If you are anything like me, I will buy an enamel powder having fallen in love what I think is a new colour (or perhaps several in a moment of rash late- night internet surfing!) I then add the pot of enamel to the motley crew of enamel families already on my shelves whilst not really knowing who they are or how they behave?
Oftentimes I find I have bought the same colour again completely forgetting I already have it or something of very similar tone in my burgeoning collection. And was it Leaded? Unleaded? Transparent? Opaque? Opalescent? Who knows? (The reference numbers alone mean very little to me). In a rare moment of organisation, I may make a sample I forget to label properly that soon loses any connection to the powder in the original pot. So I am taking myself in hand to become better colour-co-ordinated, hence my new method to tame my errant ways and create an easily accessible system to get to know my palettes!
Storing samples on little scraps of copper heaped higgledy-piggledy in a box is not going to do it for me, so I'd like to introduce you to my latest idea: I am investing in some inexpensive coin collectors wallets from EBay ("Professional Coin Collection Books") to aid me in creating catalogues of colour samples. These little pocketed folders allow up to 25mm diameter enamelled copper (or silver or steel) samples for easy storage and organisation so they can be seen and colour-compared without too much hunting or guess work! They can be removed and filed away again too. The smaller books hold 60 samples with the larger ones housing up to 200. The pocketed sleeves inside are transparent.
I am feeling decidedly virtuous as I enamel myself one copper sample for the book (oh yes and it's labelled!) and one to stick onto the top of the new pot (also labelled!).
I dedicate separate books to individual suppliers (one for Thompsons Enamels, one for Milton Bridge, one for Schauer etc...) creating my own "library of colours" so I will be able to refer back (in inevitable times of future net-surfing weakness!) They are portable and protect the samples well, so will be equally useful when taken to workshops or courses I may be running at Rainbow Glass Studios or if one is attending the Guild of Enameller's conference (coming up soon - see the link to find out more details). I would thoroughly recommend joining the Guild if you are not a member already.
I have to say I am quite enjoying the discipline of organising my "library", and looking forward to combining colours I never knew I had! Let me know if this idea appeals and works for you too. I will always be up for some mutual "train-spotting" of other's sample enamel books too!
Ooh and aaah! What lovely colours!
Eleanor : Enamelling Tutor: Rainbow Glass Studios London N16 0JL
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