What is enamel?

Enamelling is the process of applying vitreous enamel, (clear or coloured powdered glass), to metal and heating it at around 800ºC and for a matter of a minute or so per layer until the glass melts and fuses to the metal, in my case copper. Enamel does not fade, it is durable, will retain it's richness of colour and last indefinitely.

How do I work?

I work in a very intuitive way, the only real planning comes in the creation of the stencils used in my more figurative work, but even then the colours and placing is entirely of the moment. I love flowers, so take them as inspiration, and birds and the landscape but I also work in a much more abstract manner. The joyful thing about enamel is how although you think you are in control of the heat and of the materials, in the end those elements share that control. So you fire a piece of copper with powered glass on it, layer upon layer, and it transforms miraculously into this delicious, glowing, shiny thing.