Enameling On Brass

Here are two photos of baskets I've made out of copper and, in the case of the lower one, copper and brass. The copper one above is one I've been working on now for a month, since I started to do a little enameling again. The former president of the Enamel Guild here at Spanish Village gives classes during the day and evening on the second Saturday of the month, the day that he sits in the gallery.

When he told me last month that I could come work with him, I started this basket because I didn't want to enamel one of the typical copper bowls that are available through the enamel catalogs. He had created a basket, and so I copied him. However, I only finished it in the last several days and had it ready for enameling when we worked together this weekend. I like trying new methods when we work together, like turning the kiln up to a higher than normal temperature. That creates enough heat to change the look and/or color of the enamels that I'm using. There was a member of the Guild who did some beautiful pieces using that method. I like the idea of working with the material, allowing it to do what it will in the kiln.

I had so much fun making the previous basket that I decided to work on another one today while I was in my studio. It's at the left. I used pieces of copper and brass that I have already etched. You can't tell from the photo, but the large band at the bottom of the basket is copper and the center band is brass. The enamel won't stick to the brass, so the effect that will be created when I enamel it will be interesting I hope. I talked to my other teacher, a cloisonne teacher, on the phone about the brass. She said there must be a way to get the enamel to stick to the brass because all the Chinese cloisonne is done on brass. I don't know the answer. I'll just have to try it and see what happens.

I enjoy working with enamels because I think there's a great deal of room for creativity in the medium. Not much has been done with it recently to experiment and give it a new look. Or if there has been, it's certainly not something I'm aware of. Most of the work I've seen is fairly traditional. I want to make some pieces that are really extreme, that really push the envelop so to speak.

I certainly don't think of enamel as my medium, but certainly I have more fun in the enameling and cloisonne classes than with any other art form at this point. And it's a medium that certainly brings out my creativity. Remembering that fact, I want to push myself with the medium as far as I possibly can, not follow any of the usual procedures that enamelist normally adhere to. I want to break all the rules. And I gave up all my flat pieces of copper and said I will never do a flat piece of enamel again. I will always "build" something out of copper that I can use to enamel.

After spending most of the day on the brass and copper basket, I took some time to put some asphaltum on some copper and one zinc plate. My cloisonne teacher talked to me about using deeply etched zinc to emboss on copper or silver. I'm very anxious to try doing that. I've always wanted to do a deeply etched plate, so my plan is to take a zinc plate I have into class tomorrow and try etching it for a long time.