Hi Trish,

Dichroic paper can be applied to enamel much like metal foil. It can be cut with scissors, punched with decorative paper punches, or applied in in small squares. The dichroic coating is attached to card-stock paper which is soaked in water in

Hi Trish,

Dichroic paper can be applied to enamel much like metal foil. It can be cut with scissors, punched with decorative paper punches, or applied in in small squares. The dichroic coating is attached to card-stock paper which is soaked in water in order to remove the coating. The dichroic film will separate and can then be applied to the enamel. I used the brand 'Dichro Slide' which is a relatively thick Dichroic paper. I've tried other brands but they don't seem as well suited to enamel applications (they can be too thin and burn away to leave cloudy ash on the piece). I found it easier to apply the dichroic paper in small squares when I was decorating the phoenix cloisonné in this piece.

I'd recommend doing lots of test firings before using dichroic paper on a piece, because the interference colours of the paper may shift unpredictably when they're fired or when enamel is fired over top the fused dichroic coating. For example something that looks magenta/green before firing will look teal/blue after it's fused to the enamel. If the teal/blue fired dichroic paper is then coated with clear enamel it will become turquoise and lose a lot of the interesting directional colour shift.