These featured selections of Enamel Art are from our Members.

Enamelists are few in number, because the medium is demanding and unforgiving. Of all the enamel techniques used today, Plique-a-jour is the least seen and practiced. This technique, which resembles miniature stained glass and is reminiscent of the Art Nouveau influences, reminds one of the past glories of skilled metalsmiths and jewelers. The intricate metalwork skeletons require knowledge and skill in fashioning fine filigree forms, which are then complimented by breathtakingly colored enamels. The rich color of the transparent enamels is wondrous, as the observer turns a piece in the light the colors are seen in different shades appearing to bring the design alive. This technique does not simply imitate its past masters.

The twenty first century emphasis of today's work is made possible by technical advances in the enamels and the vision of today's artists and crafts persons.
I have always been enthralled by the Art Nouveau period and the inspiration it offers from themes of nature. My work features Dragonflies, Bugs and Butterflies. I believe that people should have a little color in their lives. We see too much drab same color jewelry in stores. Look in most jewelry shop windows and you will see yellow gold and diamonds. This is extended to the fashion industry. How many times have you seen a group of young women about to embark on a night out, all dressed in black. White, we are told is the most popular car color. People paint the inside of their houses a putty color.

No, I am not just an ageing Hippie, I just believe that with all the color choices available in gemstones, it is very limiting to confine your self to diamonds and gold. Diamonds look better and show their brilliance more when combined with a colored stone. When you add colored enamel to this equation the choices are just limited by the imagination.
I began my fascination with eclectic design when as a youngster of twelve I began making jewelry and jugs from old copper boilers.

At the completion of secondary schooling, I entered a four-year apprenticeship with the leading Brisbane Jeweler, “Wallace Bishops Factory” in Brisbane. This proved to be a fortunate move as I excelled in my chosen profession. One of my duties as an apprentice was to enamel assorted badges with vitreous enamel and it was here, that I developed a fascination for the process, which is predominant in my art.

At the completion of my apprenticeship, I headed for Europe. During my time in London, I worked for the celebrated Andrew Grimer, one of Europe's leading contemporary jewelers. From there I moved to the famous jewelry manufacturing area of Hatton Garden to work for “Len Wilson and Co” where I was given free reign to design and manufacture any piece of jewelry that I could imagine. The designs were sold at “Len Wilson's Baker Street” store, throughout Europe and the United Arab Emirates.

On returning to Australia, I established my own business in Brisbane doing specialty manufacturing, design work, and selling estate and antique jewelry. During one of my frequent visits to the UK to purchase stock for the store I had the good fortune to meet an old craftsman, whose father taught him and worked as a manufacturing jeweler for Lalique in the late 1800’s Europe. This association helped me develop a unique perspective, which encompassed the grandeur of that cultural period of jewelry design not to mention the tips on manufacturing and repairing jewelry from that period in which he learned.

Although the retail business in Brisbane was a successful business for many years I became dissatisfied with just commercial success and yearned for the creative freedom afforded to me in my formative years in London. In 1999, the business was sold and I moved to Albany, Western Australia, to concentrate on developing and designing jewelry that reflects the style that I have acquired and refined, through my travels, study and experience with fellow artists.

My first solo exhibition was held at the Accent Gallery Perth Western Australia in August 2002 and although commissions outweighed sales, was considered a great success. I am kept busy with commissions and regularly send work to an agent in London for resale and have also made sales into North America through the web. Negotiations are under way with galleries in Sydney and Melbourne.

___________________________________________________________

A POSTCARD FROM:

MEGHAN SALGAONKAR, INDIA

Dear Trish,

I have conducted one enamel workshop last week at my enamel studio which is 600kms from Mumbai, the place is Sawantwadi/Sindhudurg. The workshop was started from 10 April & finished on yesterday 14 April, 2012. It was a five day workshop & the workshop was participated by six participants, four students were from MFA Painting from Sir J. J. School of Arts, Mumbai, one woman was from Mumbai & one woman from Paris, France.

This was a great experience to all & really enjoyed the workshop.

I have to put this news on Grains of Glass & attached here some photos of workshop.

Hope this will be very helpful for me.

Best regards.

