Ora Kuller
My love affair with Enamel Art
Sometimes events unfold in ways that we do not recognize as life-changing until we look back at them from a distance. It was in art school that I first learned about enamel, and it by was pure chance. I had a three-hour window and the enamel class just fitted into that space of time. I didn’t even know what enamel is. My counsellor advised me that if I don’t have any knowledge of enamel, this is a great opportunity to learn. I wish she could know the results of her advice. Enamel and I have had a love affair ever since I placed the first grain of crushed glass on top of a piece of copper. I learned how to enamel all that year and then came the last class. It was a hot summer’s day and the prospect of driving in the heat and operating a hot kiln wasn’t very attractive and so I almost didn’t go to this class, but I did. The studio was empty and quiet, a most unusual and ideal situation.
From the recess of a drawer, I took 4 small pieces of copper, and started to clean them slowly with water, soap, and wet and dry sandpaper. Through the motions of my hands a picture rose in front of my eyes, cool green and deep water, a patch of turquoise, and a white heron gliding gracefully.
The room was quiet, its heavy walls kept the cool of the night, but some heat started to seep through the old kiln door. Slowly I sifted enamel powder on the copper, green and blue, white and a touch of black and red. Into the hot kiln the pieces were inserted one by one. When a minute and half went by and the enamel melted nicely, I took the pieces out and let them cool at their own pace. As soon as they were safe to be touched, I placed them together, and stepped back; from the illusion of a deep pond a white heron emerged, gleaming proud and soft. It was a true realization of my vision, my dream.
I knew at that moment that enamel was not just another technique, another medium - it was going to be a profound and meaningful part of my life.
Inspiration
The First Heron
One amazing outcome of working with enamel is the ability to create pieces I can hold in my hand. By creating these fragments and putting them together, enamel art allows me to translate events from the history of my family into metal and glass, including some stories that I have lived through myself. Metals can be shiny, modern and clean or they can be earthy, fire-scaled and weathered. Enamel glass glows in deep layers when transparent, flickers like sunlight glinting off wet sand on the seashore when under-fired, or can be opaque, smooth, soft, and creamy like a rose petal. In combining the contrasting textures and finishes of metal and enamel, I can find a way within the numerous techniques to keep the elements of memory well defined and yet give fluidity to the storyline, letting each voice speak for itself.
Out of all that enamel art offers, my favourites are enamel watercolours. On a smooth, light-coloured and perfectly fired enamel surface, holding the smallest amount of enamel watercolour in the tip of a tiny paint brush, I love painting delicate lines that, once fired in the hot kiln, will forever safeguard the memories of the past and the stories of the present soon to become memories.