I burn the images.

I have been continuously engaged in painting, drawing, and graphic art, and in recent years, I have also explored the technique of enamel, which in the realm of free artistic creation is often referred to as enamel art.

Working with enamel is a small creative adventure, allowing for experimentation and the exploration of new techniques—such as scratching into dried enamel layers or applying color in various ways, including spraying, rolling, imprinting, and painting.

I utilize all these approaches in my work, ranging from black-and-white, graphically stylized winter landscapes (a natural fit for this technique and color palette) to vibrantly colored autumn scenes. This technique perfectly suits my artistic nature, reflecting my many years of experience in painting and graphic design, as well as my work in a ceramic workshop.

A special chapter within my series of enameled paintings is dedicated to decorative compositions featuring stylized motifs of the sun, trees, flowers, and similar elements.

I mainly look for inspiration for my paintings in nature. My "escapes into the landscape", its observation, attention to detail, murmur, energy and transformation give me many motives for reflection and depiction.

I am fascinated by the play of light and shadow. This is also reflected in my creation of motifs and drawing designs.

Other elements of my work are reflections of life in the big city, on a housing estate, on the street, human energy (sports, dance), or people's interventions in the surrounding landscape...

What exactly is enamel?

Enamel, or email, has been around for more than three thousand years, in different countries where it has a strong historical tradition. But we won't go into the details of the history here. You can find that out for yourself on various websites.

So just quickly...

There is no such thing as "typical enamel", because this technique is very malleable. Paradoxically, knowledge of all forms is not widespread even among enamelers, because the world of a goldsmith, who most often uses historical techniques, is very far from the environment of a professional painter who works with industrial enamel on large-format paintings or objects.

The basic principle of enameling is fusing glass (enamel) to a metal substrate. This means working with two different materials with different properties.
Enamel is popular for its following properties: shine, colorfastness, chemical resistance, and ease of cleaning and maintenance.
Despite its hardness, enamel is fragile because it is still glass (be careful of falls).

Enamel is divided into technical and jewelry enamel, each of which has different properties and a different range of colors.
It is most often fired between 750 °C – 850 °C for 2 to 5 minutes.
The temperature usually depends on the colors used, the time on the thickness or type of sheet metal (material).
Several layers of paint are applied and each goes into the kiln separately. It is common for a painting to be fired 6 times, and for jewelry even more times. Unfortunately, each firing can change the color of the enamel and thus the result.

For my paintings I use technical enamel applied to steel sheet.

Technical enamels can be mixed with each other, so it is possible to prepare a whole range of shades from the basic colors. Unfortunately, it is not possible to mix the same shade twice, so it is necessary to take this into account when creating.

It is also good to know in advance (or at least have an idea) what we want to create. The enameling process is different from oil painting (you cannot wipe off the burnt paint) or watercolor painting – in enameling you start on a dark base.
And we need to think about what we want in which layer. After firing, the state is irreversible... if the author is not satisfied with the result, he has to reconsider his concept and adapt the entire work... it simply results in something different from the original intention.

Enameling is a beautiful field with unlimited possibilities for exploration and development, but at the same time it is a technique that requires time, patience and also money (a lot of energy is needed for firing). And in the creation of paintings, there is limited
and the possibility of firing in a large kiln.

Excerpt from the book: Magdalena Urbanová, Enamel in Art, Prague: Grada, 2013, shortened, edited

Enameled jewelry

A different material is used to make enamel jewelry:

• Finer jewelry enamel has a slightly different composition and properties.
It requires more practice when working with it. Jewelry enamels do not mix,
it is always necessary to have another color shade separately.

It is mostly used in a loose state. You cannot "paint" enamel.
and brush strokes as in traditional art techniques. But even here it is possible to use enamel wet, or in the form of "watercolors".

And just like technical enamel (and paintings), jewelry enamel is fired completely dry,

• We use copper or silver as a base, but it is also possible to use gold.

In my case, most of the jewelry is made of copper.