ENAMEL GUILD SOUTH

Usually associated with the
Limoges School of Painting, the
earliest mention of grisaille enamel
was found in the jewelry and gold
inventory of Philip the Good, Duke
of Burgundy, in 1420 A.D. It was
a cameo image of St. Anthony. In
the 16th century, the grisaille was
tinted with red/brown flesh colored
transparents. The Pénicaud family is
renowned for their grisaille enamels.
One of the most noted Limoges
D.X. ROSS. GRISAILE. PENDANT
enamellists was Pierre Reymond
- 2 1/8” DIAMETER
who produced dishes or ornamental
objects decorated with allegories including multiple figural and decorative
images. The highly detailed low relief images were presented over solid
backgrounds. The Limoges School introduced gold highlights to grisaille.
Compared to Tromp-l’oel, camaïeu
came into vogue in the mid 18th century.
Used for decorative objects such as
snuffboxes, the delicate images simulated
cameos carved into beautifully colored
hardstones or shells. Viennese enamellist,
Philipp Ernst Schindler is known for
beautiful gold boxes decorated with his
images of mythical scenes.
While appearing three dimensional,
the images in all of these techniques are
actually beautifully smooth and flat. The
impasto technique, so intricately built up
as three-dimensional from the surface
of the copper, is smoothed to twodimensions with the application of a final KAREN JABLONSKI, GRISAILE.
coat of transparent color over the entire LEONARDO’S ANGEL - 5”X7”
piece. In the “valleys”, or low places in the
design, the transparent color will be thicker, therefore darker. Over the
high, bright white spots, the transparent layer will be thinner, thus lighter
in color. The in-between
areas will have gradations
of the color from light to
dark. The color can be
used to highlight specific
design elements or not
at all. Today, some artists
prefer to preserve the
three-dimensional effect
and do not add the
transparent layer.
marilyn seitlin Tendrich, IMPASTO.
my LIFE IS LIKE A SUMMER ROSE - 11” DIAMETER
6
5/ 9/ 12
Board and
Membership Meeting
Wednesday, April 11
Home of Susan Skor
End Of Year Luncheon
Wednesday, May 9
Notices with program information
will be sent out before each meeting
EGS Officers
President...................................... Donna Buchwald
1st Vice President..............Bernadette Denoux
2nd Vice President.....................Audrey Komrad
Recording Secretary.................Marilyn Tendrich
Corresponding Secretary.......Ruth Raz Russo
Treasurer.......................................... Marti Wakshlag
EGS Newsletter Staff
Editor: Marilyn Seitlin Tendrich
Regular Contributor: Audrey Komrad
Contributors: Marti Wakshlag, Donna
Buchwald
Research: Marti Wakshlag, Audrey Komrad,
Ruth Raz-Russo, Donna Buchwald
Art Direction: Dick Bugdal
Mailing: Ruth Raz-Russo
Membership
Dues $40 per year (includes emailed pdf file
of EGS South Newsletter in color).
Send check, name and address to:
Marti Wakshlag, Treasurer
4970 S.W. 78 Street
Miami, FL 33143-6042
OUR NEWSLETTER
IS NOW IN COLOR
Our newsletter is now being produced
in color and will be emailed to each
member in pdf format for internet
viewing. If you prefer a higher resolution
pdf for printing out on your printer for
archival purpose please contact
[email protected]
ENAMEL GUILD
SOUTH
NEWSLETTER
continued from Page 1
CALENDAR
4/ 1 1/ 12
VOLUME XXXIV NO. 4 APRIL 2012
Camaïeu, Impasto and Grisaille:
The Delicacy of White
For elegant
three-dimensional
effects in enamel,
Grisaille, Camaïeu and
Impasto techniques
provide superb effects.
These techniques
generate monochromatic
images through the application of multiple
thin layers of finely
ground translucent white
applied over a dark
hard-firing ground.
