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?
There's a great post today by Lesley Watt at Art Jewelry Elements. When I saw Lesley's post and her pods I thought about the interconnectivity of things. First she mentioned the book by Angie Lewin. I saw this book at a recent Surface Design Guild Meeting in Sarasota and was blown away by her work. Being the bibliophile that I am, I ordered Angie's book right away!
After seeing Lesley's great pods, I started thinking of Carrie Boucher's elegant pierced sterling silver pendants. She's teaching a workshop at Painting with Fire Studio on using the jeweler's saw. A pierced pendant will be one of the projects. Here's an example of Carrie's pierced work ....
The photo doesn't do justice to Carrie's work, but we all know how to use our imaginations! Carrie referenced this book by Ernst Haeckel as a source of inspiration.
Here's another example of Carrie's work from her Pink Crow Studio etsy shop. This is probably the work for which she is most noted. The green on the inside is not money. Correction: I guess it is a form of money. It is a bond certificate!
So back to Lesley, who started the whole thing. Here's just one of the examples of Lesley's pods. They are wonderful!
By popular request, the eCourse is being offered again. You'll get 3.5 hrs of enameling videos, 30 minutes of video content on some of my favorite tools, access to the site for four months from the date of purchase, scheduled chats, and personal guidance.
We're doing things a little differently this time. All of the videos have been loaded at the site so that when you enter the site for the first time, it's all there. In the past I've introduced new videos over a three week period. I think this will be a welcomed change. This video on Compound Shapes is one of the eCourse videos and will give you a taste of what you'll learn.
An eKit that accompanies the eCourse is available. The kit contains everything you need for the projects and is offered to you as a convenience. During the first 30 days of your registration, you'll receive 10% off on enamel purchases. You can read more about it here. It would also be useful for you to own the bead pulling station, which is the workhorse of this system. Check out the torch-firing kit here. We also sell the kit without a torch.
We're over the holidays and while we catch our breath, why not learn something new!
