Enamelled Details
My last blog post was all about making hare automata. As we know, hares love to live in grassland full of wildflowers, an idyll that I try to capture in my pieces. I thought I’d go in closer and look at the tiny colourful details that pop up in my automata to enhance the scene. ‘Pop up’ is a good way of putting it as I really hope that these little details make the colours ‘pop’. See below for my latest automata complete with brightly coloured flowers to make my gardener’s plants zing!
Some years ago I was given a dusty old box of enamel powders that would have otherwise been thrown out. Aside from having a tinker with these magic powders when I was a student I hadn’t used enamels in any serious way before. But I’m not one to look a gift horse in the mouth so I happily accepted the box of tricks and started to play. The box included a set of half a dozen colours and a battered old tea strainer. Enamel powders need to be sifted onto metal to achieve a smooth finish and in this case the previous ingenious maker had turned to their kitchen cupboards for help. In reality a much finer mesh than a tea strainer is needed. It was a start though. I soon discovered that tiny spots of bright enamels could add depth to my creations and I’ve continued to add them to pieces ever since. It has opened up a wider world of colour for me as before this point I relied on cutting up tiny bits of old sardine tins to add intense colour to my pieces. I still do this too when the need arises.
The following is a little photo essay. I hope it gives an insight into some of the stages of making and colour changes in the evolution of my tiny enamelled flower details. Enjoy!
A final acknowledgement is needed here because in 2019 I was the proud winner of the David Canter Memorial Award. The award is a grant offered through Make Southwest on a biannual basis. Its open to makers living in the Southwest of England who have completed their training but are looking to extend their skills. The specialism changes each time so one year it might be open to ceramicists then two years later metalworkers and so on. It was due to this fantastic grant that I was able to purchase a lovely new enamelling kiln with all the kit to get me started. Big thanks to Make Southwest and the David Canter Memorial Fund!