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Enamel Exploration

Whether you've taken a one day workshop on enameling or have been working with the medium for years, this is the class for you!  Dedicate time each week to explore and deep dive into a plethora of technical processes or design and create the elaborate projects you have been dreaming of making.  Structured as an "open studio" concept for enameling, this weekly workshop's technical demonstrations will respond to participants' interests and needs; from transparent enamels, wet packing, painting overglazes & underglazes to liquid enamels, decal & imagery transfers, and various other enamel techniques like champleve and plique-a-jour.  There will be plenty of opportunities to discuss the work via group critiques and share discoveries that are made by breaking the "rules" of enameling.  There will be a great deal of one-on-one instruction with the instructor to help you achieve your visions in enamel.  Beginners are welcome, but basic knowledge of enamel is strongly encouraged.  As the saying goes, enameling takes a second to learn but a lifetime to master... this course will help you move along the "mastering" path. 

Meet the instructor

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Kelly Jean Conroy graduated with a BFA in Art Education and painting from Syracuse University in 2005 and a MFA in Jewelry Metals from the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth in 2013. She has taught metals and enameling at the Worcester Center for Crafts, and Jewelry I and II courses at UMass Dartmouth.  She currently teaches High School Metalsmithing at Lincoln Sudbury Regional High School in Sudbury, MA, as well as continuing education courses in Metals at Massachusetts College of Art and various classes at Metalwerx.

She works out of her studio in Holliston, MA and her art jewerly pieces focus on life cycles in nature and finding beauty in unique places. Her specialties are enameling, working with natural materials: carving bone, piercing mother of pearl, and casting.  She is included in Showcase 500 Rings by Lark Books, and is represented by Equinox Gallery in San Antonio, TX.  Her website is kellyjeanconroy.com and her wearable work can be found at tulipstokiss.etsy.com.  To see Kelly's process, please visit her blog tulipstokiss.tumblr.com

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Materials & Tools

There is a $30 materials fee for this workshop that is payable upon registration. The fee for this workshop includes shared use of all Metalwerx enameling supplies, including liquid and powder enamels, watercolors, foundational enameling materials, and other miscellaneous enameling materials necessary for this weekly workshop. 

Students should bring

Metalwerx has some of these materials for use and for sale, but recommends you bring your own if you have them and don't want to share:

  • Magazines to make your own disposable work surface for catching enamel dust
  • Sharpie marker is handy for labeling enamel containers 
  • A good dust mask such as 3M – 8233 recomended (rated N100)
  • Tracing paper/sketch book and colored pencils if you like using them for designing
  • Small scissors (like embroidery scissors)
  • Towel/apron
  • Plenty of your own copper or fine silver to enamel on
  • Personal file if you work on copper (for cleaning edges between firings)
  • Any other metal or enamel supplies you might already have and want to bring
 

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