This chapter discusses the ins and outs of the application of both regular (grain) enamel and liquid enamel. As painting enamels are considered a supplement, their application is discussed in the Supplements and Add-ons chapter. Regular enamel can be applied by a dry or wet application. The book discusses the traditional ways of sifting and wet packing. Judy Stone's project introduces a different way to apply wet enamel in a process she calls Wet-floating, which requires a sifting of a hard clear enamel before firing. Below is information that didn't make it into the book. TOC
Applying Enamel Using an Eye DropperThe following has been brought to my attension: a video that shows an enamelist in China applying wet enamel using an eye dropper - very interesting. Enamel BurnoutNormally one would want to apply enamel to show the beauty of its color. However, Rebekah Laskin uses a special method to apply enamel in a light vale directly on copper so that it burns out, leaving a beautiful satainy surface, which can then be enameled over or left as is. She usually does this when thickly stenciling using a transparent enamel. To do this, first sift your transparent through your stencil using a 100 mesh sifter so that it is fairly thick, then sift a light transparent enamel using a 200 mesh sifter in a light vale over this. Fire at 1500°F until the stenciled transparent is fully fused and cleared of all underneath oxides. The back, without counter enamel, will normally produce Held Firescale (used in Steve Artz's Trouch Fired Enamel project), which although is also black, has a different feel to it than the burned out enamel. On sample is below and see another sample here.
Mesh SizeThe size mesh you use when wet-packing is important for the effect you want. Read more information about Mesh Sizes than is in the book here.That write up describes the mesh size to use for inhibiting the spread of an area that is wet-packed (-200 mesh or smaller). But note, if the area does spread more than you wished, you can use a small diamond burr on a flex-shaft to grind it away. Just be sure to follow normal procedure after grinding - clear away the dust and clean the piece with a glass brush. NebulaJean Van Brederode produces videos and has quite a few for sale on her website where she also sells enameling supplies and offers classes by some of the best contemporary enamelists; her studio is called "Charmed I'm Sure." I love the one called Nebula and it's something everyone can do! She provides clear instructions and shows how to do this with both torch and kiln firings. Following the Nebula link will show you other images she has done with special layering technique. BTW - she will produce videos for others - contact Jean to find out details. ScalexScalex is a material to stop the fusing of enamel to metal, but typically it's used to inhibit firescale on a non-enameled surface when it's put into the kiin. The book talks about it on page 79. But Kathleen Wilcox uses Scalex to coat the back of her piece so that she can lay it on firing rack to inhibit warpage. See her description here. See the picture on the left as a sample. Sift & TapThe book has an LTT about the process of Sift & Tap (page 84), which describes how to apply a "glue" and sift enamel over it and then tap of what doesn't stick. The section on Printing Enamels on page 94 describes various methods on applying the "glue". Another name for Sift & Tap is what Jan Arthur Harrell calls Glitter And Glue. Some enamelists use Caryola Markers and yellow hiighlighter or micron pens (to get really thin lines) for the "glue" for this method. SilkScreening with mica PowdersJan Arthur Harrell does quite a few really good videos and is an excellent teacher. Here is one where she shows how to silkscreen using mica powders. She has more on Cool Tools. But if you start running this video and then stop it, you should see a panel of other videos she has. Enjoy!
Sugar Coat on Each Layerin addition to sometimes working with burned out enamel (see right), Rebekah Laskin also frequently uses a sugar coat on each layer of her work in order to keep her images crisp. To do this, she will cover each layer with a light vale of Thompson 2020 clear through a 200 mesh sifter and fire at normal temperature until the image just starts coming through the vale. To see how light the vale is, see the above image with the negative heart stencil. Here is a finished piece in which Rebekah used this technique. The Finishing chapter of the book discusses a Sugar Finish on any enamel. But this method uses the sugar fire on each and every layer! Test Firing ApplicationsPerhaps you want to try out a new procedure or new supplement or whatever. it's important to be organized so you can remember what you did. I have the following suggestions.
My recommendation is to do all this until it's done. That is, don't wait a few days to finish your notes or coordinate your photos with the notes. You most likely will forget something like I have all the time. Be disiplined to finish any one test. Good luck! Here is a MS Word template you can use for a computerized write up. You will be asked if you trust downloading this file - that is up to you, but I don't think I have any virus on my Mac computer. Here is an example of what I did for a test using the template. Thanks to Barbara Minor and Lydia Morrison for help with these notes.
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