Thursday, May 15, 2008

Clear flux copper color surprize

(I'm posting this to help illustrate a question I'm asking)

I'm short on time...
but I wanted to show you what I was talking about...
I just put it on the scanner...
not the best picture,
but I think you can see what was going on...
it's a champleve piece...(not sure about that spelling..)
but instead of filling in the etched out spaces like I was supposed to...
(learning and just forgot)
I just dusted the whole piece with clear flux enamel..unleaded...

Will this kind of metalic/irridescent greens-blues-reds happen each time?So, lucky I was...
I added some extra flux in the "flames" ...fluxless in the first firing...
it did not darken like the others did, but turned a great red, perfect for "flames"...

When fired several times more, the other pieces
did nothing but get darker and darker...no additional flux added...
yes, there were colors that looked like they were deep inside...
but, very hard to see without bright light.

I'm wanting to get this again...
is this something that normally happens, or can one encourage it?

I don't care if the colors happen in unpredictable places...I can work with that...
but, I'm really interested in this now...

1 comment:

Kirsten said...

It's the way the copper heat oxidizes under the clear flux. I like it! I think you'll also get the red and orange tones, depending on the amount of heat.