Enameled Bowls: Sgrafitto Techniques

Arrive with nothing but your smiling face, and leave with a beautifully enameled bowl. Students will start by learning to apply glass enamel to a copper samples. Enameling techniques covered will include sifting, layering, and sgrafitto.

Sgrafitto comes from the Italian word graffiare ("to scratch"). It is a direct way to draw or write into the layers of enamels. Practice this style of enameling with liquid enamels to create a base coat for sgrafitto and also study ways to do it with dry sifted enamel powder.

Students will complete a few practice pieces to test out colors, or styles of sgrafitto, and final project will be to create a small bowl or dish in the afternoon. The completed piece is food safe and can be used as an impressive salt cellar, condiment server for your holiday table, a bedside trinket container or to simply look beautiful in your home.

This course is perfect for students with little to no enameling experience looking to delve into the exciting world of colored glass on metal! Sgrafitto lends itself towards more pictorial and graphic imagery, so it is an ideal technique for someone with some interest or experience with painting and drawing. No prior metalworking or enameling experience is required.

If you'd like to see more of Kelly's work, please visit her website kellyjeanconroy.com