Angela Azin
United States
“ Bright Enchantment “
"My theme for the Enamel Art Jam 2023 is “Bright Enchantment”. I immediately knew that I wanted to capture a scene from a place I have called home for the past few decades. Deserts of Arizona are the most beautiful, bright and mysterious place to me despite the harsh summers and rugged terrain. I very much wanted to capture all the wild animals we encounter on the daily basis. Bobcats, mule deer, gila monster, javalina, quail, red-tail hawks and yes, even rattlesnakes just to name a few. They are my animals of mystery and beauty and very much enchantment of the bright desert. However, as a beginner to enameling, I didn’t think I could capture the mystery that I see. So, I settled with the almost straight lines that the majestic saguaro cactus offers. My design had to be simple yet convey the message.
I had a lot of work ahead of me. Working from home as a full time software engineer, I occasionally found myself day-dreaming about my project. Distraction is certainly my weak point. Years before, in preparation for a daylong enamel class, I had purchased a set of Thompson Enamel samples. I decided to experiment on copper and making sample strips seemed a good place to start.
I used my left over copper plates from my previous experiments and made several rectangles. I then covered them with a thin layer of precious metal clay I had left over from another hobby gone dormant and fired them in my kiln. The silver cured perfectly, but it peeled off and the oxidized copper remained. Recognizing my failure and time constraint, I scrapped that idea and bought a packet of silver foil. I then covered part of the strips with the foil and sifted my favorite transparent colors on top of the foils. I also experimented with writing the color information on the strips using P1 enamel. It took a few tries to get the text to appear correctly, and I didn’t have much success with the pink enamel colors. Also, some colors were not suitable for my project. At the end, I was left with a handful of colors that I liked. I stored that information and moved on to the next step.
One morning, thinking about resolving a problem at work, a design for my enamel project popped into my head. I quickly drew the design and for the next few weeks I contemplated how to cut it. I am not a jeweler, and cutting by hand terrifies me. At first, I referred to my scroll saw thinking I could cut multiple layers of glued sheets at once. I practiced on copper plates but there was no way to maneuver the plates under the saw easily and safely. So, I gave up on that approach. It was time to focus on something else, while thinking about overcoming the obstacle of hand sawing.
I decided to challenge myself once again and experiment with chemistry a bit. My research showed scrap copper was a perfect source for making fusing liquid. The process was easier than I expected. In a few hours, I had produced enough of the green compound to produce one ounce of the liquid. I needed that success to dive back into sawing issue.
I must admit, sawing by hand wasn’t as bad as I remembered. I suspect watching Sandra McEwen saw with confidence and her perfected techniques helped boost my confidence as well. I glued 4 layers of silver at a time and completely sawed the outlines of my oval design, 2 inches long by 1.5 inches wide, without breaking a single blade. It was time to face my second fear. Soldering.
I had not touched a torch for more than 6 or 7 years and I had only soldered sterling silver pieces. Now I needed to adopt a eutectic fusing method to attach the pure silver plates to the outlines. Would my small Smith’s torch work in this process? I had no way of knowing unless I tried. And try I did. At the first attempt, I was able to deform my disk, somewhat attach the pieces, and accidentally create reticulation on the back of my pendant. The second attempt had better success but similar issues as before. I remedied the issues by using a file to smooth out the reticulation and also used a section of a woodcarving project to curve and unify the form of the oval pieces. It wasn’t perfect, but I had to work with what I had. It was at this time that I opted not to use silver foils to add textures. Instead, I used a sharp awl to scribe and texture my background.
The next step, working on the wires had it’s own challenges. I realized that my rolling mill was not calibrated; as a result, I had to work on the little area where the rollers met. The first test didn’t work. Back I went to Google to research rolling mill calibration. The second round of wires through the mill, thanks to Vimeo tips by Sandra, worked perfectly. While placing the wires, I noticed they were higher than the sides. It was at this point that I realized I had ordered the wrong gauge silver plates. And that explained the reticulation of the thin silver while fusing. I had to press on.
Placing transparent color glass on the piece was absolute fun. I wanted to play with layers, but I was limited by the thin gauge and shallow debt where the glass would eventually reside. So the piece is a bit more flat than I planned.
To present the piece, I decided to pair it with a chain I had made years earlier. My plan was to learn how to make a sophisticated clasp, but I settled for a flat-end toggle clasp in the end.
Over all I’d call this challenge a success. I will continue with making duplicates of the same design to perfect the color scheme, texture, and appearance. I have already upgraded to a dapping block from the hand carved wooden form. I would love to experiment with precious metal clay and it’s properties. And will eventually make sample strips of all the colors I have and the other brand colors I will purchase. Thank you Sandra for getting me out of my comfort zone. I can’t wait for next year’s challenge."
