Tag: enamel

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Art on the Mall

View of my art fair display at the end of the day showing earrings, necklaces and magnets

I love this little show in Toledo, and this was my best year yet. The setup was a breeze. I’m not sure exactly what was different, but we had no traffic jams. The day started out hot and steamy. It was in the mid-70s at dawn, which was when I got there. I paced myself to work in the heat, and saved my energy for opening time. Shoppers showed up early to beat the heat. I didn’t have time to take any pictures until the end of the day. Packing up in the heat was a challenge, but I took my time, just like in the morning. The UT alumni took good care of their artists, and brought us free cold water all day long.

art fair display showing copper enamel ornaments and switch plates

Sales were good. Here are a couple of the switch plates that sold:

copper enamel 2 gang light switch cover
copper enamel gfci outlet cover or rocker switch plate
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Royal Oak Outdoor Art Fair

My booth after the rain

Another hot weekend in Michigan. And we had a storm roll through around 2:00. It lasted about a half hour and cooled things off for a bit. This is my booth as I opened back up after the rain. I pulled the awning in and hung my overnight covers. My metalwork and enamels got a bit of a bath, but no damages. Sunday was also cooler than Saturday, and sales were much better.

I usually don’t take time to photograph my booth before I set it up, but Royal Oak starts on Friday afternoon. It gave me a chance to take my time as I open up my display.

copper enamel framed artwork entitled Eye

One of the pieces that sold this weekend, this framed enamel piece of wall art.

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Waterfront Invitational Art Fair

It’s always a pleasure to visit Saugatuck, Michigan. It’s such a pretty little town and the art club does a great job of organizing everything. The weather was hot, but I had a shady, breezy location and I enjoyed my day of talking to people and sharing my work. The crowd was steady and friendly. I didn’t have time to take many pictures, but I did get a quick booth shot before closing time.

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Summerfair in Cincinnati

clocks on display in my booth at Summerfair

Just as I started to load up for this show, I noticed an ugly bulge in my tire side wall. Ugh. Then, the weather forecast shifted, and the first day was going to be very wet. Though I was able to arrange for alternate transportation, I missed the Thursday setup with fair weather. I was stuck setting up Friday morning in the rain. At least it wasn’t windy. The rain was steady, and I got thoroughly soaked. However, the rest of the weekend was beautiful. The patrons gave me and my work a warm welcome, and that made everything worthwhile.

Saturday was too busy to take photos, but I did snap a few on Sunday. I’ve just started making enamel clocks, and they did get quite a bit of attention.

And a few more switch plates sold over the weekend.

copper switch plate with kiln fired glass enamel color

I’m glad to be back in my studio and garden, working on new lines of jewelry and artwork!

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New enamel flower earrings for Three Rivers Art Fair

Earrings in sterling silver, copper enamel, and freshwater pearl

These new earrings have been a long time coming, and I have them ready for Three Rivers in Pittsburgh. They’ll be available from Wednesday til Sunday this week.

My creative process for these earrings began by cutting copper sheet metal with a flower punch and die.

I hand stamped the copper flowers to make them more life-like.
More of the stamping process
I applied liquid form enamel followed by transparent colors and fired them multiple times.
The earrings after firing and before adding the sterling earrings wires and freshwater pearls.
The finished earrings, front and side view.

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Between Lake Wawasee and Three Rivers

A moment to catch a photo at Wawasee

With the first 2 shows complete, I’m now preparing for Three Rivers Art Fair in Pittsburgh. Last weekend at Chautauqua Wawasee was lovely. Perfect weather, talented neighbors, and a friendly crowd all made for a splendid day.

My new display continues to evolve as I add new work

I’m loving the mesh panels as I get better at setting them up. They give me more versatility and space to display. I’ll have even more work to show at Three Rivers June 5-9!

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Enameling Light Switch Plates

necklace made from a sterling spoon bowl carved with the silhouette of a woodpecker

My latest adventure in copper enameling, sgraffito light switch covers. I begin with a layer of clear and the follow with a layer of opaque color. I incise away the top color to reveal the luminous clear underneath.

The kiln and fired pieces cooling

Here is the opaque color before firing:

3 light switch covers after firing

Before firing, an opaque red switch cover before firing

And after firing
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Enameling Copper Pipe Rings

Copper enamel bands

To make these rings, I start out with copper pipe. I cut out cross-sections and formed the pipe to shape, convex or concave. I stamp designs into some of them.

After forming the rings, I cleaned them carefully and applied the powdered enamel to the rings.
After firing in the kiln, the glass melts and fuses to the copper.
After firing, the edges need to be sanded down before the next layer of glass is applied and fired.
The rings look so much more beautiful after the second layer of color is applied. I gave the bands a final sanding to remove any sharp edges to finish them.

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Making Plique a Jour Enamel Earrings

Plique a jour is an ancient technique where glass is suspended within a metal frame. For me, the technique is perfect for earrings. The pair I made above are like little stained glass windows of pure silver. Here is how I made them…

I started out with pure silver sheet and pierced out the designs that will be filled with glass.

I filled the pierced spaces with powdered glass enamels and placed the earrings on steel supports called trivets.

Here is how the earrings looked after the first firing. The glass usually doesn’t fill completely the first firing. It takes several firings to completely fill the piercings with glass.

After the piercings were completely filled with glass, I sanded them flush with the sheet metal and refined the outside shapes.

Here’s how they looked after sanding.

The earrings got one more firing to give the glass a final polish. After this step, I burnished the earrings with a glass brush. I made 10k gold posts and heat rivets to suspend the plique a jour designs.

Rosebud plique a jour enamel earrings