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Grisaille is a technique that was perfected in
the 15th century by the great painted enamel houses of Limoges:
Penicaud, Limousin and Reymond.
I
first saw grisaille enamels in the Taft Museum in Cincinnati
and I was smitten.
My
drawing and painting skills were weak - so I had to spend a
lot of time honing them, and learning techniques that would
make the pieces affordable (unlike the traditional pieces
which were fired as many as 35 times)
So
I start with a stencil which I make myself based on my design.
I
sift a thin layer of opalescent white which serves two
purposes: it gives me an outline to work within, and it
reduces the changes of the painted layers 'crazing' (breaking
apart with tiny cracks) as a painted enamel is likely to do on
top of a regularly fired enamel.
I
then add the enamel paint in thin layers - working from the
shadows towards the highlights - which is a little unusual, as
one sketches toward the shadows. So one has to think
backwards.
I
usually do 4 to six layers depending on the complexity of the
design
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