Photographic Champlevé
See the Center for Enamel Art blog for an illustrated step-by-step explanation of my photographic champlevé process.
Champlevé (“shomp-leh-VAY”) is an ancient technique that uses enamel to fill recessed areas in metal. I create these recesses by photo etching halftone dots deeply into copper. Then I fill them with several layers of enamel, firing between each layer.
After each firing, I grind off the excess enamel from the high points of the copper. I repeat this whole process until I have a bare copper surface embedded with a glass image that’s flush with the metal. I then blacken the copper with a patina.
“Pebbles”, champlevé enamel on copper, with glass stain colors, 4” x 6”
Photo with halftone screen applied
Original pebbles photograph
Sometimes I will shift the colors of the enamel surface with “glass stain colors”, as in the “Pebbles” piece. This is a centuries old stained glass technique that uses special metal oxides painted and fired onto the glass.
The biggest challenge is to keep the enamel in the tiny dots - some as small as .25mm - “whitish” over 4 or 5 firings. I carefully control the enamel recipe and the firing temperatures to control the green and black discoloration from copper oxidation.
“Salt Point Tafoni #7”, detail
When I apply this technique to a realistic photo made up of halftones, the image takes on a mysterious three dimensional quality. Someone likened the pieces to being “there and not there”. That description fits with the timeless, other-worldly quality of the landscapes I’m drawn to.