I've been signed up to take one of Barbara Lewis' enameling classes in Portland for awhile now. I've done enameling in the kiln and do torch enameling from time-to-time with just a torch I got at Home Depot, but I'm very excited about the set-up that Barbara uses which is very much like a lampworker's set-up. I think it's safer for one thing. I also love, like many others, the filigree beads she transforms.
Anyway, that brings me to my new favorite jewelry technique book! Yesterday I received my copy of Barbara Lewis' Torch-Fired Enamel Jewelry, a workshop in Painting with Fire. With a cup of tea I slowly turned the pages of this colorful and informative book. You feel like you're sitting with Barbara as she explains things in her sometimes funny, but always easy to understand way. Her work is simply gorgeous and indeed looks like it's been painted with color changes and a wonderful eye for composition.
I think I'll wait til my class the end of September since I don't have a lot of free time right now, but maybe I won't. She has given me some confidence that I can set up my torch firing station without a problem and try some of her techniques.