News & Blog
Featured stories, resources for the enameling community, and the latest from CEA
Kat Cole Enamels Her Work at KVO Industries, Part 1
This is the sixth in a series of guest posts by the enamel artist Kat Cole. This post previously appeared on her blog.
KVO is a small company running impressive facilities with incredible possibilities. They have made signage for the state and national park systems, large-scale outdoor images for cities and museums, and worked with artists to re-create images of their work in enamel for public projects.
Kat Cole Crates and Ships Steel Pieces to KVO Industries
This is the fifth in a series of guest posts by the enamel artist Kat Cole. This post previously appeared on her blog.
The more sculpture I make, the more I realize one of the biggest hurdles is shipping. It is not as easy as picking up a flat rate USPS priority box and making sure to insure it, which is usually simple and inexpensive when shipping jewelry and small objects. The logistics of transporting these three- to four-foot panels to and from California has been one of the more stressful components of this project.
Construction of Kat Cole's Piece Begins at KVO Industries
This is the fourth in a series of guest posts by the enamel artist Kat Cole. This post previously appeared on her blog.
As I prepared to build the pieces, I asked for assistance from the experts at KVO Industries about fabricating and their construction techniques. Just as in jewelry, the function of these panels have to be considered in the design phase.
Kat Cole: Making It Happen
This is the third in a series of guest posts by the enamel artist Kat Cole. This post previously appeared on her blog.
Now that I had found a location and community that could provide tools and support, I needed to find a way of funding this project. Last year, the City of Dallas Office of Cultural Affairs had begun a new micro-grant project for artists. To qualify, the project would need to be completed within the city and be of benefit of the community.
Looking Back to Look Forward
The Center for Enamel Art is not just a place to take workshops. It also provides opportunities to experience enameling in new and and even life-altering ways. For me, the Center’s bus tour of Fred Ball’s work in Sacramento was this kind of opportunity.
Kate Cole: Getting Started
This is the second in a series of guest posts by the enamel artist Kat Cole. The post was previously published on her blog.
I have made large enameled work previously, but I have always felt handicapped by the size of the kiln available. Scale and proportion decisions had to be made based on the interior dimensions of the kiln.
Kate Cole: Project Crossroads
This is the first in a series of blog posts by the enamel artist Kat Cole. Cole, who has been making distinctive enameled steel jewelry, met Center for Enamel Art founder Judy Stone last year when Cole taught a Radical Enameling workshop for the Center. Stone encouraged Cole to explore the expanded use of industrial materials in her work, and connected her to KVO Industries, a partner of the Center for Enamel Art, where Cole created a large sculptural piece. Cole’s posts, which she is also sharing on her own blog, give insight into her practice and process as she brings a new scale to her work.
Art and the Enamel Industry w/ Kat Cole
We are thrilled to introduce a series of guest posts by the enamel artist Kat Cole.
Today the term “Enameling” is generally used to mean small, intensively crafted, jewel-like work, set into wearable or functional objects. But in the not-so-distant past, enamelists commonly worked much larger, on art pieces the size of a painter’s oversized canvas.
How Now Fred Ball?
Recently, I have been wondering about the legacy of one the most important American enamelists of the 20th century, Fred Uhl Ball (1945-1985). I never met him, though he lived, worked and taught in Sacramento, CA, about an hour from my home, and frequented the supply store in San Francisco where I bought my enamels. But even in absentia, Ball was a mentor to me. His book, Experimental Techniques in Enameling (1972), came out the same year I began enameling professionally, and formed the basis of my journey into enameling.
Open Call for Articles
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