Winter 2007 Journal Articles

 

Beginning Enamelling by Lucy Irvine

At Dundee College of Art Degree Show earlier in the year a largely self taught student showed imaginative and original enamelling. As it is always helpful for other beginners to hear how someone else started off, we invited her to contribute the following article.

“I first became interested in enamelling after seeing the work of Jane Short at a Goldsmiths exhibition in London. I was fascinated by her use of colour and decided to pursue it.

Through a friend, in my 3rd year at Art School in Dundee I was able to visit jeweller, Anne Little’s studio. She very kindly agreed to show me the basics. That day I learned about preparing the metal to receive enamel, how to sift it on and how to wet-pack it. These basic skills that Anne taught me were enough to get me started on my own.

During the summer before my final year at Art School I worked in rural Kenya for a month. Whilst there, I was captivated by the imagery of the shop fronts, the clothes and the landscapes. I loved the contrast of the bright, exuberant colours against the dull, dirt background. Thus on my return I decided to use these images as the inspiration for my degree show.

After studying my photographs and creating abstract drawings from them I decided that although I was a very inexperienced enameller that it was the perfect media with which to capture the colours and spirit that I experienced in Kenya.
In the beginning I just worked on creating interesting compositions on sheet copper and practised wet-packing into domes. As I grew more confident I created my first degree show pieces which were just simple silver frames with enamel interiors depicting abstract Kenyan townscapes.

Kenyan Shop Front Brooches
Silver and enamel bowls	Shop front neckpiece
Set of 3 silver and enamel necklaces	Kenya series – silver and enamel brooch

After attending a raising workshop I decided to raise some simple bowls and enamel into the interiors. I liked the contrast between the very plain exterior and the feast of colours in the interior. It was basically trial and error for me when creating these pieces. I suffered many mishaps such as sliding and cracking. However if one method did not work I would try another. Along the way this helped me learn the restrictions and boundaries of enamel. One mistake I made actually led me to a result I really liked. Upon re-soldering a piece which had collapsed in the kiln, I discovered that the heat of the blow torch gave the enamel a lovely, worn, aged looked; a look I went on to purposely employ in other pieces.

I also experimented with photo-etching and texturising silver bases on which I added enamel. I went on to use photo-etching in a series of shop front brooches and neck pieces. I enjoyed the preciseness of wet-packing into photo-etchings.
After installing my degree show I was delighted that as a whole it really did reflect what I had seen in Kenya. I also felt encouraged that enamelling was the right specialism for me.

Currently I am undergoing an Artist in Residency at Glasgow School of Art where I hope to build up a body of work. Just now I am working on a series of brooches inspired by the old buildings of Venice. I am excited about what the future holds”.

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