10 April 2011

Today I decided to try another way to build a setting, a variation on something I did before for Givrer. I still had enough silver for this light setting so I went ahead. I built it for the piece I finished yesterday, I haven't decided what I will be calling it yet!

With a pair of matching earrings :)

 It is a rapeseed field in one of the last misty days before Spring.

Enamel over copper, silver foil sterling silver, glass beads and grey moonstone beads.

I love how the light reflects through the yellow and green enamels on to the silver foil. It is a great contrast with the grey around it, and I think it translates rather well the brightness of the yellow flowers in a grey day.
I used some of my treasured and now sadly unavailable uranium yellow. I failed to stock up in time and so now I have so very little left. So sad!

I love to play with the macro objective ;)

 I found these glass beads some time ago. It is sometimes difficult to find exactly what I want. My working process is result-oriented, so I usually have a very clear idea of what I want, and it is sometimes difficult to find exactly the right materials in the exact shade I want!

With this in mind I have been thinking lately of picking up lampworking. I got a book... Then I could make my own beads. I don't know if I understood correctly, but I think I could use my enamels over the glass, wouldn't it be nice to be able to make matching beads? I don't think they have the same COE but I have seen this mentioned in my book and in different places. Perhaps in thin layers? or with a good annealing? (luckly I already have kilns!) it has to be tried :D I shall invest in a few tools and materials soon.

9 April 2011

Today I have been working on several enamel bases that I had already started working some time ago, and a couple that were just blank with the base layer. I am mostly using a variation of this technique I wrote about here. I have been using this technique almost exclusively for the last few years, for whatever reason.

I am working on several pieces of my Mist series, a couple in a beginning-of-spring spin-off of the Mist series, and another pair of the Àlbers Argentats series. I like to work on several pieces at once to streamline the process (enamelling and firing while other pieces are cooling down etc).

Loki keeps me company

I spent a few hours washing and making a couple of colour/opal palettes as well. This is often the case when trying things out... I could try out stuff on the pieces directly, but I prefer to have more control ;) perhaps because my time is so limited.

All in all it was a productive day. Unlike working at the jewellery bench, when I work at the enamelling desk I usually feel more accomplished. I hope some day to have the same level of control when making settings.
And this is why I am years behind in making settings for my enamels...

Here are the pieces I have been working on today (I have the finished Àlbers Argentats I in there for reference). They are not finished yet:

Oh, and the "moon tree" (working title) piece I had forgotten to mention... which is nowhere near finished.

And these two, the copper shaping and base layer were done some time ago, but the painting enamelling I started and finished today! Now they have to wait for settings ;) I even need to get more silver, so it will take a while.

The transition of winter to spring. These were "inspired" by views of the Flemish landscape. A field of rapeseed that was an almost painful splash of yellow and green in an otherwise grey and misty landscape, and the new leaves sprouting from an oak sapling. The beads in the middle I got some time ago for these pieces. I prefer to buy the beads beforehand to be able to match the enamel as much as possible.