Comments on: What are Enamels http://alohilanidesigns.com/enamels/ Patsy Croft's Enamel and Goldsmith Blog Mon, 26 Jul 2010 13:35:40 -0500 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.9.1 hourly 1 By: Patsy Croft http://alohilanidesigns.com/enamels/comment-page-1/#comment-489 Patsy Croft Mon, 28 Jun 2010 11:47:39 +0000 http://alohilanidesigns.com/?p=252#comment-489 Good Morning Jennifer, The engravings are on the back of the setting. I have a plate of 20 ga. 18k gold and solder on the bezel and all the findings and either before I set the cloisonne jewel or after, I engrave a design on the the back. In the jewels that are chased, as the Double Bird of Paradise, I start with a sheet of 16 ga. 18k gold and engrave my design. I remove by graving out the back ground, just to get it out of the way and start the chasing. Once I have that complete the chasing I saw out the negative space and solder it to one side of the frame, if you would call it or the bezel, then set the cloisonne jewel in opposite side. I will be in your area the 26 - 30 of July come and play with us at Mendocino. Patsy Good Morning Jennifer,

The engravings are on the back of the setting. I have a plate of 20 ga. 18k gold and solder on the bezel and all the findings and either before I set the cloisonne jewel or after, I engrave a design on the the back. In the jewels that are chased, as the Double Bird of Paradise, I start with a sheet of 16 ga. 18k gold and engrave my design. I remove by graving out the back ground, just to get it out of the way and start the chasing. Once I have that complete the chasing I saw out the negative space and solder it to one side of the frame, if you would call it or the bezel, then set the cloisonne jewel in opposite side.

I will be in your area the 26 – 30 of July come and play with us at Mendocino.

Patsy

]]> By: Patsy Croft http://alohilanidesigns.com/enamels/comment-page-1/#comment-488 Patsy Croft Mon, 28 Jun 2010 11:36:46 +0000 http://alohilanidesigns.com/?p=252#comment-488 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 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

]]> By: jennifer friedman http://alohilanidesigns.com/enamels/comment-page-1/#comment-485 jennifer friedman Sun, 27 Jun 2010 20:01:35 +0000 http://alohilanidesigns.com/?p=252#comment-485 Here is my second thought. On your reversible pieces are you actually enameling on the backs or are your putting 2 separate pieces together and framing them with a large gold bezel? I work in both cloisonne and plique-a-jour. I am sharing a pic of p-a-j with you. [img]pajcupa.jpg[/img] Here is my second thought. On your reversible pieces are you actually enameling on the backs or are your putting 2 separate pieces together and framing them with a large gold bezel?

I work in both cloisonne and plique-a-jour. I am sharing a pic of p-a-j with you.

]]> By: jennifer friedman http://alohilanidesigns.com/enamels/comment-page-1/#comment-484 jennifer friedman Sun, 27 Jun 2010 19:57:38 +0000 http://alohilanidesigns.com/?p=252#comment-484 Hi Patsy, were you at the enamel conference in Oakland, CA? I've got 2 thoughts and questions. First. You are using diamonds to carve your enamels, how many layers of enamel are you using? You have discussed that you use flux below your reds, pinks & oranges and I agree with you there. On your gold pendant with red hibiscus you say your carve the enamel with diamond, I've got that. But, don't you need to have a very thick layer of reds so that when you do carve into it, you don't run into the flux? Hi Patsy, were you at the enamel conference in Oakland, CA? I’ve got 2 thoughts and questions. First. You are using diamonds to carve your enamels, how many layers of enamel are you using? You have discussed that you use flux below your reds, pinks & oranges and I agree with you there. On your gold pendant with red hibiscus you say your carve the enamel with diamond, I’ve got that. But, don’t you need to have a very thick layer of reds so that when you do carve into it, you don’t run into the flux?

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