Gifts of ground glass

At the community centre, my favourite craft activity was enamelling. Choosing among the glistening copper blanks, selecting shapes to decorate with brightly coloured glaze. Dusting the metal with powdered silica, a sheet of paper sometimes held to create edges and simple patterns. Adding tiny rods or spheres of contrasting glass. Then delicately lifting the precarious collection of silica dust and shards and putting it into a small open kiln. The slightest shake as it was transferred would disturb the glass and the task would have to begin again.

I made a bracelet with oblong links, each glazed a deep orange-red that graded to a burnt sienna where the liquid glass had become superheated. The effect was unintentional but beautiful. Most of my efforts lacked coordination in their design, or the colours chosen were not complementary. But this bracelet was lovely. I wore it myself briefly, however my desire for adornment competed with seeking the attention of girls. So, I sacrificed my jewellery as a present for one of them. My interest in girls was precocious in more ways than one; my gift did not help me find requited love at age ten.