The creation of the vessels begins by sculpting the forms in polymer clay.

After they are hardened in an oven and sanded smooth, a two-part latex mold of the form is made.

Melted wax is poured into the mold, and left to cool.

To prepare the wax for electroforming, a thick copper wire and several thinner secondary wires are inserted.

The piece is coated with an electrically-conductive copper paint.

The painted wax is submerged in an electrically-charged acid bath and hooked up to a circuit with segments of sacrificial copper pipe and a power supply.

When the power is turned on, copper ions in the acid solution are attracted to the negatively-charged copper paint.

The form stays in the bath for around 30 hours, slowly building up a thick shell of copper around the wax.

After it comes out of the bath, the wires are clipped off.

A heat gun and butane torch are used to melt the wax, leaving a hollow copper shell approximately .8mm thick.

Rims and legs are fabricated out of silver sheets and wire, and soldered to the shell.

Since the enamel covers the entire surface, the vessel must be held aloft as the enamel melts to keep the enamel from sticking to the surface of the kiln.

Silver wires are threaded through holes in the vessel and soldered in place. The looped wires will be used to suspend the vessel from a frame in the kiln.

A base layer of enamel is applied to the inside and outside of the vessel.

The vessel goes into the kiln for the first time.

The temperature is set to 1450° F. The piece spends around 90 seconds in the heat.

After it cools, the sifting and melting are repeated to create an even base coat of glass.

Using sketchbook drawings as a reference, designs are drawn directly onto the vessel with a marker.

All the lines are then painted over with an oxide paint that can survive the heat of the kiln.

Thin strips of fine silver wire, about 1mm high by .05 mm thick, are bent into all the shapes following the drawn plans.

Since the vessels are curved, the wires must be bent in three dimensions so they fit snugly onto the surface of the glass.

Tweezers, pliers, round mandrels, and small scissors are used to form the wires.

Using the painted lines as a guide, the wires are attached to the vessel with a water-soluble glue.

The vessel returns to the kiln, where the glue burns off and the wires melt into the clear glass layer beneath.

Once all the wires are secured into the base layer of enamel, the colored enamel can be applied.

The enamel is sifted and washed, and applied to the glass quite wet—like a drippy sand castle—which helps it adhere to the vessel and flow into small areas between the wires.

A tiny spatula and paintbrush are used to place the enamel between the wires, and small squares of paper towels absorb the excess water.

The vessel returns to the kiln, where the first layer of colored glass melted down to about a third of its original volume.

The process of applying layers of crushed enamel and heating it in the kiln is repeated about twenty times, until the melted enamel is at the same level as the tops of the wires.

The complex forms create technical challenges during the enameling. The enamel and copper expand in the heat differently, which can cause the enamel crack if it is applied to thickly or unevenly.

Grinding stones and diamond-grit pads are used to bring the enamel to a uniform level.

After a first pass grinding down the enamel, low points are filled, small bubbles are drilled out, the hanging wires are clipped, and the vessel re-fired until the entire surface is smooth and level.

Polishing the vessel with successively finer diamond pads and sandpaper creates a smooth, glowing surface.

The silver legs and rims are cleaned and polished using files and sandpaper.

The final step is a coat of wax to bring out the color of the enamel.