11.11.19 Let it go, let it go... Cloisonne Enamel, Part 2

Photo credit: Ricky Frank

For the entire week of class, Ricky repeated the following mantra; forget good or bad, forget right or wrong - unless the enamel doesn't fuse to the metal you will get a result. 

As I said last time, he was very clear that his goal was to teach us the basic science and techniques of cloisonne enamel - and NOT "how to make cloisonne like Ricky".

He also brought along cases full of his jewelry - and I selected a piece for myself on the first day of class.  It was a very freeing experience - because it meant that whether or not I completed a piece of my own that I wanted to set, I had a new pendant - and that made me very happy.

Having learned how to prepare a base and apply enamel on the first day - we spent the next two days focusing on the science of light and color.  One of the things that gives Ricky's pieces such depth and rich color is his use of metal (silver and gold) to reflect and enhance the light that bounces back through the glass.

He achieves this either by using a metal base or by adding metal foil in layers to his pieces.  

We made a number of sample pieces by covering some or all of a prepared base in foil - both silver and gold - so that we could begin to work with layering color.

The exercise was not just about art - there was a very important science lesson involved...some colors of enamel (remember, it's ground glass) are reactive with metal when they fuse.  I had an "oh, yes, that's right" moment when I remembered learning about this property for some colors in my glass fusing classes at Blue Moon Glassworks.

In order to prevent any unwanted reactions, the first step is to cover the metal with a layer of flux (not the same flux as metalsmiths uses to make solder flow) - which is clear glass - to create a barrier between the metal and the colored enamel.

We used red (which reacts with metal), blue, green and opal white to create samples with one and two layers of color that allowed to see how each color looks over gold, silver, and white.

At this point - Ricky told us we were going to make "some bad pieces" - which really meant no expectations other than more learning. 

The definition of "cloisonne" is an enamel piece with wire in it - just one wire will do.  So, that's what we did.  We added one piece of wire to a base, and experimented with it.

We worked with black and white backgrounds, foil, and the colors of our choice to make test pieces so that we could spend the last two days of class making "better pieces" (all the while remembering that the point of the class was to learn).

I'll share that process - and the results - in my upcoming...201st...post.

That's right folks, this is post number 200! Thanks for hanging in there with me and reading along for the last almost five years.

Until next time.