Enameling Clay ... Who Knew?

You know what really gets my juices flowing?  It's when I get a fabulous result from a "what the heck?" idea!  That's what happened when I decided to enamel ceramic beads. I mean glazes are glass; enamel is glass.  Made sense to me; in addition to the fact I had at lot of these ceramic beads hanging around from another lifetime.

The things I discovered ...

• You have to give them a hefty warming-up period
• A bead with a small hole is more likely to crack because the heat transmitted by the mandrel to that small area gives it an early dose of of concentrated heat before the rest of the bead gets warm. 
• The beads stay "hot" longer after firing than do metal beads, so be careful not to burn yourself
• The beauty of transparent enamels over white ceramic beads is hard to describe!

Slip cast and hand-built ceramic beads fired with Thompson Enamels 

Orange and Teal Leaves and Orange Flower fired by PWF Teacher Judi Nystrom, Sprinfield Illinois

Because it is so much fun! ... we decided to offer a workshop on making and enameling ceramic beads in The Studio at Painting with Fire.  Check it out!  We'd love to have you!

Before I go, let me ask you, what has been your unlikely discovery and is it still in use?