Camaïeu,
Impasto and
Grisaille :
The Delicacy
of White
BY MARILYN SEITLIN TENDRICH
All three techniques are
the same. The variance is in
the background. Over black,
the graded thicknesses of
translucent white create the grey shading known as grisaille. Impasto is built
up directly over copper. When fired, the cuprous oxide, also known as firescale, which forms on the surface of copper
when it is exposed to heat, is absorbed into the translucent white creating green hues. Most often, impasto
is completely sifted over with a thin layer of transparent color. For the camaïeu effect, so-named for its similarity to
a fine cameo, the artist first creates a fired enamel background of transparent color over which the white image is
applied. The results are exquisite.
The images are formed with a painstaking attention to detail. Grisaille white, ground to 350-400 mesh, is so fine
that the first fired application is almost invisible. Depending on the artist’s style, the image is slowly built up by slightly
extending or diminishing the previously fired area. A dense white color is
achieved through multiple applications over specific areas. Thus, areas which one
wishes to recede from the eye would have the fewest layers of white – only
one or two. As the image moves forward, another layer would be applied, and
another and another, always leaving a slight line of the previous layer visible.
Firing between each application, it is not unusual to fire more than 30 times on
one piece. Some artists may use a coarser mesh or create a stiff paste using a
slow drying medium in order to build up the bright white in fewer firings. Prior
to firing, a sharp object
may be used to scribe
through the white to
create designs, fine lines
or crosshatched shading.
Even after firing, details
can be drawn through
the image exposing the
dark background by using
an engraver.
continued on Page 6
CLOCKWISE FROM TOP: BILL HELWIG, GRISAILLE BOWL #70227 - 6”X5 1/4” .
MARILYN SEITLIN TENDRICH,GRISAILLE. STUDY IN BLACK AND WHITE #1 - OVERFIRED TO BLUR IMAGE AND CREATE BLUE HUES - 8” X 6”
MARILYN SEITLIN TENDRICH,CAMAÏEU OVER HAMMERED COPPER. BIRD OF PARADISE”- 9.5”X4”
Working in enamels for 50 years, Averill Shepps has been
making her living as an enamelist for most of that time producing bowls,
plates, wall pieces and jewelry for sale and exhibition. Many of her
techniques are her own development, and she has taught workshops
on them throughout the United States. She has exhibited work across
the United States and in Canada, England, and South Korea. Her work
has been featured in: The Art of Enameling, Contemporary Enameling:
Art & Techniques, and 500 Enameled Objects as well as in several
articles in Glass on Metal. She is currently serving her fifth term as
President of The Enamelist Society.
Shepps found her Geology major in college with a minor
in Art, to be a good background for enameling where both the
science and the art are important. After learning the basics in an
initial workshop, she is mainly self-taught - always experimenting with
different techniques. This experimentation first led her to work mostly
by building up her designs on bare copper and then covering the whole
surface with enamel. In recent years she has used 36 gauge fine
‘
AVERILL B. SHEPPS
3
4
5
‘
I use
whatever
is at
hand and
whatever
works to
make the
statement
or produce
the desired
effect.
2
1
silver extensively, firing it onto the enameled surface and covering it with transparents. Other surface
embellishments include textured light copper foil, fired and covered with a coat of transparent enamel.
In the last two years Averill has done an Environmental Series in which beautiful transparent enamel
represents the pristine environment. Heavily oxidized areas resulting from raising the final firing temperature
to the eutectic point, clearly disfiguring the beautiful coat of transparent enamel, illustrates the pollution of the
environment. In a few pieces she has added cat hair (see figure 4) to suggest the release of radioactive
material into the air. “I use whatever is at hand and whatever works to make the statement or produce the
desired effect.”
Color, transparency, and texture have always been of prime importance in Averill’s work. She uses the
transparent colors almost exclusively and the opaques as accent colors where needed. Sifted techniques are
used to apply the enamels, and only very occasionally are enamels laid on with a brush. “Enameling has brought
me great joy over the years, and I am so fortunate to have discovered and been able to work in such a
beautiful medium.”
www.enamelist.com
2
1. BOWL WITH GRASSES - 6 3/4” x 4”; enamel on copper, fine silver, 2006. Title:
“Bowl with Grasses”. Enamelist Society Exhibition 2007.
