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Category Archives: Enameling

Torch Enameling: Cloisonne on Silver Part II

This is the last part of a tutorial on torch enameled cloisonne. In this picture I have picked a color pallet of green and blue and yellow.     And here I’ve filled the cells.   Firing with mapp gas, and a cheap little torch tip from Lowes.   And there it is, filled with […]

Torch Enameling: Cloisonne on Silver

I had a great visit with Patricia White of Grains of Glass, the coolest enamelist’s website out there, and she mentioned that the current trend in enamel is ‘torch firing’. I enamel on silver, and torch firing is super easy and cheap, and can look great. I use propane and butane for this, either of […]

Granulation with the Ultralite Kiln

I am an enamelist, primarily. As offshoots of this passion I have also played with Jean Stark’s wonderful series of fused link chains, and lately, granulation.   These endeavors have in common the act of fusing fine silver. If it is chain, you are making circles to become links. If it is enamel, I am […]

To Capture Color

One thing about enameling, the color is marvelous. The Color is the point, mostly. But on a bad day, it can be is awful. Color in enamel depends on color combinations, and if you pick the right colors all is well. If not, then your piece goes into the box in the drawer.   It […]

Enameling Again

Christmas is coming, and the elves are all doing production work, with the hope that someone, somewhere will have some money to spend. For the last week I’ve been making granulated earrings that all look alike. Not very entertaining…so this week I worked on a pair of enamel earrings for a sample for a class […]

Granulation meets Biology

Design is the final frontier of any technique. Making a personal statement with granulation is difficult, because granulation has definite character. This week’s earrings for the Betty McKim Earring Challenge uses multiple techniques, and begins to explore the nexus between geometry and biology. On my bench I have these bases to start with. Being a […]

From Geometry to Jellyfish

The past few years I have struggled with my affinity for the circle. It just seemed too easy, but recently I have decided to just go with it. After all, there are lots of interesting things that are circular: planets, hubcaps and hurricanes. This is one of a series of triskele enamels, with tri-fold symmetry. […]

Sad Day in Granulationland

Just when I was feeling pretty good, like, this is great! I have it under control! comes the cosmic reminder that pride goes before a fall. The last pair of green earrings had a great enamel effect, one that I had never seen before. I had heated the piece so hot that the enamel had […]

Granulation using Plating

When fusing things together, I have realized that there are several approaches, that have their place. There is straight-up fusing, using just the torch. This is the best when you are trying to flow the metal across a gap. It requires a lot of heat control, because you are working mainly at melting temperature, and […]

Yes, but can you Enamel on it?

Now that I have granules and made lots of round granulated objects, I need to figure out how to enamel on these things. Mainly because I committed myself to teach a class in this, so I guess I better figure it out. It is all fine silver, so what could go wrong? (Famous Last Words) […]