Enameling Fun!

I wanted to post the results of my second class taken at Bead Fest, and enameling class with Gail Crosman Moore.

I have to say that Gail was a phenomenal teacher--her enthusiasm is infectious! She made me feel like I could actually have fun and experiment, rather than being worried if I was going to be able to make anything worth bragging about!

I have never played with enamels before, even with my lampwork. I own a small bottle of Orchid from Thomson Enamels, which I have never opened. So I was really walking in with no experience, but we were going to be able to play with a torch, and that is right up my alley!

Like any new technique, there was a learning curve...I figured out pretty quick that some of the components wouldn't work as good as the others...and I realized I needed to be more generous with my heat. You can see some of the pieces that didn't turn out so well below.

It's a learning curve, right?

Now a few, I really loved. While they aren't at the point where I would use them in a piece of jewelry I plan on selling, I can see the definite improvement from the first few pieces I wrestled with.

Now, for the ugly. I mean, really ugly.

Non-intentional fiber art?

That, my friends, is what you get when you drop a hot brass component on a piece of carpeting. Or maybe it's a new type of component: the polyester-glazed bead. What the above was supposed to look like was more like this:

That's a little bit prettier. And a lot less furry.