Torch Fired Enamels

I've been experimenting with forch fired enamels recently and here are some photos.  The top photo shows some finished pieces.  The larger piece was actually overfired on the back side and I then flipped it and added a layer of the turquoise color over it.  There is a bit of a hill and the very top sugar fired which means it's a bit rough.  Different looks would be the full firing and that is slick like glass (ha, ha), orange peel and then the sugar coat look.  These represent different stages of the enamel actually melting.

The other two pieces have about two to three layers on each side.  This is a bit time consuming because you are back and forth adding more enamel and firing again several times.   I used a brass stencil and sifted a translucent lighter brown color over the turquoise.  The lines are not clearly defined because the enamel looks like powder, so the edges are fuzzy.  I really like how these look like decorative tiles.  I love craftsman architecture and old bungalows, so I can see making future pieces with some mellow ambers, golds, browns and greens.

I had the idea to take a fresh water pearl and thread it on a piece of sterling silver wire.  I then anchored it through the pendant, wrapped the wire to form a bale, wrapped the pearl itself again and also coil wrapped the bale.  This adds more interest to a very simple piece of metal by adding an artistic bale.  Instead of a jump ring, I have a pearl that looks like it's floating over the enamel piece.

The round piece was being fired by my friend and she has been making earrings.  She has a smaller holder over a metal screen in this photo.  This can take a bit longer to fire because the heavy screen absorbs so much heat.  We then switched over to using the three pointed holders and not using the screen.  The powdered enamels fire/fuse at 1500 degrees, so you can imagine the amount of care and consideration when working on these projects.

The bottom photo shows the enamel on my copper piece before firing.  After firing, I use long tongs to move the copper piece off and also move the metal stand as well.  We rest the fired pieces on a large piece of steel and that absorbs the heat more quickly.  I moved a piece after it had been cooling quite a while and decided to rinse it off with some water.  I then noticed some internal fractures in the glass probably due to cooling too fast.  I reheated that piece to take care of the cracks.  This has been interesting!  I'll be making some pendants and earrings soon with the enameled pieces.