Hi Everyone!
As promised, I am going to be focusing this post on teaching high school students how to enamel. For clarification, this lesson was the final lesson in a 3 lesson unit on metals. Prior to this, students learned how to cut metal, make jump rings, and work with wire. It was taught to students in 11th – 12th grade students, however I feel underclassmen and even students in junior high could also learn how to enamel, perhaps more easily with pre-cut pieces. My classes were comprised of 18 – 25 students.
So, let’s get started!
Introduction
I began by setting up an artwork station at a table with examples of the enameled artwork from my summer institute. (I even covered it up and did a big dramatic unveiling to make more exciting :0) I also assembled a PowerPoint with examples of contemporary enamel artworks by Linda Darty, Amy Roper Lyons, James Malenda, among others. Students were then instructed to brainstorm and develop their ideas through sketching. Students were encouraged to use their experiences in cutting and wire-work in the development of a piece of jewelry (earrings, keychains, pendents, necklaces, bracelets, and pins.) Since this was the final metals project, students were expected to challenge themselves and utilize previous skills. The objective for this assignment was to explore enameling techniques in the creation of an original piece of jewelry. Since this was our last assignment in metals, I gave the students almost unbridled creative freedom in the design of their jewelry pieces, which I feel empowered them in their art-making.
Demonstration
After students developed an idea of what they wanted to make, I did a demonstration on how to enamel. This demonstration took the entire 42 minute period. I had students take notes in their sketchbooks while observing the demonstration. During the demo, I explained and showed how to enamel and add counter enamel to the backside using the simple sift technique. I then gradually built upon the simple sift technique and showed students how to make and use stencils, embossing glue with rubber stamps, lumps and threads, and then blending techniques and basse-taille texture techniques. Since I did not have grinding stones or cloisonné wire, I did not demonstrate cloisonné or champlevé techniques. Throughout the demo I allowed students to come up and practice simple sifting and taking the pieces in and out of the kiln.
Development
After the demonstration and seeing the transformation and vitrification of powdered enamel to glass, the students were very motivated to begin. Students began by cutting and filing their metal shapes and drilling holes. This ended up working out well because it created a steady flow to and from the kiln for adding enamel and firing the enamel. Very rarely was the kiln “overwhelmed” by an immense number of students because everyone seemed to be progressing through the project at their own rate. I set up an enameling station back by the kiln. Students were supervised in applying enamel and loading it in and out of the kiln. Many students did test pieces on scraps of copper to explore techniques and practice. We continuously enameled for about 3 weeks.
Culmination
Upon completion of enameling, students were asked to finish their pieces by adding pin backs, bails, earring hooks, key chain hooks, etc. Projects were assessed at 100 points using the following criteria: Design & Composition, Craftsmanship, Enameling Technique, Creativity, Completion/Presentation. Overall this was a very successful lesson. I asked students to complete a reflection of the project and I received much positive feedback and responses. Students were particularly excited because enameling, in addition to the whole metals unit, was something new, something they never experienced before. We also did a token response class critique.
In my classroom I think it is my job to provide students with diverse opportunities in art-making; I was glad I was able to achieve this through the metals unit and enameling lesson. I am sure they will never forget this lesson and I hope the pieces they make will be something they keep for a very long time.
Tips for Teaching Enameling
· Take a class! Experiment on your own so you know exactly what to expect; hands on experience is the key to learning.
· Set up an enameling station near the kiln. The less the students have to move the pieces to the kiln trivets, the better.
· Prepare copper sample pieces for your demonstration ahead of time by having some pieces with enamel and counter-enamel done before the demo.
· Use an old phonebook for sifting. Have students tear out paper to sift their enamel over. When they are done sifting they can lift it and pour it back into the container. (Discard paper between colors.)
· Practice safety! Students should wear ventilation masks while sifting. (Have them store them in a plastic bag so they don’t get dirty.) Also have students wear green safety goggles when firing the kiln; they should not look directly at the elements or into the heat.
· Craft punches (ones used in scrapbooking) can be used to create templates and stencils to sift over.
· To use rubber stamps to transfer a design, press the stamp in embossing glue. Press the stamp onto an enameled surface. Sift enamel over the glue and shake excess off. The glue should pick up the enamel to create a design.
· Lumps and threads are EXCELLENT for adding texture. Using a tweezers to apply them is helpful.
· Toothpicks work well for marbling or scratching designs into enamel.
· Eyedroppers and small watercolor trays (with lids are preferable) are a must. You will use the eye droppers to add Klyr-Fire to the enamel. Enamel used for wetpacking can be mixed in the circular white watercolor trays. Lids allow you to save enamels and keep dust out of them.
· I have found opaque enamels are more reliable and predictable than transparent enamels. They also do not require cleaning.
· 18 –20 gauge metal works well for enameling.
· If you are able to, let the students cut out their shape. This provides them more creative freedom. If unable to have students cut their own shape, you can purchase pre-cut copper shapes.
· File the edges in between firings to prevent fire-scale from creeping into the enamel.
· Encourage students to work on a few pieces at a time. This encourages development of ideas and techniques.
· Create a sampling of pre-fired copper tiles with the colors of the enamels so that students know what the colors look like.
· Students can use transparent enamels by first applying white enamel as the base coat to a piece of copper. Without a white base coat, the transparent colors appear muddled from the copper.
· Drill holes for jump rings and findings before enameling.
· Mini nuts and bolts are excellent cold connections for stacking and connecting multiple enameled pieces. (Eutectic solder is needed if you plan on soldering; I find cold connections easier in my personal work.) If you need to use a glue (for a pin back for example), epoxy resin is the best adhesive to use.
· Thompson Enamel is a very reliable source of Enameling Supplies and Books.
I hope you found these tips helpful and that you’ve enjoyed reading my reflection on my very first enameling lesson. If you have any questions please feel free to e-mail me. Below are a few student exemplars from this lesson. Enjoy!
In these examples, the students created stencils and then layered their colors using the simple sift technique. (The whale is black on the other side!) We used oak tag to create the stencils. Each layer had to be fired separately. 
Many students really enjoyed working with the lumps and threads. The threads are literally thin threads of glass. The lumps are large pieces of glass frit. They can be fired flush or left textural. In the leaf pendent, the student annealed the flat shape in the kiln first and then bent it to give it dimension. Orange enamel was applied via simple sift and threads were applied to create the leaf veins. In the pendents, the students experimented with creating texture with the lumps. 
In this example the student bent the leaf and then simple sifted green, followed by threads. The blue rectangles were a combination of clear lumps with transparent enamel sifted over top of metal that the student textured by hand. The student also made the jump rings for the necklace. 
These earrings were created by marbeling opaque enamels. The student first simple sifted a base coat of enamel down. Then, the student applied lines of wet-packed enamel and then blended them with a toothpick. We discovered that marbeling worked best with opaque enamels.
This is an example of basse-taille (pronounced baus-thai) enameling. The student first textured the metal with chasing tools. Then, to keep the texture visible, the student applied a clear flux. This is an example of a near perfectly fired clear flux - totally clear, golden in color, just a touch over-fired with nuances of blue.