Grisaille Revisited

Grisaille Revisited

I first became acquainted with grisaille through New York enamelist and jeweler Antonia Schwed, who had taken "a wonderful workshop" with BiII Helwig. She showed me some of the basics she had learned, and, subsequently, I took a five day workshop with Helwig (in a variety of techniques, including grisaille and camaieu) at the 92nd St. Y, and later, a two day workshop with him in grisaille at the Newark Museum. I found that, despite my fascination with enamel colors, I loved grisaille and especially enjoyed its painterly aspect. I did a number of pieces over the next few years before changing to other techniques.

However, recently, while teaching some basic grisaille to some of my New York students, it occurred to me that, compared to other enameling techniques, very little experimentation has been done in grisaille (and camaieu) since Helwig "reintroduced" it so many years ago. At that time, Helwig not only created technically flawless grisaille in the traditional style, but also pushed the limits of grisaille and camaieu in ways that had not been done before. But since then, it seems that no one has really tried to experiment with grisaille or camaieu, or to use it in a more modern manner.

There certainly exist a number of fine enamelists who either do superb grisaille work or incorporate it into their work. Still, my impression is 1) the work is very traditional (although sometimes set in a more contemporary fashion), 2) the grisaille component is a very small part of the piece or 3) the grisaille has been combined with other traditional painterly techniques, thereby becoming more akin to limoges than pure grisaille. These approaches are all valid - and beautiful, but there is not much feeling of newness or change within this genre.

What if an enamelist were to experiment with this wonderful, but seemingly limited technique? To try and build on what Helwig had started? To create totally modern compositions rather than the more traditional approaches (there is no reason why the subject matter must be traditional with grisaille…there seem to be no such limits on cloisonné, champlevé, or bassetaille)? What about combining it with other less conventional techniques (the addition of foils, colors, and lusters have been used traditionally by many grisaille artists and will not be discussed in this article)? To give grisaille a new look while completely retaining its identity as a grisaille or camaieu piece?

I would like to preface by saying that all the following pieces were done with a deadline in mind. There is much room for continued experimentation and refinement of all of the following projects.

The first challenge I set myself was to create some pieces in the traditional grisaille style, but with distinctly modern subject matter. In the past year or so, I have been keeping (i.e. sketching) "subway diaries" of New York City; visual documentation of the incredibly diverse and fascinating populations that ride the city's transit system. I chose a series of sleeping men (Figure 1) for my first project in grisaille, followed by an African-American youth (Figure 2) in camaieu. No traditional landscapes, portraits of antiquity, or mythical beasts and beings here, but records of the 21st century!

The next challenge was to create an abstract; something grisaille is not used for. I wanted to avoid merely doing a stencilled or sgrafittoed piece in black and white, but instead incorporate the feeling of depth and dimension that is typical of true grisaille. My sample here (Figure 3) is partially successful. While there is some feeling of contour and space, there is much room for further experimentation and refinement of this approach.

Returning to the subway sketches as subject matter, I decided to embed various materials into the grisaille/camaieu for the next projects. Four pieces were created: two grisaille and two camaieu. For the grisaille "Erica's Ear" (Figure 4), I used various zircons (zircons for PMC are most reliable), copper studs, and twisted copper wire for Erica's adornment. For "Woman with Hat" (Figure 5), golden seed beads (prefired first on mica) were embedded, and in "The Excursion" (Figure 6), I used twisted and coated (with liquid white) copper wire (to give the 3-D illusion of fur) and copper studs (for buttons on the child's coat). For "Still Life" (Figure 7), I reverted back to very traditional subject matter, but only to test out simple repousse copper shapes as an extension of the composition, to intensify the 3-D effect of grisaille. (Tiny clear glass balls were used as the grapes.)

For "Roberto's Turtle" (Figure 8), I threw caution to the winds and embedded numerous glass seed beads and lumps of all sizes, shapes, and hues. But the extra twist in the piece is a green background in "manipulated" firescale. A golden "random" firescale pattern (with P-1 overglaze) was used in conjunction with a traditional grisaille portrait "Alter Ego" (Figure 9) to create an unusual and somewhat startling effect. I should note that Helwig did use firescale in his camaieu pieces, but, with few exceptions, not much has been done with this combination since. The trick here is to keep the strength of the grisaille component from "getting lost" against the firescale background.

Next, what about unusual surfaces? Many enamelists use a matte finish, as well as underfired surfaces, in their pieces, but has anyone done this in grisaille? Not that I am aware of! Instead of the usual shiny surface, I acid-etched my "Vietnamese Woman" (Figure 10. page 45) to produce a smooth, velvety finish. I like the effect of this so much that I am currently working on a number of new pieces with this look (plus it is much easier to photograph!). Similarly, I created an underfired surface for "Rahmen Shop, Tokyo" (Figure 11, page 45) and am continuing to use this technique as well in some ongoing work. There is a little less contrast with this underfired finish, but the overall effect is fascinating and a completely different look from the grisaille that has been done in the past.

Three subsequent pieces were done in combination techniques. "Reflection of a Leaf" (Figure 12, page 45) combined grisaille, cloisonné, and basse-taille all in one small piece. As this is only a sample, there are myriad possibilities for combining grisaille within the confines of a purely cloisonné piece and also against basse-taille backdrops. Both these approaches (and I continue to work with these, too) deserve a lot more exploration, and could lead to totally new looks in grisaille and camaieu. Of course, the combination technique that I could not resist was that of grisaille with 'my first love and specialty,' champlevé. I was not sure if the mix of the two would be effective, but to my delight, "Found Objects" (Figure 13, front cover) turned out to be one of my favorite pieces. I also felt "Enigma" (Figure 14) was successful. Here, it is important to have a strong design in metal, but one that does not detract from the grisaille focus. Again, I am not aware of grisaille ever having been combined with champlevé, and I intend to continue to explore this avenue.

Finally, I tried two other experiments. One was simply adorning a copper tube "bead" (Figures 15 & 15a, back cover) from the hardware store with a grisaille design, adding some highlights with Thompson's white marker pen. Grisaille has often been done on three dimensional objects, such as bowls and chalices, candlesticks, etc, but a copper tube bead seemed quite contemporary. The other experiment, not entirely successful, was a kind of "reverse" grisaille (Figure 16, back cover) wherein layers of 350 mesh black were inlayed over a white background. There is some modulation, but a lot more experimenting needs to be done (although a Japanese student of mine did say it looked like a Japanese ink drawing…). In the case of this reverse grisaille, ideally one would strive to achieve form and contour, not just a sgrafitto effect.

And so, as you can see, there are so many ways to change the look of grisaille while still maintaining its identity. One can either work in the traditional technique, but create modern compositions. Or one can keep the traditional subject matter, but break with the conventional methods. Or change both subject matter and vary the technique. As I worked on these experiments, more and more ideas came to mind, and I hope to continue both with what I have tried already and with new possibilities that I have not yet put to the test. And ultimately that is what we enamelist/artists must do…continue to make objects/pictures/jewelry of beauty and significance, but also continue to break the rules, push the limits, and expand the horizons of this magnificent art.

Katharine Wood , co-creator of the PNP technique for etching for enamelists and jewelers (see GOM Vol. 15, No. 3; Vol. 20, No. 1), has been teaching for over 20 years in New York (92nd St Y) and in New Jersey (Newark Museum), as well as numerous workshops and residencies. She has exhibited extensively, both nationally and internationally.

By Katharine Wood [Volume 24, Number 2, April, 2005]

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