The Enameling Adventures Begin

Have Kiln Will Travel is now offering copper enameling classes!

Enameling is a very close cousin to glass fusing which HKWT is based on. In a nutshell, enameling is the process of placing glass powder onto copper, then baking it in a kiln until the powder melts into glass and permanently adheres to the copper base.

Enameling is a perfect addition to the HKWT adventures, because it is quick and that helps make it fun. You can make changes to your work very quickly by adding more color or completely covering over and starting again. A single firing only takes a couple of minutes in the kiln, and nothing is lost by repeated firings which encourages you to enhance your efforts and try new ideas.

Enamels are basically ground glass which are heavily pigmented. You use very little, less than 1/16 of an inch, to completely cover the copper base. You can sprinkle it with your fingers, sift it onto your project, create patterns with stencils and apply it wet like paint. There are in fact books full of techniques and you will learn quite a few during a three hour class.

 Like a lot of art forms the basics of enameling are learned quickly, however you could also spend a lifetime and not uncover all of its secrets. The class will focus on a few technical details like preparing the copper, how and when to use binders/glue, and you will be introduced to the basic tools and equipment.The butterflies to the left show what the copper looks like before and after putting the first layers of enamel on. A typical piece may be fired three to five times before you are satisfied with the colors. Some of the enamels are transparent and the thicker you put them on the more intense the colors become. Some of the most beautiful professional pieces may be fired as many as thirty times. This gives a piece smooth gradations, color intensity and a great sense of depth.

The shapes are machine stamped pieces of 20 gage copper which is approximately 1/16 inch thick. I ordered approximate 40 different shapes ranging in size from 1/2 inch to several inches. The shapes and the enamels are included in the cost of the class. The largest shapes however cost 50 cents each. Copper as you know is becoming expensive. Many of the items can be turned into pendants, pins and earrings and the hardware/findings for these can also be purchased.

At the end of class it is great fun to turn your work into a finished piece of jewelry when adding the findings. Everyone shares in the excitement of seeing all the work that was completed, and we all learn from the different approaches taken for color choices, application techniques and design.

Because enamel is glass you can also use enameling as part of a  fused glass project where the enamel is placed on a glass sheet instead of copper. We will start to do this in future Fused Glass Jewelry classes.  The only thing to keep in mind is that the enamel set for fused glass is different from the set used on copper. You use them the same way, but they are not compatible. Kind of like mixing oil paints with acrylics - you just can't do it. The result would be a cracked and broken project after it comes out of the kiln.

Some of my repeat students who have been through the enameling class and have attended the fused glass class could attend a class and do anything they want - either enameling projects or fused glass jewelry or even using enamels in a jewelry piece!

This is really incredible... I'm thinking as I'm typing... not only is HKWT a unique experience, but we will also be combining media in ways seldom seen. I can't wait to see what happens!







Those who have had one of my longer running classes at an art center know that I'm highly  experimental in my approach. I love to try to do things in new ways, mixing it all up just to see what comes out. The great thing about teaching is that that the students are mixing it up for me. As they discover new textures and application techniques the best thing I can do is just keep my mouth shut and not ruin things by saying "that's not how I would do it". Of course I steer them away from obvious pitfalls, but there is a fine line between doing something 'wrong' and discovering something new.

Eventually, at one of my art center classes we will make our own large copper shapes out of sheets of copper. We will then fuse the copper partly into glass, leaving some of it outside the glass. The part outside of the glass can then be bent into a third dimension and  copper enamels applied to it. This of course is now taking enameling into the realm of larger sculptural forms, but it all starts with the basics - just applying enamels to machine stamped shapes... pretty simple - but there is no telling where we will go from there.

Have Kiln Will Travel - On The Road!

I have been spending a lot of my time planning out the fall season of HKWT events. There will be over 20 sites where classes and events will be held this fall, and brand new classes too.

I am especially excited to be teaching at the Edina Art Center and the Hopkins Center For The Arts for the first time this fall. I will be returning to the Bloomington Art Center to repeat the successful six week Introduction To Glass Fusing, and will feature the student's work here in a few weeks after the projects are completed.

I am also proud to be teaching for the first time in my home town of Savage at the Savage Art Studios & Gallery. I hope to form a long standing relationship with my neighbors there.

The link for all of these locations is to the left.

Some of the new projects are shown here. The Art Glass Wind Chime is fun to make. Students learn some basic glass cutting skills and get to choose what type and color of glass they want to use. They also do all the stringing using fishing line and crimps. They sound really great. I was surprised at the quality of the sound when I made the first one and hung it. Each piece of glass creates its own sound based on the overall size and shape so no two chimes sound exactly alike! Unfortunately, unlike the jewelry class, we do not do the fusing during the class. The finished pieces will be mailed to students.

The Fused Glass Jewelry (and much more... hint, hint guys) is being offered many times over the coming months. It remains an amazing day of learning, sharing, and fun.

The Art Glass Flower Vase class is a new addition. Students will create a

pocket vase which will hang on a wall. They will choose what glass they want for the front and back and they will decorate the front with glass elements. One technique is to use glass paste in a cake decorator bag and squeeze out a design just like you would for decorating a cake. It is actual glass and when fused the design is transformed into permanent glass. Many glass options are provided to create the vase which is hung by to braided copper loops fused into the glass. Students will learn how to braid copper wire to form the attractive hanging loops.

Another new course is an Introduction to Enameling. This will be a wonderful adventure in glass on metal as some folks call it. Enamels are finely ground glass with very intense pigments so you don't need that much to make a bright colorful design. It is so much fun watching the enamels melt into glass right before your eyes in minutes. The little kilns have viewing ports so you can watch the transformation happen. You can add layers of colors and repeatedly fire the enamel to build very interesting designs, gradations, and textures.