2. AIR POLUTION 13 - 5” diameter; enamel on copper, copper foil, fine silver heated
to eutectic point. ; 2010. Enamelist Society Exhibition 2011.
3. AIR POLUTION DETAIL - Detail of image 2
4. THREE MILE ISLAND COOLING TOWERS - 6” diameter; enamel on copper,
copper foil, fine silver heated to eutectic point; cat hair. :2010. This piece received
an award at the Enamelist Society International Juried Exhibition in 2011.
5. SECOND PURPLE DISH FINAL 2058 - 6” diameter; enamel on copper, copper foil,
copper screen; 2009.
6. PURPLE BOWL WITH GRASSES -9 3/4” X 5” high; coppper, enamel,
fine silver; 2004
6
3
CD
REVIEW
BY
To benefit The Enamelist Society, Chris Hierholzer has produced a DVD on torch firing
MARILYN
SEITLIN
enamels. In 1980, Chris discovered TENDRICH
enamel art while researching
a project for the Museum of
Florida History at FSU. Fascinated, at the right place at the right
time, he then studied under FSU Prof. Bill Harper, enamelist
extraordinaire. In 1996 he turned to firing enamels with a torch,
creating beautiful designs with gold foil and bright colors.
The DVD is an excellent demo of the torch firing
technique. Entirely produced in sharply focused close-ups,
it starts with a good visual of the thickness of the enamel
application. There is no sound in this
portion of the presentation. Rather,
the demo is accompanied by large,
easily readable, slow moving captions
giving simple directions, which clearly
demonstrate each step.
Real time firing during which the artist
can be heard describing what is occurring
then follows each demo. Not only are the
position of the torch and the appearance
of the flame clearly demonstrated, but also
the stages of the enamel are wonderfully
represented. Preheating the enamel from
below till it is dry and chalky, the torch
is very slowly brought up closer to the
piece. It is difficult normally to capture
the next stages in time and sequence
without sticking one’s head in the kiln. This
video provides the best representation of
the reaction between heat and enamel
that I have ever seen, as the enamel goes
from dry to sugar to orange peel to fully fired. An outstanding
teaching tool, any student can not only see what each stage
looks like, but will get a real grasp of the time it takes to go
from one to the next. This alone makes the DVD invaluable,
whether you fire by torch or by kiln.
The video follows the artist in completing a simple
project: application and firing of the enamel; application of a
layer of foil; using a diamond bit to create a sgraffito design;
and application and firing of transparent color. The visuals
also include the equipment and setup of a workstation. It
is complete, detailed and accurate. Certainly, every enamel
teacher could enrich his or her students’ classroom experience
with just the firing sequence alone.
http://www.enamelworksupply.com/books.html
Torch
Firing
Enamels
AVANT-GARDE JEWELRY
THAT’S EVERYTHING
BUT PRETTY
As an artist who,
BY AUDREY B. KOMRAD
for the most part favors realism
and impressionism, a large part of modern art causes
great question marks. Since jewelry has always been one
form of art, the expression of some ideas, although realistic,
raises the primary question, “Who would wear it and why?”
In a recent issue in the
MANFRED BISHOFF
RENÉ DESCARTES RING
Washington Post, Blake Gopnic
presented a number of jewelry
pieces. For example, a 1998 piece
by Manfred Bischoff, the René
Descartes Ring, consists of a small
skull looking into a mirror and placed
on a ring, definitely not flattering
or reassuring, but awakening the
finality of life. The collection of
Helen Williams Drutt, shown at
Smithsonian and Renwick Gallery in
Washington, also includes a bracelet
made of gold fingers surrounding
the wrist, which would demonstrate
a man’s grasp, or is it a
tender embrace? Also
presented is a necklace
by Janna Syvanoja, which
is made from pages of a
book, which have been
sliced thin and presented
in a circle. Gerd Rothman,
from Germany, showed
JANNA SYVANOYA
a necklace consisting of NECKLACE, SLICED PAPER
AND STEEL WIRE
three layers of gold coins
created from an impression of the client’s body. A bracelet
by Francesco Pavan, conceived of a silver and silver nickel
alloy called Alpacca, to simulate a chunk of corrugated
cardboard which is a jewelry piece of precious metals
appearing as trash.
