I decided to try another cloisonne enamel piece. I’m using copper as the base and on this piece I didn’t use any transparents so I omitted the step where some fine silver foil is added to cover the copper. Thought why waste it when it’s not going to show. Well, while making the piece, I realized there is a good reason to use it.
I got oxidation from the copper coming up to the top. That happens because the copper was fired too long or too high. It’s hard to see in the picture but around the silver wires it shows up the most. Using the silver foil layer helps to keep the oxides from coming to the top. Silver doesn’t created oxides. Or I could be more careful and use low or medium melt enamel colors which is more difficult to figure out.
I’m going to make another piece similar to this design with the silver foil and see how that goes. This was a good learning experience.
Mewkittie Creations 