Author: Linda Darty
Pictures: 8/10
Clarity of Instruction: 7/10
Complexity: 8/10
Overall Score: 8/10
This book to me felt sort of... run together. Everything was one after another after another. It didn't really give you any room to think, to breathe and digest what you' had just learned. Maybe it's just me, but I find that problematic.
On the other hand, this book did give me a lot of hope, because it went into detail on how to use a torch to fire enamel, rather than just a kiln. At this point, I'm working with a Max Flame micro torch, and loving it. This book (along with a separate article over at beadingdaily.com ) helped me figure out that I really could use the torch for enamel work, if I was willing to think about how it could be done. It also put me in mind of doing some really detailed pieces, combining chasing and enamel work, with an oriental or middle eastern flair. Who knows, maybe I'll do both some day...after I have a kiln mind you. Because that's the thing I didn't know up till now. I thought you had to keep your piece /still/ when you were firing it, but with a torch, according to this book anyway, you can't do that. You have to move it around to allow for even heating. I'll cover more about torch fire and enamels another day though.
This book is also an odd combination of art gallery and historian. Along the tops and sides of most of the pages there are pictures of enamel work, in all different styles and complexity levels. The work is...stunning. I could spend hours just looking at this and drawing ideas. I just might do that anyway ;). Each of these mini galleries though has to do with what's being discussed on that particular page, with the exception of the pieces shown off at the beginning during the tools explanation. It allows you, or at least me, to see and think " ok, this is some examples of what /can/ be done with this technique their telling me about....now how could I use it?"
As to the historical bit, there are sections and pages throughout the book that talk about how enameling has been done throughout the ages. One page discusses the processing of enamels, quoted directly from a 12th century German monk. Another shows samples of painted enamel pieces of the likes of Lady Russel, and the Duke of Nevers. I loved reading these sections, it made me think of the way some teachers will share interesting side notes. Things that still have to do with your topic, but maybe you wouldn't have known or learned otherwise.
So, to cap it all off, if you don't mind a fast paced book, this really is a good book to take you through learning about enamels. Heck, even if you don't read it you can look at the gallery shots and get ideas from that...but seriously, you should read it, otherwise you might end up doing things like I did, and finding out that quenching after firing is a baaaaaaad idea.
Do you have any thoughts on this book? Feel free to comment below. :)
