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Author: Carolyn_Driver, Contributing Editor
| I stumbled on this technique quite by accident. I'd been applying floral detail to an enameled background and got a little carried away with the heat,but I liked the way it looked! Previously I'd only used enamel with an encasement, as it always seemed to boil on the surface.
My favorite things about this are: 1. The base can be whatever, scummy clear, short ends, doesn't matter, as it won't show. 2. Doesn't matter if you boil the enamel,in fact, the more, the better! For this sunflower piece I also used a bit of copper leaf over the white enamel, this gives a great aqua/turquoise color. I got this idea from Deb Washburn. I've been careful not to give color numbers here, as they may differ for the glass you use. I've used all Moretti in this article, with Thompson enamels. They also have a color line compatible with Bullseye, and a 83/86 COE series. |  |
| So first, lay out your enamels. I like to put small piles on a graphite pad. Be sure to have a nice mix of dark and light, plus black and white. I use a lot of the dark blue, grey green, purple, and the pale yellow green.
As you won't be sifting the powder, it should not be airborne, but please do observe all reasonable precautions. Acquaint yourself with the MSDS which should be included with any enamel purchase. I use a variety of stringers, cased and striped. A good selection would be a green for leaves and stems, yellow (several shades if doing sunflowers), purples, blues. pinks.....anything and everything! Custom blends that did or didn't work, etc.... You can see where I used a remnant of latticino as a border accent on this iris bead. |  |
| Build your base bead. These pieces are hollow, and shaped into a slight barrel. Start rolling through your enamel piles, alternating picking up and melting in. Here I used quite a bit of black and brilliant blue, with a little light grey and white, just to keep it from becoming too dark.
When you are happy with your background, begin applying detail. Let it flow...the process will blur it slightly anyway. Ok, here's the trick....melt everything flush! Start high in the flame and come in gradually. Try to avoid too much marvering, especially rolling. This will distort your images. If you need to marver, press gently, rather than roll. |
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 | Do try to keep the background from getting too dark.....unless your detailing is very light. The vessel to the left is a good example, it's pretty , but the design is dark.
And keep in mind that anything goes! Layer more glass on top of the enamel, roll again, and melt flush, just as many times as you want. Adding transparent glass over the base gives a nice effect, too. Etching adds a lovely glow to the completed piece. |  |
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| B i o g r a p h y | |
| Carolyn discovered lampworking in 1994, and was immediately hooked. Kris Peterson of Luna Glass was her first mentor....Lewis Wilson videos also played a (huge) part. Loren Stump taught a class in Alaska in 97, and she was lucky enough to spend four days with him. | |
| She took the big plunge in 2000, and quit the day job (selling auto parts) and began lampworking full time. She currently resides in rural Nebraska (big change from Alaska!) with husband Chuck, little Connie, and an assortment of pets. | |
| E-Mail: cccdrive@alaska.net Web Site: http://bluhealer.com | |
