Experimental Saturday - Enameling on Copper Metal Clay

If you know my work or read my posts, you know I love metal...especially copper...and enameling!  You also know I like to try new things.  A few months ago, after really, really, really wanting to give metal clay a go, I played a bit and then dove in head first and bought a kiln. At the time, I wanted to add an enameling collar to the kiln so that I could expand my repertoire even more with cloissonne and other kiln-enameling techniques, but it just wasn't in my budget then.

Fast forward...my birthday is in a couple weeks (Happy Birthday to me!!) and hubby asked me what I wanted...can you guess what I answered?  Exactly - that enameling collar!  Sadly, I don't have it yet...should be here by my birthday though and just be warned that I will be inundating you with more progress because I have been researching a lot of different enameling techniques.

But you know I am impatient, right?  I want to enamel metal clay now!  My only option right now is my beloved immersion method torch-firing, a la the lovely and talented Barbara Lewis.  Maybe that would be do-able.  I queried over on the Facebook Inspired Enameling group and got some advice.  Barbara shared that she had tried it on a finished bronze clay piece that a student brought to class and was unsuccessful. Hmm...I decided to see for myself!

Here are a few of my 1st copper clay babies...one must sacrifice for the greater good, right?

I won't bore you with the details.  Here are the after photos...

It started doing this as soon as I took it out of the flame.  The smaller one I tried a 2nd time with the same results.

This sad one lasted a  little bit longer :(

Just look at those gorgeous color combos...in flakes on the paper!  I do have to admit that they are still sort of cool...perhaps salvageable!

So, in hindsight, I think one of the biggest factors in why this was an epic fail was that metal clay is more porous than actual metal sheet.  I also fired these pieces in the most straight-ahead program included in the clay's instruction packet.  I now know that there is a special firing program for enameling pieces in the kiln, so it would follow that maybe that would also apply to torch-firing them...maybe!

As for kiln enameling on metal clay...there are artists out there making gorgeous art.  I thought I would share a few with you...

Robbin Bowler is an artist/designer who creates sweet birds and other whimsical jewelry designs from CopperClay that has been enameled in a kiln.  Love these!

Pam East is a prolific artist who has written several books and tutorials  on enameling metal clay.

Gorgeous copper clay and enamel pendant.

Hadar Jacobson is well known in the metal clay world, not only as an artist, designer, and author, but the inventor of  Hadar's Clay.

Last on today's list, but definitely one of my favorites and one of the artists whose work really inspired me to want to work in metal clay, is Wanaree Tanner.  She breaks down creating this gorgeous piece, as well as many others, step-by-step on her blog.

Obviously not copper, but, HELLO? Gorgeous!

So, get ready for more metal clay and enamel from me...not going to let my little failures get me down! Now, off to bed with me since I will be getting out bright and early to drive over to BeadFest to do some shopping and visit with some of my team members here and other online friends...maybe you?!

Melissa Meman

Melismatic Art Jewelry

Art. Life. Love.

Seven Day Giveaway - Day 6

Welcome to day 6 of our Seven Day Giveaway! We're still celebrating those 1000 Facebook "likes" and that number just keeps right on growing! What a truly fabulous community AJE has grown into! It really is such a great place to share and learn in the thing we all love so much—art jewelry elements! It's been such an inspiring experience so far—thank you all for making this possible with your support and enthusiasm!

And now, here's what's up for grabs for one more very lucky winner…

First from Melissa Meman, these 2 pair of gorgeous torch-fired enamel flowers…  perfect for layering! She made them up just in time for this special giveaway event and really, what could be more perfect for summertime creations!?

And from yours truly, one of my brand new woodsy green fern frond focals—polymer textured with the detail of a real wild growing fern and hand painted in acrylics. Years back my brother and I would spend whole days out wandering the woods of Virginia—so many happy memories of carefree times were brought back when I pulled out this forgotten mold and started creating with it for the first time!

To be in with a chance to win today's prize, simply leave a comment below and make sure to include your e mail address so we can contact you should you win - please note comment moderation is activated  so  your comment will not show immediately. The winners will be announced on Monday 23rd of June when all the giveaways are complete.

And don't don't forget...the giveaways run for a whole week thru Sunday 22nd of June so make sure you visit each day to increase your chance of winning a prize.

The details:

• The giveaways run from Monday June 16th through Sunday 22nd June.

• There will be a different prize of 2 art jewelry elements each day.  

• Each day of the contest will feature something from two different AJE contributors 

• For a chance to win that day's prize leave a comment on each day's blog post AND MAKE SURE YOU LEAVE AN EMAIL FOR US TO CONTACT YOU!

•  We will draw a winner daily, so don't forget to comment each day. 

•  ALL winners will be announced at the end of the week. 

• This giveaway is open to anyone living on planet Earth.

• Each person is eligible to win once. Unless you're on the AJE team. Then you cannot win any of the days. And you know that each of us in the AJE team would love to win these components… after all, who wouldn't!?

Good luck!!

Rebekah Payne

TreeWingsStudio.com