Ilona Furrokh

Having dabbled with enamel painting, I was so pleased to get onto Gillie’s workshop at Conference for some expert guidance, and it didn’t disappoint! Gillie started by explaining which painting enamels are easily available; onglaze oxides, which can be leaded or unleaded, Sunshine onglaze colours , which tend to be darker colours and Ceradel onglaze which she said have brighter colour. These are all fine 320 grained enamel pigments which contain higher levels of oxides than standard vitreous enamels, and they do not require a flux covering to make them glossy unlike stains and underglazes.

As long as you don’t mix leaded with unleaded, the colours are intermixable, however some combinations give unexpected colours like red and blue which give a brown rather than a purple. That is why it is always advisable to take the time to make a colour test chart, so you know which combinations give which colours. Gillie says it takes a long time but is worth the effort! Luckily for us she had hers with her for us to refer to.

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