10.28.19 Hot Fun in the Summertime - Cloisonne Enamel, Part 1

One of the best things about CSJA -
classes are always set up and ready to go

Meteorological "fall" began the same mid-September week I took cloisonne enameling class with Ricky Frank - and the daytime highs hit 100 here in Austin.   Thank goodness for AC, not just for the outside temp, but because in the studio we had multiple kilns running at roughly 1400 degrees Fahrenheit for fusing glass.

Since then, actual fall has started to arrive...but I digress...

I'd wanted to take Ricky's class at Creative Side Jewelry Academy for several years - especially since learning about his connection to some dear friends and subsequently receiving a piece of his jewelry as a gift - but the timing just never seemed to line up.

This year the dates worked and I was all set to take the class in May - however - Ricky needed to reschedule. Finally, in September it all came together, and I had a fabulous time learning the basics of cloisonne enamel from a true master along side some wonderful fellow students.

Ricky demonstrating use of the kiln
Photo credit: Creative Side Jewelry Academy

From the first day of class, Ricky made clear that he wanted us to understand both the science behind how glass enamel works as well as techniques for creating our own individual pieces.

He was especially clear that while there are right and wrong ways to do things like using equipment and tools, this is not true for creating.  Short of having the enamel not to fuse to the piece (that actually happened with some of the copper ovals) there are no failures - only results.


With these principles laid out, we started learning some very basic - but important - steps in creating cloisonne.

Copper blanks with and
without base enamel

Before beginning any piece, you have to prepare the metal base.  This involves coating both the front and back of the form (in this case, copper) with enamel.  The top layer (where the cloisonne will be created) requires only a single layer, but the back of the piece needs several layers of "counter enamel" to ensure that the piece will heat and cool (and thus, expand and contract) at the same rate, so that as additional layers are added on the front, they don't crack.

This was just one of many times Ricky emphasized the importance of understanding the science behind the process rather than just telling us what to do.


With a blank prepared, we started to learn about just what it is that makes certain pieces just "enamel", and others "cloisonne" - and the answer is: wire.  The addition of just one wire to the surface of the piece (creating shapes or cells for colored enamel) turns it into cloisonne.

To get started, we all made a simple piece divided into four sections to experiment with different applications.

Although it doesn't look like much - this little exercise involved bending wires, positioning and then fusing them into the enamel before experimenting with application techniques...and we were just getting started.

I'll stop here for now (at the end of the first day) - stay tuned for more installments.



Until next time.