College 31st January: Enamel

after yesterday's concentration on assessment, everyone was pretty tired today - quite a few people didn't come in, and I had some sympathy with them because it wasn't fear why we were going to do - and the Tuesday afternoons have been very variable in content and quality, at times.

The to things on offer were digital work in the mac quite, or enamelling with Matt, which is what I chose - largely because I had almost forgotten all about enamel, and thought it would be good just to refresh my failing memory.

It was very interesting,  not least because Matt showed us how to work on small pieces of copper using a blow-torch for firing, rather than the kiln.  This method seemed far less fussy than using the kiln, although I think the actual firing process probably takes a little longer because the heat is not so immediately intense.  However, it doses have the advantage that you can see what is happening to your enamel, and can adjust the time to get a smooth result, or whatever.  The risk is that the powdered enamel, which you sprinkle onto the metal before firing,  gets blown about by the force of the flame, but that doesn't seem to be a major problem.  You hold the torch so that the flame is on the underneath side of the copper sheet - which of course needs to be counter-enamelled first to reduce the distortion and bending form the heated metal if only one side is coated.

Enamelled copper sheet balanced on wire mesh which in turn was balanced between two pieces of fire-proof brick

Matt demonstrating how to hold the blow-torch safely underneath the copper sheet, directing the flame upward to the underside of the piece, and showing how you can watch the enamel melt and fuse, and decide when to stop by simply looking at the quality of the enamel finish. 

I did some tiny test pieces,  (above,  with just the counter-enamel in place) and came away thoroughly inspired and thinking about how I could use enable for my final project.