shift
to me there's magic in how light and moisture shift our perception of a landscape—the blazing pinks and yellows of dawn and dusk, the moody blues and grays of a fog rolling in.
i start each piece in my shift collection by stamping the back with the word “shift”, then I create the scene on the front by using a single transparent enamel with a combination of clear and white enamels, and silver and gold foils. my pendant hooks and earring wires are all hand-shaped—the hooks are either copper or sterling silver, and the earring wires are all sterling silver.
my process
stamp
i start by annealing and pickling the copper, then i stamp the back of the piece with the word “shift.”
texture
the copper is the bottom layer of the picture, so I texture the front it to create more depth.
first layer: sift
i sift bottom layer of enamel onto the front: white, clear, and a single transparent enamel—in this example it’s pink.
first layer: fire
i fuse the enamel in a kiln at 1450 degrees for a few minutes.
second layer: foil
i adhere pieces of silver foil.
second layer: sift & fire
i sift a second layer of clear enamel over some parts of the piece and
transparent pink enamel over the others, and then fire again.
third layer: foil, sift, fire
i add some gold foil and a bit more silver, then a third layer of clear
and pink enamel, and then fire again. depending on the piece, i may add a fourth layer to even out
colors or create a different finish.
finish: back
every time i add a layer to the front i follow it by adding a layer
to the back. the first is a combination of black opaque enamel (in the stamped indentations) and clear and pink elsewhere; the following layers are made up of a mix of clear and pink. after finishing all the firing,
i sand the edges.
finish: front
once the edges are cleaned and polished, i put the piece onto
handmade findings—in this case a copper hook that i’ve treated with
Renaissance Wax to slow tarnishing.