The use of separation enamel is not known to many enamellers. Yet, separation enamel offers many new possibilities in the field of enamelling.

Separation enamel is not really enamel: it does not consist of coloured glass, as ‘real’ enamels do. It would, perhaps be better to speak of ‘a substance which separates enamels’, but it is easier to speak of ‘separation enamel’ and better still: to leave the word ‘enamel’ for what it is and simply use the abbreviation SE-2.

But if it is not enamel, then what is it??

Separation enamel is a substance that, when painted on glass, affects the viscosity of the glass. When it is applied to an enamelled surface, and subsequently fired, the first thing that will catch your eye when the piece is removed from the kiln is an indentation in the enamel in those places to which the SE-2 was applied. If several layers of glass have been fired on top of each other, small amounts of the underlying colours will become visible in the indentations. If one applies the SE-2 in parallel lines or patterns, this result will be combined with a greater intensity of colour in places where no SE-2 was applied.

Each variation in the procedure of enamelling will have different results when the SE-2 has been applied and the piece has been fired. Variations may be of many kinds: for instance, the use of opaque or transparent enamels (or combinations of these) The thickness of the layers, too, will be of influence, as will be the firing time or temperature.