Enameling Metal Jewelry

I've been taking metalsmithing classes for the last year. I started with metal about 15 years ago and then stopped when I started working full time. This last year I haven't been working as much which has been a gift in many ways; one if those ways is more time to work on my art.

The current class I'm taking is an Enameling. Enameling a process where ground glass is fused to copper or silver when heated at high temperatures (1500 degrees). You can heat the metal in a kiln or through a process called torch firing where you apply the flame from a torch underneath the metal until the glass melts and fuses to the the copper or silver.

I am in love with enameling! I love color and experimenting with transparent and opaque enamels is so much fun. I'm never quite sure what I'm going to get because the powdered enamel colors look very different than the heated and cooled enamel. Here are a few recent samples I made.