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Showing posts from January, 2013

new year - new ways to see: a crafty peek into making tasty “plique-a-jour” enamel jewellery

The Herring: Pre- and Post-Mortem. Champ-levé enamel pendants in copper, fine silver, sterling silver. I loved learning to enamel - the instant wow factor as I stepped into a world of colour - fusing glass to metal. Right now, I am working in champ-levé and cloisonné, and exploring surface effects when the enamel powders are spread directly onto flat metal. it's going to be a very colourful experience. Enamelling appears to date back to at least the thirteenth century BCE(1), with a more modern history boasting master metalsmiths, jewellers, and designers like Fabergé, Lalique, Tiffany, and Cartier. We’re likely more familiar on a daily basis with our enamelled iron pans, kitchen tools like colanders or bread bins, the traditional enamelled cast iron tub, or ubiquitous “white goods” - so-named for the white-enamelled steel panels. There are even obsolescence - and maintenance-defying - enamel-clad “Lustron” houses built in the US for returning WWII vets(2). “You’re