Quote:
Originally Posted by gracedorsey
I have the whole sample set of Thompson Enamel powders and I'd like to paint with them on my beads. Should I use oil of lavender as a medium? Then, what should I need to know about firing them?
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Grace, painting enamels typically are much finer than the enamels that Thompson makes for using with 104 glass. You could try grinding your enamels very fine -- or you could always try painting with the enamels as they are and see if you like the effect. It might be a little grainy -- or "impressionistic" in a cool way -- or it might be dreadful. Why not try? It's only glass.
Oil of lavender is one oil that can be used as a painting medium. Oil of clove is another, and then there's squeegee oil. I have no clue what that actually is made from (and I'm momentarily too lazy to Google for it), but it's an enamel painting medium. If you're going to use lavender, make sure it's real lavender oil, and not some "lavender-scented oil" made from who knows what.
Once you paint your enamels on and let them dry, you will need to fire them. Here's the tricky part. I can't locate any info on the firing temperature for the 9000 series (the COE 104 enamels). Enamels can fire anywhere from 1200 degrees-ish to 1500 degrees. If you want to, you can dodge the whole "what's the firing temp" issue by putting your painted beads (still on mandrels) in a cold kiln and heating them up nice and slowly to around 1000 degrees. Then grab the mandrel -- which will be hot, so don't use your bare hands -- and put the bead into the outer end of your flame. If you've preheated well enough, it shouldn't crack. Gradually bring the bead in and rotate it in the flame until the enamel looks like it has fused to the bead. Then put the bead back in the kiln.
Alternatively, you can kiln-fire the enamels. Put your beads into a cold kiln and take them slowly up to temperature. What temperature? That's where you'll need to do some experimenting (or guesswork). It will need to be higher than 1200 F, which unfortunately is around the temp where COE 104 gets soft. Ideally you want to find the fusing temperature for your enamels and program your kiln so that the bead hits that temperature and stays there for only a minute -- enamels don't take long to fire -- and then goes back down to annealing temp before the bead has time to droop out of shape.
Frankly, if I were you -- and if I were me, as soon as I get the chance -- I'd take a class with Margaret Zinser, and skip all the annoying trial-and-error stuff. Different strokes for different folks, of course -- you may enjoy the experimentation.
(I'm not sure who other than Margaret teaches enamel painting on beads. JC Herrell does it, but I don't know if it's part of what she teaches. Bronwen Heilman was teaching painting on flat glass and then wrapping it around a bead. I've heard Kate Fowle Meleney might be doing something with an enamel painting technique, but I'm not sure what.)
Here's a link that you might find interesting:
http://www.burtglass.com/glass_enamel_faq.htm