The Drutt collection presents almost all angles of radical
jewelry, which, although it may be conceived of as
important art, it is doubtful that it made popular sales.
We can only presume that for any artist who attempts to
design something different, it is perhaps more important to
impress the critics than the customers.
Thompson Enamel Inc.
Your complete source for
ENAMELS AND ENAMELING SUPPLIES
Lead-free enamels for copper, silver, gold & steel
Lead-free enamels for window, stained & hot glass
Liquid enamels, acrylic enamels, water color enamels,
enamel marking crayons
Enameling furnaces, equipment, tools, enameling
accessories and much more!
CLASSES by EGS MEMBERS
BOCA RATON MUSEUM OF ART –
THE ART SCHOOL
801 W. Palmetto Park Road, - Boca
Raton, FL 33486 Ph: 561.392.2503
Instructor: MARJORY YOVIN Enameling: Glass on Metal
Beginning–Advanced Tuesdays
April 9-May 27 9:00am–noon
For additional information: [email protected]
DIANE ECHNOZ ALMEYDA
Courtyard Miami Dadeland Hotel, Miami, Florida
July 4-5 - Pierced Plique-á-Jour
July 6-8 - Wirework/Filigree Plique-á-Jour
October 6-8 - Wirework/Filigree Plique á-Jour
October 13-14 - Pierced Plique-á-Jour
For additional information: www.plique-a-jour.com
MIAMI JEWELRY SCHOOL
4949 SW 74 Ct. Miami, FL. 866-780-2657
Instructor: BERNADETTE DENOUX
Teaching Basic Foundation Metal Clay Course
Tuesday & Wednesday 10:00-1:00pm
For additional information: www.bernadettedenoux.com
CLASSES AROUND AND ABOUT
ARROWMONT SCHOOL OF ARTS AND CRAFTS
June 17-23 - Cloisonné Enameling – HARLAN W. BUTT
July 1-7 - Picturing the Personal World: A Sense of Place –
MARTHA BANYAS
July 15-21 – Line in Enamel – SARAH PERKINS
For additional information: www.arrowmont.org
JOHN C. CAMPBELL FOLK SCHOOL
April 8-14 – Powdered Glass, Copper & Collage – DENNIS
HINDS
April 15-21 – Enameling on Copper Clay – PAM EAST
April 27-29 – Jewelry and Bowls with Enameled Foil –
AVERILL SHEPPS
April 29-May 5 – Sifted Enamel, Controlled Creativity –
AVERILL SHEPPS
May 13-18 – Beginning Techniques in Enamel – CHRISTIE
SCHUSTER
May 27–June 2 – Weaving Enamel into Baskets – SHERYL
KOCH, LEE NELSON
June 24-30 – Beginning Enameling – SANDRA YAVORCIK
July 15-21 – Blossoms, Big and Small – PAUL ROCHE, KAY
PATTERSON
July 29-August 3 – Fusion Inclusion: The Ultimate Exploration
– DIANE SMITH
For additional information: www.folkschool.org
CLASSES continued
METALWERX
March 30–April 1 – Fauré Enameling: Building Volume and
Dimension – JOANNE CONANT
May 22 - Exploring Enameled Surfaces – TROY HINES
For additional information: http://www.Metalwerx.com
WILDACRES SUMMER WORKSHOPS
June 16-22 - Enameling – 2D to 3D: Coloring to Image –
PATRICIA NELSON
For additional information: http://www.wcfsg.com
PENLAND SCHOOL OF CRAFTS
May 27–June 8 - Sumptuous Surfaces: Enameling & Electroplating
– KRISTINA GLICK
For additional information: http://www.penland.org
W.W. CARPENTER FOUNDATION
May 5-6 – Black Oxide-Sgraffito-Silver Foil– Transparent Enamel
Workshop – TOM ELLIS
Intro to Enameling Workshops: – Instructor: TOM ELLIS
March 10-11, April 21-22, May 19-20, June 9-10, July 21-22,
August 18-19, September 15-16, October 13-14,
November 3-4, December 1-2
Kiln formed glass enamel sculpture by JOE DRURY
Wednesdays: 5:30 – 8:30 pm by appointment
