Transparent enamel

 After seeing my glazed ceramics I was inspired to work a bit more with my punches to create the feeling of different plants similarly to James' work with her roll milling.  I used these punched pieces to text the transparent enamel for the roll milled leaf texture. Transparent enamel takes longer to fire but there is a fine line between it going transparent and over firing. I was very excited to see that the enamel worked as I have only ever used transparent enamel on etched metal.

Bowes, K., (2020). Punched plant images.

Enamel colours: Top left to right- cactus green, cloisonne blue and unknown blue-green

Bottom left to right- 19A green and Atlantic blue

Bowes, K., (2020). Transparent enamel landscapes

Transparent enamel leaf skeleton

Inspired by James’ work I decided to try roll milling my skeleton leaf onto some copper. The detail transferred but not as well as I thought it would. I cut the test into pieces then tested transparent enamel. I expected the enamel to become transparent but most detail would be lost. The cloisonné blue did exactly as expected but the cactus green colour surprisingly managed to capture all the fine details. I think that is a result of the green being darker.

I feel this method captures the texture of the leaf better than the opaque enamel leaf stencil. The transparent enamel makes it look as if it is a leaf trapped in a glass layer. Whereas the opaque enamel looks more like an illustration of the leaf.

Bowes, K., (2020) Skeleton leaf roll milled.

Bowes, K., (2020). Transparent cloisonne blue enamel

Bowes, K., (2020). Cactus green transparent enamel

Naomi James

 Naomi James is a jewellery designer based in Brighton. She uses actual plants, feathers and botanical structures to create her jewellery pieces. She enjoys pairing contrasting textures from different plants and compliments some of her pieces with touches of 18ct gold. 

I admire her as she designs as she works. This is something I struggle with as I always want to have a finished product in mind before making something. When I first saw her work, I was under the impression that she used metal clay or etching. As it turns out, all she uses is a roller to press the images into the silver.

James, N., (n.d). Dusty Miller Teardrop Studs. Stud earrings, sterling silver

James, N., (n.d). Labradorite Medow Necklace.Necklace, sterlings ilver

James, N., (n.d). Small Round Leaf Studs.Stud earrings, sterling silver