enamelling

I decided to use a resin block as the basis for some enamelled pieces.  The pieces were silver and copper, soldered onto wire and put into holes drilled into the resin. 


first try - actually like these colours, maybe I'll do something with them another time!

drilled holes - focus trouble, hmm...

The first stage is to clean the metal with pumice powder and a brass brush under a tap - when the water runs off in a sheet it's clean.  Clinging droplets of water means the metal is greasy and needs more cleaning.

I set up a gauze platform and put on a layer of flux powder. 

Firing this first gives the metal a sheen and brings out the colour of the metal.  I really like the effect - especially on silver - so I decided to keep the silver pieces plain with just two coats of flux.



Trusty wee kiln.  Probably a bit too hot here!  Each firing takes a couple of minutes.

pieces with flux only - really like the silver (bottom right).



 

Brooch? Neckpiece? Brooch?

I started playing around with introducing other elements - but  it all got a bit fussy.  The surrounding pieces overpower the coloured parts.  I tried making the other shapes smaller, flattening parts by rolling and forging... but I still wasn't entirely happy with the design.