Saturdays: 1:00 – 4:00 pm by appointment
For additional information: http://www.ThompsonEnamel.com
OF INTEREST
BERNADETTE DENOUX exhibiting at Collage Gallery,
154 Almeria, Coral Gables and Fl. Aurum Gallery of Jewelry,
5760 Sunset Drive, South Miami, Fl.
THE ART SPIRIT GALLERY
415 Sherman Avenue in downtown Coeur d’Alene, Idaho
April 13-May 5 - Harold Balazs and His Enamelists Friends
For additional information: http://www.TheArtSpiritGallery.com
46TH INTERNATIONAL EXHIBITION OF JAPAN
ENAMELLING ARTIST ASSOCIATION will take place July 25
to July 31, 2012 at the Tokyo Metropolitan Art Museum.
All works recognized as proper enameling will be exhibited.
Maximum of three works. Entry Fee: $70.00. For application
information, contact Donna Buchwald, Deadline: April 6, 2012
with works arriving by April 27, 2012
IN MEMORIAM
Our condolences to the Thompson Enamel family
on the passing of Mrs. Irmgard Carpenter.
May she rest in peace.
Soyer Enamels
Leaded Vitreous Enamels
produced near Limoges France
for 200 Years
800.847.3192 Email: [email protected]
830 South Main Street Cheshire, CT 06410
Thompson Enamel Inc.
P.0. Box 310, Newport, KY 41072 USA
(859) 291-3800: fax (859) 291: toll free order line (cc orders only) (800) 545-2776
Order online at: www. thompsonenamel.com Visa, MC, Discover, AmEx
4
5
Usually associated with the
Limoges School of Painting, the
earliest mention of grisaille enamel
was found in the jewelry and gold
inventory of Philip the Good, Duke
of Burgundy, in 1420 A.D. It was
a cameo image of St. Anthony. In
the 16th century, the grisaille was
tinted with red/brown flesh colored
transparents. The Pénicaud family is
renowned for their grisaille enamels.
One of the most noted Limoges
D.X. ROSS. GRISAILE. PENDANT
enamellists was Pierre Reymond
- 2 1/8” DIAMETER
who produced dishes or ornamental
objects decorated with allegories including multiple figural and decorative
images. The highly detailed low relief images were presented over solid
backgrounds. The Limoges School introduced gold highlights to grisaille.
Compared to Tromp-l’oel, camaïeu
came into vogue in the mid 18th century.
Used for decorative objects such as
snuffboxes, the delicate images simulated
cameos carved into beautifully colored
hardstones or shells. Viennese enamellist,
Philipp Ernst Schindler is known for
beautiful gold boxes decorated with his
images of mythical scenes.
While appearing three dimensional,
the images in all of these techniques are
actually beautifully smooth and flat. The
impasto technique, so intricately built up
as three-dimensional from the surface
of the copper, is smoothed to twodimensions with the application of a final KAREN JABLONSKI, GRISAILE.
coat of transparent color over the entire LEONARDO’S ANGEL - 5”X7”
piece. In the “valleys”, or low places in the
design, the transparent color will be thicker, therefore darker. Over the
high, bright white spots, the transparent layer will be thinner, thus lighter
in color. The in-between
areas will have gradations
of the color from light to
dark. The color can be
used to highlight specific
design elements or not
at all. Today, some artists
prefer to preserve the
three-dimensional effect
and do not add the
transparent layer.
marilyn seitlin Tendrich, IMPASTO.
