Our cloisonné enamel section has how-to guides, histories, and articles on tools and materials. Enrich your jewelry with this traditional technique.
While Limoges, France was celebrating its 200th anniversary as the city of the “Arts of Fire” this year, July and August will also hold the 10th international Biennial of Enamel exhibiting some of the most exciting new enamelwork worldwide. In…
Gallery 21, an all-white exhibition space in Spanish Village, San Diego, California, became home to the enamel exhibition, RADIANCE from October 3-25,2009. This square room, with a bank of windows on one wall, was transformed by Studio 5’s in-house designer,…
The exhibition, mounted at the Royal Academy in London in collaboration with the Benaki Museum in Athens, incorporates over 240 objects, spanning 1000 years of Byzantine artistic production. The pieces with enamels are thus shown within the context of painted…
I have been making my cloisonne beads since 1996 in a variety of methods with fine silver and wires of fine silver or 24K gold for the designs. My method of fusing two domed halves of fine silver requires fewer metalsmithing skills than the other methods I use, which is why I have chosen to explain this one. Although I currently create my beads the way I describe here, the door is always open for experimentation.
Who has not dreamt of that nobly shaped chalice, enameled all over with immaculate transparents… maybe just one fine gold line winding around its outside… so elegantly understated, so utterly simple… That is poetry. It would neither work nor last. A chalice has to withstand very hard use, and maybe even abuse. It must be carefully planned. That is why I have made this cup a teaching example. [Step by step with illustrations].
Merry-Lee Rae has been making jewelry since 1966 when she joined her father in the garage while he dabbled in metal arts. In 1976 she fell in love with enameling, and her life took a turn from hard-core academics to a relentless, obsessive pursuit of crafts. She feels privileged to have the support of her extraordinary family. She sees herself as a dedicated romantic. Her awards and achievements, the shows, the galleries, the private collections, and the lack of training are not as important to her as the people who arc touched by her work..
In the late 20s, a small enamel tray, made in China, introduced us to the word cloisonne. The material looked like the granite ware in our kitchen. Obviously the wires were used to keep the colors separated. Then, cloisonne was enamel with wires separating the colors. Simplicity, pure and simple. This is where the majority of the general public leaves the subject, little knowing or caring about its rich history.
The primary reason designer Amy Roper Lyons of Summit, New Jersey, began working in enamels is fairly black and white: her jewelry needed color. “My first line was made of sterling with other non-precious materials,” she says. “It was pretty…
After you learn to apply enamels by sifting, wet packing, brushing on crackle and firing the base coats, you are ready for some of the simple techniques that require only a feel for color. You can design a piece by repeating one technique or learning to combine techniques. If you are enameling samples of the technique on 3″ round or square 18 ga copper, one coat of crackle on the back is adequate. My beginners’ course ended with Doris Hall’s paisley design, which combined many techniques, and a simple cloisonn piece on a 1″ disc of fine silver.
The innovative Medieval Galleries, occupying a complete wing of the Victoria & Albert Museum in London, have now been open for several months. There was extensive initial press coverage and a great surge of visitors: but with such spacious galleries everyone…
While living in Little Neck, NY, during the mid-sixties, I took an enameling class at the local YWHA. It took a while for me to overcome my fear of the open kiln, but in time it was alright, so much…
In the conditions of world globalization, a big part of modern mankind realized how important human ties are to their roots. Once neglected traditions today acquire vital importance. People search for and go back to old traditions, create and implement new ones, which time will give their proper places in the processes of the development of mankind. Georgia, with its spiritual and material treasures, occupies a very significant place in the world culture. We have not mentioned spiritual and material culture accidentally, as the story that we are going to tell unites in itself both of these two concepts and perfectly ties them to each other. This is Georgian cloisonne enamel, which according to the survived earliest examples counts at least twelve hundred years of existence.
