Jeweler uses nature to rekindle ancient practice of enameling

By ROY LEWIS
A Brockville jewelry maker draws his inspiration from the designs of nature to create pieces of jewelry through the ancient technique of enameling.Although he has "dabbled" in the art form throughout most of his career, Christopher Palko started in earnest in the past year to create pieces of jewelry through the enameling process. Enameling involves heating powdered glass to fuse it to a metal surface. One of the most common applications of enameling in the home is a kitchen range."The melted glass creates the sharp shard when it is broken off by a blow to the surface of the stove," Palko says.
Palko uses a variation of the cloisonne type of enameling, the principal form of hand-crafted enamels named after the French word cloisonné, meaning "partitioned areas". In this process, small cells are created by soldering wire or thin strips of metal to a metal backing. Each cell is filled with a colour of frit (ground glass) and the piece is fired in a small kiln until the glass melts into the cell. The process is repeated until the fused enamel completely fills the cells. For his creations, Palko has modified the cloisonne process by applying a layer of clear ground glass to a metal backing. The glass is heated and Palko applies thin strips of metal that sink into the glass. He then adds layers of coloured glass to create the piece of jewellery.
The art of enameling has been practiced for centuries. The earliest known enameled artifacts of jewelry and small figurines were discovered around the Mediterranean Sea and date from the sixth century B.C.
Palko was introduced to the art and by extension jewelry making in general by his mother, HeIga, an enamelist who taught the craft for many years at Algonquin College in Ottawa. Raised in Ottawa, Palko studied jewelry making at Sheridan College of Arts and Design and later at George Brown College in Toronto. He was originally trained as a commercial or bench worker in the jewel-ry industry. After working for a time in the Maritimes, he returned to Ontario and settled in Brockville 13 years ago. Palko was familiar with the community since his parents, Michael and Helga, had operated a weekend hobby farm near Spencerville for many years. Palko now lives in Brockville with his wife, the former Carol Nicholson who had been a neighbour of his family's in Ottawa.
Palko's enameled pieces of jewelry consist of pendants, pins, earrings or broaches. By using different types of glass, he is able to achieve a multitude of colour variations that may be transparent or opaque. The designs, mounted in metal cells of sterling silver or 24-karat gold, may be accented with gold flakes or balls "floating" within the melted glass. Depending upon the design, a particular piece of enameled jewelry may take from a few hours to several days to create. Palko says there is also a certain amount of unpredictability with enameling. The glass sometimes gets stressed and may crack. Because of the very nature of the process, he is unable to exactly replicate a design so that each piece is unique. The intricacy of the work does not prove to be a distraction for Palko who sometimes uses a tiny, wet brush to pick up powdered glass like grains of sand to add them into the design. On sketch paper along his workbench, Palko has drawn numerous designs and variations to use as a guide to create his jewelry. But it is from "God's creations in nature" that he draws inspiration for the designs. Toting his digital camera, Palko photographs insects, flowers and other scenes in nature. From these photographs he creates his intricate designs.Palko will be among the artists featured in the upcoming 10th annual Art Colony of the 1000 Islands home and studio tour. With the theme, A Country Home Christmas, the studio tour will be held on Nov.24 and 25 and Dec. 1 and 2 .

Roy Lewis is a Brockville freelance writer on assign-ment for the EMC. 2001

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Christopher Palko Goldsmith-Designer
2004