Enamel jewelry by Jamie Bennett at the Racine Art Museum

Jill Erickson — Mon, 22 Jun 2009 18:31:00 GMT

Has the sgraffito bracelet project in the July issue of Art Jewelry magazine piqued your interest in enamel? It's got some of AJ's forum participants talking about this colorful medium.

Currently, the Racine Art Museum in Wisconsin is featuring a retrospective exhibit of enamel jewelry by artist Jamie Bennett. Bennett is an internationally acclaimed artist and innovator in the world of contemporary jewelry and enamel. The exhibit, which runs until September 6, 2009, has an accompanying show catalog. So, even if you can't make it to the museum, you can check out Bennett's explorations with paint, pencil, and enamel by ordering a catalog from the museum gift shop.

Let us know what other types of enamel techniques you'd like to learn. Cheers ~ Jill

Small jewelry world! Finding inspiration and discovering connections

Addie Kidd — Fri, 13 Mar 2009 15:37:00 GMT

Oh, how exciting is this!

Cynthia Tinapple over at Polymer Clay Daily just posted about Bettina Welker's polymer work.
Bettina's polymer work was inspired by enamel bracelets made by Angela Gerhard.
Angela's enamel bracelets are going to be featured in our July 2009 issue – you can learn how to make one!

My fellow associate editor Jill is editing Angela's sgraffito enamel bracelet story even as I type. Check out this cool process photo from the article - in it Angela's cleaning up a finished panel of her enamel bracelet.

Isn't it wonderful when inspiration can jump across medium lines like that?! That's part of why I'm so happy that Art Jewelry has always been a multi-media jewelry-making magazine. We'll have polymer clay next to enamel, next to gold and silver, next to bronze metal clay, next to wirework. Whew!

I think it's even more amazing when artists give each other the credit that they all deserve. Sadly, too often ideas are "borrowed" without acknowledgment. But not in this case – Bettina's so excited about her source of inspiration that she even puts Angela's Flickr address in the captions of her photos. I think that her confidence must come from the fact that Bettina didn't copy Angela's work in the least. She saw something beautiful in Angela's work, and then used her own medium of choice to make that aesthetic look completely her own. Isn't art great??

So check out this little chain of inspiration connections, then look for Angela's sgraffito enamel project in our July 2009 issue. I hope you find inspiration from it to make beautiful artwork of your own.

Happy Friday,

~Addie~

Art Jewelry magazine Editors' Blog : sgraffito

Enamel jewelry by Jamie Bennett at the Racine Art Museum

Small jewelry world! Finding inspiration and discovering connections