my LIFE IS LIKE A SUMMER ROSE - 11” DIAMETER
6
5/ 9/ 12
Board and
Membership Meeting
Wednesday, April 11
Home of Susan Skor
End Of Year Luncheon
Wednesday, May 9
Notices with program information
will be sent out before each meeting
EGS Officers
President...................................... Donna Buchwald
1st Vice President..............Bernadette Denoux
2nd Vice President.....................Audrey Komrad
Recording Secretary.................Marilyn Tendrich
Corresponding Secretary.......Ruth Raz Russo
Treasurer.......................................... Marti Wakshlag
EGS Newsletter Staff
Editor: Marilyn Seitlin Tendrich
Regular Contributor: Audrey Komrad
Contributors: Marti Wakshlag, Donna
Buchwald
Research: Marti Wakshlag, Audrey Komrad,
Ruth Raz-Russo, Donna Buchwald
Art Direction: Dick Bugdal
Mailing: Ruth Raz-Russo
Membership
Dues $40 per year (includes emailed pdf file
of EGS South Newsletter in color).
Send check, name and address to:
Marti Wakshlag, Treasurer
4970 S.W. 78 Street
Miami, FL 33143-6042
OUR NEWSLETTER
IS NOW IN COLOR
Our newsletter is now being produced
in color and will be emailed to each
member in pdf format for internet
viewing. If you prefer a higher resolution
pdf for printing out on your printer for
archival purpose please contact
[email protected]
ENAMEL GUILD
SOUTH
NEWSLETTER
continued from Page 1
CALENDAR
4/ 1 1/ 12
VOLUME XXXIV NO. 4 APRIL 2012
Camaïeu, Impasto and Grisaille:
The Delicacy of White
For elegant
three-dimensional
effects in enamel,
Grisaille, Camaïeu and
Impasto techniques
provide superb effects.
These techniques
generate monochromatic
images through the application of multiple
thin layers of finely
ground translucent white
applied over a dark
hard-firing ground.
Camaïeu,
Impasto and
Grisaille :
The Delicacy
of White
BY MARILYN SEITLIN TENDRICH
All three techniques are
the same. The variance is in
the background. Over black,
the graded thicknesses of
translucent white create the grey shading known as grisaille. Impasto is built
up directly over copper. When fired, the cuprous oxide, also known as firescale, which forms on the surface of copper
when it is exposed to heat, is absorbed into the translucent white creating green hues. Most often, impasto
is completely sifted over with a thin layer of transparent color. For the camaïeu effect, so-named for its similarity to
a fine cameo, the artist first creates a fired enamel background of transparent color over which the white image is
applied. The results are exquisite.
The images are formed with a painstaking attention to detail. Grisaille white, ground to 350-400 mesh, is so fine
that the first fired application is almost invisible. Depending on the artist’s style, the image is slowly built up by slightly
extending or diminishing the previously fired area. A dense white color is
achieved through multiple applications over specific areas. Thus, areas which one
wishes to recede from the eye would have the fewest layers of white – only
one or two. As the image moves forward, another layer would be applied, and
another and another, always leaving a slight line of the previous layer visible.
Firing between each application, it is not unusual to fire more than 30 times on
one piece. Some artists may use a coarser mesh or create a stiff paste using a
slow drying medium in order to build up the bright white in fewer firings. Prior
to firing, a sharp object
may be used to scribe
through the white to
create designs, fine lines
or crosshatched shading.
Even after firing, details
can be drawn through
the image exposing the
dark background by using
an engraver.
continued on Page 6
CLOCKWISE FROM TOP: BILL HELWIG, GRISAILLE BOWL #70227 - 6”X5 1/4” .
MARILYN SEITLIN TENDRICH,GRISAILLE. STUDY IN BLACK AND WHITE #1 - OVERFIRED TO BLUR IMAGE AND CREATE BLUE HUES - 8” X 6”
MARILYN SEITLIN TENDRICH,CAMAÏEU OVER HAMMERED COPPER. BIRD OF PARADISE”- 9.5”X4”