In principle, copper enameling consists of firing low-melting glass (enamel) on copper. The enamels are available in various colours in the form of powders, lumps, or threads. To melt the enamels and apply various designs, a kiln is an essential part of the work. While at the high temperature inside the kiln, all pieces are red. The true colours are shown only when the pieces are cooled. Scrolling was used most frequently and occasionally painting with the enamels finely ground and dispersed in lavender oil and application of stencils or silver foil were also executed. Scrolling means placing enamels of various sizes and colours, opaque or transparent, in lump form, on copper pieces, melting the enamels in the kiln and drawing a sharp steel tip at the end of a long handle through the molten lumps. The artisan must remember the layout of the pieces and then work in the kiln from memory.

As a chemical engineer and a research scientist, Miloš had various hobbies in addition to his job, where he studied the microstructure of milk products using electron microscopy. As a high school graduate, he would like to become a journalist, an indutrial artist, or a chemical engineer.

In the 70ties of the past century, Miloš took evening courses in copper enamelling and to the displeasure of his teacher, he started experimenting already in his second lesson. He was not willing to follow the elementary instructions and to waste large pieces of copper and large amounts of enamels by attempting to imitate his teacher's dishes. Firing enamels at various thickness of the powder at different kiln temperatures on small copper disks produced essential information. By the way, he was the only male student. When his female school mates asked their teacher why their pieces had colours badly altered compared to expectation or were totally spoiled, the teacher would explain that enameling is an art and by practising, the ladies will eventually improve their skills. Then these ladies asked Miloš for his opinion and he said that either there was not enough enamel on the copper piece or the temperature in the kiln was too high - or both. Would Miloš be willing to advise them how to make a nice pendant rather than a copy of the teacher's dish? (The teacher used to sell copper to his students, so the larger the pieces they bought, the better for him).

In principle, copper enameling consists of firing low-melting glass (enamel) on copper. The enamels are available in various colours in the form of powders, lumps, or threads. To melt the enamels and to apply various designs, a kiln is an essential part of the work. Dress jewellery, small dishes, and small wall hangings are all flat and, thus, may be produced in a kiln with a low firing space. Enameling kilns are smaller than kilns used in pottery.

While at the high temperature inside the kiln, all pieces are red hot. The true colours are shown only when the pieces are cooled. Scrolling was used most frequently and occasionally painting with the enamels finely ground and dispersed in lavender oil and application of stencils or silver foil were also executed. Scrolling means placing enamels of various sizes and colours, opaque or transparent, in lump form, on copper pieces sprinkled with enamel powder, melting the enamels in the kiln and drawing a sharp steel tip at the end of a long handle through the molten lumps. This procedure produces interesting swirls. The artisan must remember the layout of the pieces and then work in the kiln from memory.

Silver wire shaped in the form of rings may be carefully fired into a base enamel layer and the spaces inside the rings may be filled with opaque enamels of various colours. Copper wire variously bent may be fired into enamel for wall hangings and additional transparent enamels may further be layered, thus fixing the shiny copper wire in the lower layer enamels. Millefiori glass, which are small disks obtained by cutting a glass rod having an intricate internal structure, may be used to accent even the smallest pieces such as earrings. On the other hand, wall hangings or large dishes may be given an interesting design by placing a dried pressed plant, e.g., vetch, grass, or small flowers, wetted with lavender oil and sprinkled with enamel aside over a sheet of paper. Transferred onto an enamel layer on a dish and fired, the enamel from the dry plant forms an image which may be accented with opaque enamel lumps.

A silver foil fired onto enamel and then covered with clear enamel and/or lumps of transparent enamel makes very attractive pieces, particularly if the silver foil is first cut in the form of flowers, birds, fish etc. Firing the silver foil is very tricky because it is very thin and susceptible to burning. The temperature of the kiln must be such that the foil will get attached to the honey-thick enamel and may be burnished with a flat tool to shine. The next layer should consist of a low-melting enamel.

It is also possible to disperse enamel powders in low-concentration gum suspension and paint with these wetted powders on a base enamel as the picture in the right upper corner shows. To make pieces larger than those which could be fired in his kiln, Miloš made images composed of smaller pieces such as the owl in the left upper corner.

When there were no bookends available in retail stores which would be both small and sturdy, Miloš ordered 200 pieces of angle iron from a machine shop and his son Pavel laminated various veneers to their faces. He decorated them with various polished stones such as agate slabs whereas Miloš used enameled copper pieces for decoration (picture at right in the second row). The best pieces were exhibited publicly in glass cases and a critic assessed them as "flimsy looking bookends" apparently not knowing that they were made from steel (and are fully functional 20 years later). In spite of this negative criticism, bookends used to sell very quickly and very many pairs were send abroad as Christmas gifts. One summer at a craft market in a large hotel during an international professional meeting, Japanese visitors quickly bought the entire production within an afternoon. Their major question was what was the mass of the bookends: will they add another kilogram to their luggage? No, the mass was only a fraction of a kilogram.

The copper pieces which are removed from the kiln and cooled may not appear appealing because their edges are dark from oxidation scales. They need to be filed and polished. Dája prepared they for market presentation - and the booth by her and Miloš (left picture in the second row) utilized every square decimeter of the space rented from the market organizers. When this hobby was well mastered, it even appeared to be profitable.

What would Miloš and Dája say today, 20 years later? "It was a creative hobby and we wish to thank all our customers, particularly those "faithful" who would come every Christmas curious to make their gift selections from our new production. By buying, they provided us with money and emptied space in our workshop so we could continue endulging in this beautiful activity. We hope that our pieces brought the joy which we put into making them. We enjoyed serving our customers every pre-Christmas season and we liked talking to them and chatting with other fellow craftspeople".

Note: The edges of enameled copper pieces may be cleaned with fine steel wool - it will not damage the enamel. However, the enamel may crack if the piece falls on a stone floor or if a hard object hits it. The enameled surfaces may be washed with diluted household detergent and dried with a paper or cloth towel.