Enamel jewelry may be kiln-fired or torch-fired. Kiln-fired enameling offers the element of surprise as you wait to see what will emerge when you open the door. Torch-fired enameling allows you to watch the change as it happens, encouraging some changes and discouraging others. Most importantly, you get to decide when to stop. To me, it feels like an evolving relationship between me and the piece I’m working on. Like most relationships, it can cause some frustration, but the intimacy can produce joyful moments and wonderful patterns I could never have planned as well as they turned out.

I learned from Kristal Romano, a jeweler who taught a class on torch-fired enamel at the Baltimore Jewelry Center, about two “magic” enamels that change color as you torch them: 533 and 722 (manufactured by Thompson Enamel). When you torch 533, you might get grey, purple, red, orange, aqua, and other light shades. If you let a piece torched with 533 dry and dip it in 722, you will get a crackle effect and an array of colors that might include black, brown, grey, red, green, and more. Magic! I understand this technique was developed by Ken Bova, who currently teaches at Eastern Carolina University.