Susan Demski and I have developed a cloisonne technique for our jewelry, which ranges in size from 1/4″ dia. to about 4″ x 5″. Our pieces are enameled on fine silver with gold cloisonne wire and then set in karat gold. For the enameling, we use 22 ga for earrings and 20 ga for most other pieces. We prefer the fine silver because it is a bright, neutral color that does not oxidize. Our enamels require from 15 to 20 firings. We start with an exact color drawing. We either cut the shape from the drawing with table shears or.
For the last couple years the W.W. Carpenter Enamel Foundation has held “Intro to Enameling” workshops that are designed to walk beginning enamel students through multiple procedures in a short amount of time. Three projects were developed where choice of…
When Joseph Trippetti returned from the Army in 1946, he studied for three years at Philadelphia College of Art and the fourth year at Sheffield College of Arts and Crafts in England, where he majored in silversmithing. He has been enameling since the 1950s. For some years he taught enameling and painting before concentrating on commissions and gallery exhibitions. The medieval tapestries still influence his designs. His cloisonnes were on domed copper plaques before he turned to large steel tiles.
When I asked him who Kenneth Bates is, he laughed and replied “a simple dirt farmer from New England.” However, underneath his country boy smile, he’s a driving creative force. As a child, he had his own special spots in…
Cloisonné is a French word that means ‘to be confined,’ ‘to be cloistered.’ Traditionally, the cloisonné technique consists in making the contour of a picture by fixing very fine metallic threads on the piece and in filling the resultant spaces…
The Rio 1000 enameling kiln features three pre-set firing temperatures for enamels and six that you can define. Use the exclusive Rio controller to set and maintain firing temperatures. Perfect for all types of enameling, including tall pieces. Includes ample…
One of the main tasks of the International Enamel Studio is to save our 1000 year-old enamel art and techniques and the other one is to help young talented people. Laszlo Gyegyadesz, director organizes courses for talented young people. Endre…
Editor’s Note: Terry’s Retrospective Exhibition had more than 30 enamels. The Retrospective Catalog has 26 pages with 31 illustrations. There are 14 enamels depicted (some of the enamels are as large as 17 x 14 inches). The enamels are on copper…
An island in the eastern Mediterranean, with a history of more than 8000 years, Cyprus was one of the earliest producers of copper in the world, had a flourishing metal industry and during the “Golden Age” of Cyprus, the island enjoyed a high level of prosperity. This brought a great number of settlers and craftsmen from neighboring countries.
Ben Caldwell is a painter, copper and silver smith, musical instrument builder, and inventor. He trained at the Studio School of New York under Charles Cajori, an abstract expressionist who exhibited with William de Kooning in the 1960s. He received his BFA from Tufts University and The School of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, and a diploma from Roberto Venn School of Lutherie. A seasoned artist, he brings his multifaceted background to bear in a unified way as he pushes his boundaries once again..
My affair with precious metals began while working with my father a talented jeweler who worked with spring movement. He once made a life-sized rose in gold that would bloom. It weighed a pound and a half, and a pull…
In 1987, some drawings I had made were exhibited (about 30 etchings) in Szolnok, Hungary. A friend of mine, László Bokros, a painter, organized and directed the exhibition and when he saw my etchings, he shouted, “You have to enamel.”…
It is a rare and most welcome event when a technical innovation is accompanied by an esthetic revelation. This is the core with Jamie Bennett’s new work, a series of brooches, whose electroformed armature is covered with what seems like a free-floating plane of…
“Bright colors we can find only in nature, quality craftsmanship that will outlast the seasons, and a promise to do my part with the gifts I’ve been given” – Patsy Croft, Alohi Lani Designs, Orange Beach, Alabama. The Birth of…
Thompson lead-free enamels are quality-made to deliver dependable, repeatable results.
Everyone has long seen gems wrapped in small wire cages with hanging devices, and more recently, the Dichroic glass pendants with their caressing wire sculpture made into a bail for hanging on a chain or neck ring. They do provide…
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