Kathleen Kay
Using copper shapes from the enamel supplies catalogue
There are many enamellers who prefer to buy copper shapes rather than cut their own designs from sheet metal, so, for beginners, I want to make some suggestions to encourage a little forethought and decision making rather than random use of shapes.
We all have personal preferences - we can't please everyone - and no simple set of rules makes a shape a good or bad choice. As the most successful designs are usually planned, what we can do is to first give thought to the effect or design we want to achieve, then consider the choice of copper shape, together with our ideas for the surface pattern.
The saying ' Form follows function' is an old one, but it's obviously important that our choices must work together physically. For example, it's mainly logic that tells us if a shape is suitable for a brooch - a pin positioned so that the piece 'sits' nicely; no sharp edges to spoil a garment or hurt a child; if the size and shape are what we want then we should go for it.
Carole Jones
My husband and I, both novice enamellers, were attending our first Conference and were somewhat overawed at the high standard of enamelling we had viewed on the Friday evening. So on the Saturday morning, when we reached our tutorial workshop, we were both uncertain as to what was expected of us.
Firstly, Sue made us all welcome, briefly outlining the aims of the workshop, namely the basic fundamentals of chain and finding making, as it was, in her opinion, a shame to create a fine piece of jewellery and then finish it off with a mass-produced finding - a philosophy with which we all agreed. As one delegate said," why spoil the ship for a ha’porth of tar ".
She then showed us many examples of her own work, giving details of material and methods used. Other delegates to the workshop showed samples of their own work, which Sue found useful too and a lively interchange of ideas took place.
Circles within Circles
Kathleen Kay
One of the very oldest designs, relying completely on its own shape (the circle) to sub-divide its area, is the ancient T'ai Chi symbol of Yin and Yang. Throughout my teaching years many students have wanted to reproduce the design in enamel. Here I show you how to simply and accurately construct the shapes (rather than drawing a haphazard wiggle and adding a couple of blobs).
a) First draw a vertical line.
b) With the compass point centred on the line, draw the outer circle to size.
c) Using the mark of the compass as your centre guide subdivide the line again, reducing the compass measurement by half to produce two centre points and draw the two circles as shown.