copper piece was as well as the trivet.

And Chris is a master at handling foils, he uses ribbon to give the foil texture. If you are near Florida he has a class coming up with FSGNE July 17 at noon, in Deland, Fla. Don’t miss it!

And many thanks Chris for sharing in the growth of enameling.

Chris email contact chrismhier@comcast.net And if you look at the setup Chris is using it is made by Steve Artz and his contact is nbrainr@cox.net he would be happy to make one for you!

What are Enamels

History and Facts About Enamels

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. Of course today we have found a way to produce enamels without lead. The replacement for the major part is borax.

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.

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. This is where many get lost. In enameling you just need to match the expansion of your metal and your enamels. I use a harder firing enamel as a flux then continue with medium firing enamels. For the very simple reason with repeated firings the warm colors might get liquid enough to mingle down and eventually touch the metal and burn. We are using medium firing enamels, they are for copper, sliver and gold metals, but a few are a little bit harder than others.

If you do test places you will see this. Say I have a plate 1″ x 3″ and I put 15 color dots of washed enamel on the plate and fire it at 1425 degrees. Some dots will be very melted and some many even be grainy. The grainy one is a harder firing enamel.

What really helps you here is you do not want to put a harder firing enamel next to a softer firing enamel. This can cause cracking.       In this piece I made for Andre of Outkast, he wanted the cloison wires to be fine silver and different thicknesses. Which caused a lot of heat and of course with a pink nose against the fine silver cloison wires was trouble. But in my pallet of colors my pinks were not of the same firing hardness, once the cracking started, I had to remove them and test to get ones that were all the same to get the cracking to stop. And I am not talking about layering these colors I was gradating the colors next to each other. Things like this teach you but it would have been nicer to know ahead of the project.

When you get into plique q jour you will find it is also important to know your enamels melting points as in grouping or shading. When laying colors next to each other with no backing it is more obvious if the colors do not blend together. The grains do not mingle. I have heard artist that work mostly in the technique of plique a jour recommend using opals as they are a lower melting enamel in our medium firing range.

Happy enameling!

Our Hearts are Breaking!!!!!

Building a Good Foundation and Test Plates

It takes time to do test plates but to redo and redo takes more time in the long run. Do test plates. Try to understand hard firing and medium firing enamels and where to use them. All the enamels we buy from Thompson and Ninoniya or Bovano for enameling in jewelry or wall plaques or vessels are sold as medium firing enamels. But in the category there are enamels that are harder or longer firing than others. If you do test plate of small dots and fire the plate once at 1425 degrees you will see what I mean. Some of the dots are bumpy and some are very smooth. Once you see which of your enamels fire faster than the others you simply know which ones should be on the bottom and which ones are best on the top layers of your process. Hard should be on the bottom and soft on top. Also hard and soft fired next to each other can result in cracking!

If I have a project of cloisonne and it will be a deep layering of colors I need an enamel base flux that will hold up for many firings. This is when you need the harder firing flux. Bovano 3# is a harder firing flux than any others I have tried.

Hi Patsy,
I am very frustrated because I am unable to keep from burning out my oranges, reds, pinks and some purples. I am using Ninomyas and some Thompson leaded enamels. I have tried changing temperatures and length of firing. Can you please recommend the best method of keeping my colors clear and bright? I keep getting a phlegmy looking yellowy brown. Are there any particular colors that are best to use. I seem to have a little better luck when I use them over gold. I always have flux under them regardless. I am firing at around 1350 for 1 1/2 to 2 minutes.

I am starting to do art shows/festivals this year and am trying to produce a large number of pieces. So I really need to fix this asap or all of my work will be in blues and greens.
Any tips on figuring out how many pieces I need to have per show?

Thanks,
Sher

Hi Sher,

With that temp you can get very tiny bubbles when firing too low, try to stay at 1400 – 1425 degrees for 1 minute 15 seconds and with checking . So I would think right off, you are laying in your warm colors too soon. Are you using FS base and a FS cloison wires or gold cloison wires? As the FS colison wires are hotter.

I only want to fire my warm colors a couple of times. So I will use the flux in the cells for the warm colors each time I fill all the cells until it is at my last couple of layers. This way I have an option of an additional firing just in case I crack the piece in setting.

