Blue Antiquities

Sunday, August 2, 2015

Private Workshops

Ive been having such a good time teaching at Ornamentea in Raleigh, I cant even tell you! But, I also want to mention, that I really enjoy private workshops! I just finished a workshop today with 2 people. This is a fabulous way to learn the painting with fire technique hands on!

Two people can feed off of each others ideas and discoveries, and that is exactly what happened today. I like to tailor my workshops to fit with what the student wants to learn, and I figure that out as we go along. I gather information before the workshop, but once the participant is here, that is when I can get a good read on what they need to learn, and where their interests lie.

Artist Bonnie Dees PWF Workshop-BlueAntiiquities

The immersion technique of enameling, the Painting with Fire Method, by Barbara Lewis...

is really the perfect method to learn hands on. Once you learn the basics of the process, how to trouble shoot the mandrel, and some color information relating to the flame, you are on your way to adding some delicious color to your work!

Practice is very important with this method. I recommend staring with about 7-8 enamels. A neutral, a few opaque enamels, and 2 transparent colors. That's it. Take a bunch of time and practice firing up with these enamels for awhile before you get more supplies and enamel.

You can also use recycled food containers to store your enamels

to keep your initial investment down.

BlueAntiquities Studio 2015 Laura Guenther

The time you devote to practicing will allow you to
1.build your technique with how well you can work around your torch area.
2. become excellent at dredging into your enamels.
3. Get consistent results with even coverage for your pieces.
4. Ensure good results with clean holes in flat pieces and beads.
5. Develop your area of interest within the technique possibilities.