Meghan Salgaonkar

                                   ROCK ON! INDIA

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Offerings--Gifts for the Muse: Work by Jan Arthur Harrell"

April 6-August 12, 2012

Mesa Arts Center, Project Room

1 East Main Street, Mesa, AZ, 480-644-6561

It's obvious the Galleries put a lot of time and hard work into an artist's exhibition and it can be very pricey - Let's hope for great SUCCESS for Jan, and pick her brain for details once the show is closed.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------

  MY ELECTROFORMING MISSION - By Delia Delapp

I was researching online for enamel artists last year and discovered the work of the famous June Schwarcz. I was immediately intrigued by the beautiful organic quality of her work and decided that I needed to learn electroforming. I purchased a kit on the Internet, complete with a glass beaker and a 3-amp rectifier, and attempted to master this process at home. I was unsuccessful and abandoned the pursuit until I signed up for the electroforming workshop led by Shana Kroiz at the Enamel Conference in Tennessee. I was very eager to obtain the tried-and-true tricks and see a real tank in action. I have since built my own 20-gallon electroforming tank and have had amazing results that are akin to magic! A testament to the value of workshops and great teachers.  

In order to save money, I used a fish tank complete with the filter and air pump and then reinforced the interior seams with clear silicone. A 25-amp rectifier power source was purchased from eBay; the copper conductive paint from safersolutions.com; titanium hooks for the copper anode bars, and propylene bags from Technix.com; and white plastic 1-inch PVC pipe and corners, 1-inch copper pipe, brass fittings, and plastic screws for the titanium hooks from Home Depot.  I almost had a heart attack when I purchased the Midas copper electroforming solution and an extra bottle of brightener from Rio Grande. These materials cost approximately $1,000 to fill my 20-gallon tank. I attempted to find them cheaper, and in bigger bottles, but I couldn’t find a retailer. The only redeeming part about the investment is that if you run your fish tank filter in between electroplating, place your copper anode bars in propylene bags, continually fill the tank with distilled water when evaporation occurs, and occasionally add a few drops of brightener into the solution, your bath should last a lifetime.

PVC connection to the Air Hose

The most difficult part of putting the tank together was creating the air system inside it. Shana had suggested that there should be tiny air bubbles continually moving the solution to provide an even coating on the pieces. Home Depot sold the brass fittings that were used to step down from a 1-inch PVC pipe to ¼” plastic tubing. The drawing and photos provided with this article show the configuration of the air system with the needle-sized hole at the bottom center pipe. I glued the pipe and corner connectors together with PVC primer and ABS cement.

Soldered Tree with practice items

Shana began the electroforming process by coating her objects with clear satin lacquer – usually wax pieces so she can melt out the wax and enamel the form. She glued them with 2-part epoxy to a soldered copper wire tree structure. Following that, she painted copper conductive paint to the surface, making sure the glue connections were well coated. Shana then wrapped the end of the copper tree through a pre-drilled hole in the center copper pipe, making sure to center the pieces between the copper bar anodes. She connected the negative (black) connector to the bar holding the pieces and the positives (red) connectors to the copper bar anodes. To get a smooth copper coating thick enough for enameling, the rectifier should maintain a 3-amp current for approximately 3 days.

She turned the rectifier off when she pulled the pieces out to check the plating. If any piece had spots that weren’t coated, she sprayed water on it, lightly paper-toweled it off, and re-coated the spots. She let the piece dry and placed it back in the bath with the rectifier still off. It pickled the piece to eliminate any oxidation that might have occurred. If plating does not happen at all, it is likely due to bad connections. Shana made sure that the copper tubing was scrubbed with steel wool and all the glue connections were coated with conductive paint. If for any reason the solution needs to be discarded, she said to pour baking soda in it and wait until it stops bubbling. This will neutralize it. If the tank won’t be used for a while, she suggested taking the copper bars out, placing them in a bucket of water, and then scrubbing them with steel wool before placing them back in.

SHANA  & STUDENTS WORK

During the conference, the Enamel Society was auctioning off stunning electroformed bracelets created by June Schwarcz. I now own one and feel I have come full circle in my electroforming mission. Thank you, Shana!

                                  SHANA'S JEWELRY

------------------------------