Techniques and Technicians - Enameling

I have been nurturing an idea of a series of posts exploring some of my favourite jewellery techniques and technicians.

Techniques: A practical method or art applied to some particular task

Technicians: Someone known for high skill in some intellectual or artistic technique

As a lover of all things colourful I thought a nice place to start would be enameling. Enameling is the art of fusing glass to metal, used in combination with other jewellery techniques the possibilities of enamel seem limitless. One of my favourite books on enamling is The Art of Enameling by Linda Darty.

Three of my fellow jewellery artists on Etsy who also have a love of enamel have kindly shared with me some info about their creative process using enamel.

Jewelry by Natsuko

I began making jewelry over 10 years ago. From bead stringing to pearl knotting, wire wrapping… I tried many different techniques. But it was always with beads that I bought from somewhere. I wanted make beads and focal myself. I wanted my jewelry to be truly *ME* So I took polymer clay class at local art center.


While it was fun to make stuff with polymer clay, I felt it really wasn’t for me. It’s just so hard to make finished product look nice & professional. So I moved onto enameling class and I was hooked! Why? I’d have say that because enameling gives you an instant graphication. And possibility of color combinations is endless.


I never run out of new color combination that I want to try. And because enameling is applied over metal, I can enjoy the shapes & texture of the metal too! Although you can do many things with enameling, my focus is to make jewelry. And now I am taking a metal smith class to seek new ways to incorporate my enamel pieces into jewelry.



The Sour Hour

Inna Peck : The Sour Hour : Reversible Enamel Jewelry

I am from Ukraine, and have a BA in Printmaking and Fiber Art. Having a background in printmaking and an interest in Jewelry and metalworking, I took a screen printing enamel class and the teacher really set me up with a good understanding of how to utilize processes and layering techniques to achieve a range of effects.


I am really new to glass, so I I am still trying to learn its capabilities and limitation through taking flame working and fusing classes. With my jewelry I try to use and layer patterns that reference traditional folk art designs but have a contemporary simplicity. I recently received two separate scholarships, one in engraving , and one in glass. I imagine that both of them will significantly change and improve my approach in the near future.


Currently my work is primarily opaque glass, but in the near future I hope to incorporate more engraving, transparent enamels and more complex shapes.



RMD jewellery

I discovered jewellery making a few years ago when my daughter started school, initially I was self taught in beaded jewellery making with a desire to move into metalworking. In 2008 I started attending workshops and weekend classes on silver smithing. In 2009 I attended a Goldsmith School in Brisbane one night a week and am currently continuing that training one full day at a Goldsmith School in Sydney since we moved here in Dec.


I discovered enamelling in Dec last year when I was looking at ways to add colour to my jewellery without the cost of stones, I was and still am, fairly hesitant to buy and set expensive stones as a beginner. I came across an article on torch firing enamel and found a great Aussie site that sold enamels in small quantities, enough for a trial of torch firing. I spent nearly 4 months testing and trialling torch firing enamels before successfully creating a gorgeously simple pair of drop earrings and from there the obsession began. A few months ago I purchased a microwave kiln which mimics the behaviour of a larger kiln but on a small scale.


I love working with metal and adding colour. Watching the enamels glow when they melt and seeing the lovely effects that can be achieved, each piece is an enigma and no matter how many times you work with a design or a colour, enamels always surprise you with their results. I love that, makes each piece, even the repeated designs, unique in their own way.


Aussie readers can check out Rachel's newer work at Shop Handmade in Canberra and Incub8r in Brisbane.

Thanks to Natsuko, Inna and Rachel for taking the time to share their enamel experiences with me, so that I could share them with you...

My creative space

I gave my creative space (aka the workshop) an "I wish it was Spring" clean today. It is so much nicer to have my tools tidy and sorted, and much more efficient.


I also got a bit of work done on some copper earrings. The copper has been shaped in a swage block. I then marked out where I would cut and countersunk holes for the earring posts. Each earring was then cut using my hand saw and the sterling silver earring posts soldered in place.


I have then cleaned up the earrings and annealed 3 times as I intended to enamel them and wanted to ensure there was no movement left in the metal.

As I have three pairs I have decided on hunter green (which is a nice rich Kermit the Frog sort of green), grape (which is the same as the purple colour on my black forest ring)
and black.


I have started to enamel them, next weekend is cleanup time.

A grand unveiling - enamel ring #1

Hooray, this weekend has been most productive (and we still have a few hours of sunlight!). I am very happy to be able to show you the first of my enamel pieces.

I have called this ring "Full Bloom" as it is reminiscent of the big bold roses in my front garden right now.



This ring involved a bit of experimentation, and a fair bit of luck ;) I started by first constructing the ring.



In some of my enamel test pieces I found the enamel was cracking. I had a theory that this was because I was allowing it to cool too quickly. As I had not yet perfected the torch fired enamelling and was moving on to trickier pieces with solder joins I did some extra reading. A tip that I picked up was to anneal and pickel the piece at least three times, this will prevent any potential movement left in the metal and also protect the solder from running again (hopefully!).



After annealing I cleaned the inner dome with a brass brush and let it air dry, this was to prevent any oils from my fingers contaminating the surface. I 'wet packed' the flame red enamel so that I could get it to sit up the walls of the dome.



After allowing the red enamel to dry for a couple of hours I added the dry buttercup yellow enamel.



Time then to cross my fingers and fire. I am really happy with the end result, it is available now on Etsy. Keep your eyes out in the coming weeks for some new enamel pieces in a fab range of colours.