Regular glass fusing takes many hours to perform its magic. Enameling on the other hand is the craft for those who can't wait! Instant gratification, or should I saw glassification!

Forward the link to HKWT to your friends. Their is bound to be a class in your area.

North St. Paul HKWT Event @ Maplewood

The glass fusers are a-buzz, hovering over a fresh batch of fused glass eye candy. It is always exciting each time we take the lid off of a kiln and see the hot new creations in glass. It is very surprising actually, because the glass not only changes shape slightly, but it may also change in color and texture.

It is very common that participants are so involved in making one piece after another that they often forget what is theirs in the kiln! It never fails that there are a few pieces which two different fusers think are theirs, but after a short discussion someone realizes that the piece probably isn't theirs.  At the same time there are a few pieces which no one recognizes as theirs. I call these poor lost gems orphans, and after some encouragement someone in the group adopts them.

Here are a few gems from the Maplewood adventure in glass fusing.

Samples from Rosemount Community Ed. Event

Another fun day of glass fusing was had at the Rosemount MN Community Ed. program. We did a record eight firings and well over 100 pieces of jewelry were created by the class of eight participants. The one day jewelry extravaganza is becoming popular and so much fun that folks are repeating the experience by coming back for seconds.

Here are a few samples of pieces created.

This is a before and after shot just to show what happens to the glass. Glass tends to 'ball-up' or pull into itself when heated. In fact, if you heat a square long enough it will turn round. When you realize this, then you can use that as part of your overall design for a piece.

This is another before and after example. This is a special glass called miliefiori which means millions of flowers in French.The color arrangements in miliefiori are made in long fat bars of glass which might be 2 to 3 inches thick and a foot long. The thick bar of glass is heated and pulled and stretched like taffy into a very thin 1/4 inch thick rod, shrinking the design down in the process. You may get twenty small rods from the stretched out bar. The rods are then cut into small sections, and we use these little nips off of the rod in our class to make jewelry.

The image to the left are a collection of random pieces made from a glitzy type of glass called dichroic glass.

The one to the right is made from a mixture of dichroic and regular glass. A piece like this just take a few minutes to make, because I supply many kinds of glass to choose from, and in this case the glass was prefired. All the the student had to do is mount the colored glass on a black background. Of course, the black glass had to be cut by the student to fit the size of colored glass she chose.

At a Have Kiln Will Travel event the emphasis is on fun. We literally play with glass and all the glass options I provide. Some students make so many pieces and so quickly that there are always a few pieces left over that no one recognizes as theirs. We don't allow orphans so someone always steps up to claim the work of art by an unknown artist.

The image to the left is a wine stopper. There are many items made that are not jewelry such as bookmarks, push pins, belt buckles, office spring clips for paper, refrigerator magnets, and money clips. I have not been successful with getting many guys to the events so far. They must hear the work 'jewelry' and get turned off. Too bad. The class is for anyone who likes color and a chance to melt glass into useful personal items or gifts.

Maybe if I brought in a torch to melt glass the guys would sign up. Don't think that will happen though.

ArtiCulture Jewelry Samples

These are some of the glass art jewelry made during a recent class at ArtiCulture. It is always amazing to see what designs are done in just a few minutes of exploring the potential of glass, mica, frit, stringers, powder and so many other creative elements. I think I still talk too much at the start of the class. I'm trying to distill the Do's and Dont's into a short 15 minute overview then just let the attendees run wild with all the glass potentiality!

See Registration Links to the left and the calendar for future event location and dates.

OMG! Glass Fusing Classes Gone Wild!

"Ask and you shall receive." Well I've been asking and now I'm receiving! Over the next few months I'll be at eight locations, and teaching stained glass, Intro to Fused Glass, Designing With Glass, as well as the Glass Jewelry class. I think I'll also be adding an Intro to Enameling class, but I haven't designed the course yet.

All of this and Have Kiln Will Travel events have not even started. I wanted to secure two locations for the HKWT events before I actively begin the process of marketing the concept. Initially I was just going to have HKWT events on the calendar, but I decided to show all classes/events whether they are art center classes where I'm just teaching, or, classes where I am taking kilns to locations to teach, or, HKWT events where I pack up the kilns for a specific fundraising event.

This is a great start. Other opportunities are grants for teaching which I've applied for, and just plain old private lessons.

I'm closing in on my second HKWT hosting site and will post both locations in the near future. I'll then be ready to set sail on this adventure!

Relationships & Testing

It has been well over four months since I first thought of the Have Kiln Will Travel (HKWT) idea. The first steps were field test just the idea, then develop and  test the class material, then obtain the LLC standing and insurance, and I'm sure I'll be refining the processes over time for the next year.

One recent refinement was testing the kilns on 15 amp circuits instead of the 20 amp which I first thought was required for the kilns. I was pleasantly surprised to find that you can run 2 kilns on a 15 amp circuit and have a dozen lights on at the same time. This is significant because 15 amp circuits are common, and 20 amp are less so. This eliminates one of the major stumbling blocks of holding  HKWT events.

I've also been working on the other major problem of where to hold the events. I found two local art centers which are willing and I will go into detailed discussions with them next week. These type of relationships are key to making the whole concept work.

One of the last steps will be to form relationships with local nonprofit support groups, fund raising groups, and event planners. It is my hope that these type of organizations will help me get the HKWT story out.

One small victory every day is becoming my motto.