Playing With Fire Part 3

Black, White, Silver and Gold leaf

Amethyst, Red, Yellow and Bronze Transparent

Here are more enameling samples that I have done in the last couple of weeks. I didn't care too much for the selection of transparent colors on this first one...It looked better with just the black and white with metal leaf! The red color once again looks pink. I'll have to try that color on bare copper next.

Silver leaf over White

Sky Blue and Mauve over top

This is an attempt at using cloisonne wires...The wires were a little too short, I think. The white enamel bubbled up through the leaf and the transparent colors enough to obscure some of the detail.

Black over Bare Copper

Silver Leaf added

Wet-Packed Blue over Cloisonne

 This was an experiment with a soldered-together piece. I used eutectic solder to apply the second set of wings, and after counter enameling the back it appeared that the solder flowed beyond the intended solder joint (meaning that it could have affected the color of any enamels  fired over it if it had been in a visible spot).
I proceeded with the usual black base color, then a layer of silver leaf. I then fired on cloisonne wire, although this time the height was too much to be so close to the edges of the piece. Live and learn.....
Next, I applied transparent blues over the top. The photo at left shows a wet-packing technique, in which a small amount of water is added to the enamel powder and applied to the surface with a paintbrush, rather like clumps of wet sand. You can see that the color of the enamel powder is vastly different from its' fired state, which is why a lot of experimenting is needed. Hard to know exactly what a color will look like from one application to the next. The iridescent effect on the dragonfly is more or less as I expected, just not very refined.

After firing

Clear over Copper

Silver and Gold Leaf before firing

After firing

 I have to apologize for the jumble of photos...I can't seem to control where they are placed on the screen. Clicking and dragging them around only seems to work occasionally ( and I don't have the patience to figure out why ).
This last piece has copper cloisonne wire instead of silver. I have since added some red ( a different red from the other samples) and purple, but didn't like the way it looked enough to even show it to anyone! I prefer the initial clear over copper, as the cloisonne lines create enough busy-ness that adding other colors just makes it look cluttered.
So, that is what I have been up to this last month, besides practicing for my audition. Took my cello to the repair shop and had the fingerboard planed and a bow re-haired. New strings are next on the list, when I have the $200 to spend!
There's always something....................................