Workshops in Watsonville, CA (April 2019)
Join me at the Creator Haven Jewelry Studio
for five days of learning and fun.

Week 2: Cloisonne´with Creativity, Design, and Self-Expression
April 15-19 (Monday-Friday)

Enameling Skills are really not that difficult once you understand some of the basic enameling principles. Using a sifter or paintbrush, and placing a screen into a hot kiln are not very hard to do. Working with tweezers to bend thin wires can be more challenging, but with practice most students develop these skills too. When you know how perform basic preparation, application, and firing tasks, the burning question often becomes "What do I do with what I know?".

A trip to the beach!
We will begin the workshop, weather permitting, with a trip to nearby Sunset Beach. There we will walk, observe, and pay attention to how we respond to what we see. The imagery from our trip can be used as inspiration during the week. We can also design from photographs and from personal artwork in other media. Though the beach is inspiring to many, you may have other images which inspire you!

We will review basic principles and skills to  help fill any technical gaps you may have. The emphasis of this workshop will be on using your enameling "know-how" to create personal enamel imagery. You will learn to "de-construct" an image and break it down into a collection of design elements. Next, you will explore how to make these design elements, your lines, shapes, values, colors, and patterns, with enamel. Finally, you will begin a "series" to help learn how combine your new enamel design elements as you create meaningful and creative enamels.

Images from Sunset Beach

I'm inspired by landscapes because of their sense of depth and the different types of light present. I can look out upon a landscape scene, whether it's in the mountains, a beach, a pasture, or even simply a walk through a garden, and sense the layers created by the distance and light. This imagery is a wonderful challenge to re-create in enamel. Attempting to take an image which may stretch out in front of you for miles and capture it's essence in a one inch diameter disc can feel overwhelming. We can use the depth

For the past two years, I've tried to make time each day after class to walk along the shore at nearby Sunset Beach.
I love to listen to the waves, watch the light bounce off the water, observe the colors in the clouds, watch the variety of birds dancing at the edge of the water, and look for interesting textures in the sand. It's a wealth of visual inspiration and I've taken hundreds of photos as I've walked. Here are a few.

We will ask ourselves lots of questions as we observe, design, and create.

• What do I care about and why?
• What do I see which causes me to respond emotionally?
• How can I de-construct what I see into basic design elements like lines, shapes, values, colors, and patterns?
• What would be some possible ways to translate this visual imagery into enamel elements?
• What are the results when I create my new enamel design vocabulary?
• How use my new enamel vocabulary to create new and personal enamel imagery?