Blog Archive

 RSS Feed

  1. Here are the final four designs for the plaques. I wonder if you are familiar with some of them from walking or driving in Worcester.

     

    10) Door with Elaborate Hinges - Do you recognise this doorway? I wanted to give the door an air of mystery and promise for the future. Bright light seems to escape from around it.

    A2DE3916-C6E2-4CDC-9B8B-98C196661C4D

    11)Detail from the 1621 Charter - I wanted to include something from the Charter and this decoration stood out.

    1FE9296B-C2BC-4BB8-AE2B-856EE66496AE

    12)An Architectural Detail - Can you identify the building and company from this detail? EE096133-4309-4C3C-B561-F08310A47DA6

    13)The Cathedral - I found this emblem of the Cathedral, a shield with a series of red dots when researching for the project. Although the design has now been updated a little, the simplicity of the original appealed to me.

    F46CE83E-2CFD-4C58-AEA7-0554322AE516

  2. Beginning to make the Enamel Plaques

    The shapes for the plaques known as blanks are cut out of recycled copper.90D9486A-CDFA-44AF-8A19-C886F4BD2406

    1. Unlike new copper sheet, recycled copper needs to be cleaned before it is enamelled otherwise the enamels might not adhere properly.
    2. The first step is to heat the blank in the enamelling kiln until it glows a dull red. This process is called annealing and softens the copper. During  heating a film of black oxide known as fire scale forms over the blank. This and any other discolouration can partly be removed by plunging the copper shape into cold water. E1CCDBB4-FDCF-433C-BB66-F392585F1E61
    3. To completely clean the copper it is placed in a warm acid solution.
    4. Once it is clean, it is rinsed and dried then gently hammered flat between two steel plates.D2094F55-A549-422D-AA62-76A8ADDD73B3