Tag archives: miniature-painting

I've got the beginnings of a watch case but, as of yet, no dial that I'm prepared to drill a hole in. I'm not going to put a hole into the cloisonné enamel frog!

My starting point is to create domed dials, this is because enamel miniatures typically require several firings and a domed dial will minimize warping. From fitting into the watch point of view, a flat dial would be easier but in the long term a domed dial will far superior for enamelling applications.

Warping is less of a problem for cloisonne (although still an issue) since the wires and counter-enamelling give the piece a greater thickness and structure that help to control warpage. However, I found a domed surface gives more interesting light reflections, it's more difficult to bend the wires over a domed surface but I got plenty of practice when I made these set of enamel doorknobs.

Another good article by Barry Leighton for the Swindon Advertiser. I feel like a celebrity! Here is the online version. Well, there are no more exhibitions planned for a while, the next thing for me is to pass selection for the Guild of Enamellers Associate Craftsman in 2014.

All five of my entries for the Royal Society's exhibition have been accepted. This is really the best that I could have hoped for.

At first I thought that none of my pieces had been selected. Later I found all five codes listed on the Society's website under the Sculpture heading! I guess because these are enamel boxes they need to be exhibited in a similar way to sculpture.

Here's the five enamels with their titles:

Baby Orla (62mm x 82mm)

Everyone is invited to the Royal Society of Miniature Painters, Sculptors and Gravers. With or without an invitation. I'll be going down on the 16th October.

I use on-glaze enamel paints and mix them with oil and turps substitute to get the right consistency. The turps thins the paint down and the oil acts as a binder. I'm currently using lavendar oil, although I'm finding this a bit thin for some purposes, like stippling.

The important thing is to minimize the number of firings. To do this I aim to cover the whole piece with paint for each firing, resisting the tempation to focus on just one area. Each firing typically takes about a minute at 800oC. In this case the enamel lid was quite thin so it only needed 50 seconds.

I recently painted a portrait of Louis Armstrong onto an enamel box lid. I took photos after each firing stage.

Here's after the first firing

This one is a big deal, I hope to get 5 pieces accepted! @royalminiature @mallgalleries

I have enterred three pieces into the Guild of Enamellers and the British Society of Enamellers joint exhibition at the Birmingham School of Jewellery. The exhibition is called the Heart of the Heat and it's purpose is to showcase enamelling from the two societies' members. Of the three pieces that I entered this one has got through to the final selection!

These are the three entries I made for the Guild of Enameller and British Society of Enamellers joint exhition at the School of Jewellery in Birmingham. They are, from left to right, a portrait of Kate Middleton the Dutchess of Cambridge, a Reproduction of the Countess Golovine, and the Space Shuttle Discovery.