Top Social

Fiber art made from sustainable, local materials.

Experiments in New Skill Acquisition: Enameling


I have a process, by now, for moving to a new place - step 1: Move, unpack, decorate, etc. Step 2: Find the nearest craft school and sign on up for something. So, when I chose to come to Worcester, Massachusetts for grad school (a fine decision, as it has luckily turned out), I wasted little time in booking myself for an enameling class at the Worcester Center for Crafts. For me, this kind of thing has never not been a good decision. In fact, I'll be starting a new course this Fall on stone carving/lapidary - so stay tuned for my first attempts at that. 

I've played around with enameling a bit in the past (at the Folkschool and at Haywood). It's a fun and engaging process, somewhere at the intersection of glass and metalwork. In the most basic version, you are typically applying fine glass powder to metal (usually copper), then using a kiln to melt and fuse those materials together. The results can be varied and gorgeous, and I really only scratched the surface of what can be done. Metalwork doesn't always lend itself easily to vibrant color, so enameling is a great solution for that! 


Above, some of the materials needed for the process: sifters, enamel powder and Klyr-fire (used to hold powder in place until the kiln).


Some samples/test pieces. I used stencils for both of these on copper pieces that I sawed out in advance. They are now both serving ably as magnets on my fridge. 


Some lightswitch covers! I got really into making these, which came at a great time - what with that new apartment to decorate. 



The switch plate here is over-fired, so that it begins to separate and burn off a bit. The effect is lovely and highly textured. 



SaveSaveSaveSave
Post Comment
Anonymous said...

All slots are based mostly on one key concept – spin the reels and hope they land on a certain combination. This makes understanding slot video games extremely easy for a newbie, as once you understand how one plays out, you know the fundamentals behind all of them. The code under simulates your net acquire when you wager $1 on red on 400 completely different spins of the roulette wheel. The 우리카지노 app from Wild Casino is great for a number of|numerous|a selection of} completely different gadgets.