Finished White Oak Leaf Pendant with Acorn

Sometimes, you come up with an idea in your head, transfer it to paper and the actual piece doesn’t always come out exactly as you first imagined it.  But this piece is pretty much what I designed it to be.  

I purposely added the dark, vein-like lines in the leaf by dragging a piece of metal through the molten enamel. Because the copper was slightly exposed, it created oxidization which led to the lines turning black.  It really gives the piece a more rustic look!  I just love playing with oxidization!!  

The Oak Acorn I made from a piece of white oak piece which I carved into a ball which I drilled like a bead.  I made the cap part out of sheet copper, formed, textured and soldered.  I covered the wood with epoxy.

The Acorn lays flat so that it can sit properly when worn.

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Enamel Leaf Pendant Test

Enameled Leaf Pendant Test: 

I’m working on a leaf pendant and wanted to run a test before enameling the actual leaf, so I made this little copper leaf and applied the enamel and it turned out pretty good! 

I'm loving the way the black formed all around the perimeter of the leaf, the center and the smaller crackles near the tip.  To some this might seem like a non-successful test because of the black.  But I’m the type of artist who most of the time prefers my results to be different!  If you’re like me and you would like to a achieve this look add less of the enameling powder before you fire it so that the copper will oxidize and will show up as black in any portion where there is less enamel (you gotta love copper!)

In order to make the center vein running through the leaf, I used a fine, stainless steel rod and dragged it through the molten enamel while holding my torch in the other hand… 

I loved this project!  So much fun!

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