I use Bovano flux #3 as it has a blue base tint that will help keep the yellow and it is a harder fire that the Ninomiya #3 flux. So this means the warm colors will not mingle with the base of fine silver as soon. When you are firing at a long time, I know you are trying to stop the burn out but think. The base gets hot = the fine silver and holds the heat. Then the flux gets liquid and the color layer you are melting mingles with the flux coat and eventually with the fine silver. So if you fire a bit faster the base will not get as liquid as you only need to melt the top layer of color. Your color enamels melts faster than your flux.

Also if you do test plates try to use yellows that have an ash base, such as Ninomiya H24 and N26. The oranges the same, look at the test and you can see it has an ash base, like Ninomiya N21. It is not as bright of an orange but if you put N24 first then the N21 this brightens your orange.

You really have to do the test plates and analyze the colors. On my pink color plate with 14 colors I can see some have a yellow base and some have a blue base. Use the blue base first then the yellow base one to get a brighter color, in the same color family. Do color plates and use all your warm colors, one of all reds and one of all yellows, and fire several time to see which of the reds and which of the yellows burn first. Then you really know which can handle more firings. It takes time but when it is all over you will be very confident of the end result.

Hope this helps!

Patsy, Thank you for your in depth answer. I am definitely going to have to analyze your response in regard to the enamels that I am using for the yellow/blue base factor. Funny that you suggested the 1400/1min 15sec. It is exactly what I was doing before I switched to 1350 and 1 1/2 – 2 min firing. I had thought that lower temperature might mean less burning. Your explanation of melting the flux and having the colors mingle was fascinating. Ahhh, that must be why it works better over gold foil? I am only using fine silver for the base and wires. I finish my pieces with a lapidary grinder so I will have to have some layers of safety at the surface so I don’t grind off my colors. I will try putting the warms closer to the surface though. It makes a lot of sense.

Bovano flux? You have been mixing it with the Ninomiyas and it’s okay? Which flux do you recommend for filling the cloisons over the color layers? I can’t imagine having 14 pinks! I can’t even get a good pink out of one of my enamels. Reds, pinks and oranges have become my own personal nightmare.

Thank you so very very much for your help. Your generosity of knowledge is amazing and I am grateful. I wish I could be playing, right now it really feels like work. The pressure is on to build an inventory.

Take care,
Sher

Sher,
When using fine silver base and fine silver cloison wires I find it very difficult to use warm colors. Silver causes a lot of heat. So I use a bit of flux against the walls of the fine silver cloison wires as Ninomiya #3, or a baby blue,  as these are medium firing enamels. You do not want a hard firing flux against the wires then a medium firing enamel colors next to it as you will have cracking. You can layer a hard firing enamel then a medium firing enamel but not next to each other.

I use a lapidary machine also. I try to fill as level as possible so not to have high spots that could cause me to loose my color. I prefer not to use a finishing flux. When I was beginning I had the flux get cloudy over other colors and decided to avoid them. So I just continue with color. If you have the concentration of color you want just use a light color in the same family.

Yes Bovano can be used it as a base with Ninomiyas. With it being a harder enamel is perfect for the base. And it is a blue base which I also think helps. If you do color plates ( small dots on the same plate) and you see one enamel melts before the rest, that will tell you it is a lower melting and softer enamel. If it takes longer to melt it is harder. These should always be in the lower layers and the softer enamels on the top layers. That is exactly what Ninomiya’s N4 is, a soft enamel and used for the last coats, as it melts faster.

Come and have a class and we can get all the reds, oranges and pinks you want to master. I spent many months doing test plates. You would be surprised how much you can learn in a day or two!

Patsy

Patsy,

You are a genius! Wow! I did a very non-technical test. I filled the cloisons with N-3 flux half way up and then laid down very thin layers of 3 different pinks and voila! They look like pinks. I haven’t covered them with flux to the tops of the wires yet. Hopefully I’m not celebrating prematurely but it looks pretty great to me.

I really need to take your class!

Thank You,
Sher
Sher,

Not a genius but a lot of test plates and thinking. Your success is awesome. I believe cloisonne is the most difficult enameling processes, many many factors to remember. When you have time upload your photos of before success and after. It will help other learn!

Love enameling!

Hi Patsy,

The experimental piece with pinks and purples turned out great, even with layers of flux over it. At the very end, I think I over did it and the N15 turned a little orange but it’s still okay. I think that learning from you would be a great opportunity and the expenses are reasonable. I’ll attach a few photos.

Hi Patsy, The experimental piece with pinks and purples turned out great, even with layers of flux over it. At the very end, I think I over did it and the N15 turned a little orange but it’s still okay. I think that learning from you would be a great opportunity and the expenses are reasonable. I’ll attach a few photos from my zapplication Sher