“Salt Point” champlevé (early)
These are my first champlevé pieces in the “Salt Point” series, begun in 2004. They differ from later work in glass composition, color, and level of detail.
“Salt Point Tafoni #2”, champlevé enamel on copper, with glass stain colors, 8” x 8”
See my recent Salt Point work to read more about this magical place.
The earliest Salt Point pieces were done in unleaded enamels. The unleaded whites have a tendency to react with copper and turn green very rapidly.
To stabilize the color in the tiny dots, I added small amounts of colors that did not react with copper to such a strong degree.
I often tinted the finished enamel on the surface with warm and cool glass stain colors. These shifted the colors, but also affected the luminosity and translucence of the glass.
“Salt Point Tafoni #6”, champlevé enamel on copper, with glass stain colors, 8” x 8”
“Salt Point Tafoni #3”, champlevé enamel on copper, with glass stain colors, 8” x 8”
After these early pieces, I shifted my enamel formulations to incorporate leaded enamels. These gave the pieces more luminosity, and also allowed more detail with smaller halftone dots.