How one student "thought" about and used what she was learning.

One of my students, Sherri Bloomer, gave me a wonderful description of how she  applied the different workshop exercises. I had never seen anyone use what I had shown them so systematically to create and use new enamel color vocabulary!

Student Testimonials

"Ricky Frank's online enameling class was a complete eye-opener for me!  As a self-taught beginner enamelist, I was completely unprepared for the enormous amount of information that was presented in an easy to follow, unpretentious, and collaborative approach.  

By the end of this short four week class, my enameling skills have improved tremendously, and my understanding of why things go wrong, and how to go about fixing them is also much deeper.

And what made the class even more special was that Ricky presented a lot of information designed to empower us to move forward on our own, not just as artists and enamelists, but even as human beings, as we addressed the inner turmoil that every artist seems to face on this our creative journey."
-VILINA HUTTER

"Ricky Frank is one of the best instructors I have ever experienced. First, he is a master at his art, both in design and execution. In addition, he excels at a talent few artists have...a systematic approach to teaching the process of enameling that advances both the novice and the expert. He's always "pushing the edges" of his knowledge and in so doing, helps us develop our thought process as artists, not just our technical skills.
It's a joy to spend time in his studio and I recommend him highly for students of all levels."  
-PATRICIA WHEELER

"It is easy to trust Ricky as a teacher when you look at his work. Before taking this class I was impressed with his generous sharing of knowledge on line. Then to assure his class development was the best it could be, he invited our feedback along the way. He encouraged us to rethink what we thought we knew about enameling and about ourselves as artists. The class took us back to elements of design, use of photo references, sketchbooks, and just playing with the enamel for inspiration. Ricky gave us prompts to move through the new information and find answers on our own. Along the way the class was full of tips, tools, techniques, and clear videos. We could work at our own pace and share the outcomes and our answers with classmates. It truly was a comprehensive intro to enameling and I am more than pleased with the knowledge I received."
-PEGGY HOSTETTER

"I got involved in enameling because of Ricky Frank. What's different about Ricky is not just that he's a remarkable artist, craftsman and teacher.  It's his generous openness and willingness  to share his knowledge, his tricks, his discoveries, his sources, his insights, himself.  He doesn't hold back.  He gives.  He demonstrates and while he's doing it he points out things that are subtle, like "Notice how I'm holding my hands.  That's so that...".  Then he talks about variations on the idea/skill.  Then he talks about not about "being there," but how to get there.  He talks about the process of learning, the process of mastery, the process of letting the artist inside you "emerge."  

He's a mentor of the best kind.  He teaches, but isn't pedantic about it.  His approach is  "Here's what I know, what I do and how I do it, but it was a process for me and it'll be a process for you."  He teaches you how to answer your own questions.  Every lesson isn't just instructional, it's inspiring, liberating and empowering.  I'm an engineer, not an artist, and, being me, I started out looking for answers, knowledge, details, details, how-to, how-to.  Ricky has given me mountains of that, but probably the most valuable thing I've gained is that now when I sit down at my bench I'm not worried about producing something "good," or the value of my time or the value of my materials or whether I'm meeting some goal.  I can zone in on the process, the miraculous properties of water, the beauty of light, the way colors work together.  I'm OK.  I'm free.  
        I'm in the process of becoming an enamelist and Ricky brilliantly enables that process. "
-TRISH MORMAN

Read a student's detailed description of what she learned in a 5 day workshop with Ricky

Marianne Goodell


From the second I saw my first enamel, I knew I wanted to create wearable art using enamels by either painting, making pieces similar to Kimberly Keyworth’s with geometric opaques and how to create deep reflective jewel-like cabachons.  I could never figure out how to achieve Kimberly’s look, so to be honest I gave up.  And, for the jewel-like look, I did my best, but unfortunately my pieces always felt a little flat.  Ricky calls the space between your current knowledge/skillset and desired knowledge a gap.  This was my gap.

After taking a week long cloisonné class with Ricky, my gap was dramatically reduced.  I learned how to achieve various effects using enamel.  Here’s the breakdown of things I didn’t know that now are part of my enameling vocabulary.

General technical tips:

How to prep metal quickly:  anneal, dome, apply first layer, re-dome any warpage, apply counter enamel, apply Scalex to then fire on fiber cloths in subsequent firings
How to flash silver for high reflectivity
How to prepare cloisonné wire for use (annealing it)
How and when to use Blustick and Klyrfire
How to reshape a piece that gets distorted
How to create foil using a rolling mill
How to fuse Argentium to create cells for enameling or as a setting for a finished piece
How to prep lump enamel by grinding it with a mortar and pestle
How to fuse fine silver wire to create a bezel

Reflectivity:

Foils vs. leaf - their properties and where to lay them to get reflections and to compensate for the thinness
How to fuse foil to enamel
How to lay down foil for transitions and reflectivity
When to use flux to account for chemical reactions
To lay down wire flat for a reflective effect
To lay down textured foil for a different effect

Grain size:

Color depth (large grain size)
Gradation (smaller vs larger) and when to use which size
When not to use a dark layer as a first layer (if you don’t want it to be too dark at the end)

Opaque effects:

Shading and layering with transparents by alternating or blending into one another
Use a burr to create cut into several layers of enamel and fill that space with another color (the Kimberly Wentworth effect)
Laying down opalescent enamels over sections to create a cloudy, dreamy effect
Using lump chunks for effect
Using glass beads for effect and how to fill the glass bead center hole

Design elements:

How to use simple lines to create a statement
How to use bits of foil to add an effect in part of a piece
How to add opalescent enamels in sections as well as how to fire them not to burn them
How to add opaque enamels in segments

Finishing:

Once the colors are how you like them, how to use flux to fill the cells to the top of the wire
Using various tools to grind and polish the piece
Reasons for grinding and levels of polishing (deciding on when to leave the finished piece with a matte finish, a shiny finish, or a glossy finish)
Setting an enamel into a bezel

There were 11 of us in the class with experience ranging from none to highly advanced.  Ricky was able to meet each person at their own level, give them just the right amount of information to increase their enameling knowledge while challenging them without overwhelming them.  By the end of the week, I believe each person left with a feeling of success.