News & Blog
Featured stories, resources for the enameling community, and the latest from CEA
"There and Not There:" The Enamel Art of René Roberts
René Roberts, recently featured in our exhibit with the Richmond Art Center, shares some of the technical and creative challenges of creating this series—and her beautiful solutions.
The Nature of a Place: Harlan Butt's Enameled Vessels
Since 2003, enamelist and metalsmith Harlan Butt has been at work on a series of enameled vessels based on our national parks. On vessels he forms himself, he uses traditional techniques to create imagery and text that he develops during extended wilderness stays.
Expanding Our Space, Expanding Our Reach. You Can Help!
As we announced just before New Year’s, we have been offered a wonderful opportunity: our own space for large-scale enameling in a new facility that KVO Industries has acquired in Santa Rosa, CA.
Our workshops are back for another terrific year! REGISTER NOW
Registration is now open for our 2018 workshop season–join us! Master traditional skills or push the limits of new ones in friendly, small-group classes taught by top educators and artists. Choose from our Radical Enameling series or our NEW Masters Series!
Surface, Color, Form: We Talk With Kathryn Osgood About Her Boundary-Pushing Work
Kathryn Osgood worked as an engineer for a small, family-owned telephone company in rural Maine for almost 20 years before starting a second life as an artist, jeweler, and enamelist. After studying with Linda Darty and Bob Ebendorf at East Carolina University, she moved to the Outer Banks of North Carolina, where she heads the Professional Crafts Jewelry Program at College of The Albemarle in Manteo.
Harold Balazs, True Artist, True Friend
With the death of Harold Balazs, a wonderful enamel artist who worked beautifully in many media, the art and craft community has lost not only a tremendous talent but a true friend. Balazs passed away on December 30, 2017, at the age of 89.
Be a Part of Our Blog! Share Ideas and Work, Strengthen Our Community
As you know, enamel artists are an inventive, passionate, determined bunch. We have to be, to pursue this medium that is technically demanding, that sometimes feels overlooked and obscure, but which has tremendous power. And we thrive on community–the community of classrooms, shared studios, craft fairs, and online.
As the online enameling community grows, and people seek out fresh imagery, old secrets, and new opportunities, we are excited to be part of that growth by expanding the scope and reach of our blog.
The New Aesthetics of Enamel
Quick: If I told you I’d bought an enameled pendant, what would come to mind? Something clumpy and heavy, with garish colors? Maybe a small, jewel-toned piece, carefully polished?
T Mag Redeems Itself, Mentions Melting Point of Enamel
Last week we posted about T Magazine’s lackluster treatment of enamel in their pages. So it was a pleasant surprise to see enamel featured again in the newest issue, in beautiful close-up — an enameled Verdura cuff set with stones, called the Ravenna (scroll to the bottom of their list).
Think Big, Really Big! Enameled Furniture Old and New
From the ’30s to the ’60s, large-scale enamel works like signage were common, and so were the industrial facilities that produced them. Artists like Edward Winter and John Puskas made oversized 2D works on steel, and some innovative designers like John Keal added sheets of enameled copper and steel to wood tables.