artisancornwall
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I live at the very tip of the far west of Cornwall – just before the land falls away into the Celtic Sea.  It’s an amazing wildly elemental place that fosters creativity and opens the mind to an array of design interpretations.

I work with enamel resin powders which I sift onto copper panels and then fuse with heat to create framed abstract images, and enamel jewellery.   I started with the earrings, which I still love to do, but very quickly my instinct for producing work for the wall (I was a professional photographer and printer for years) led me to push my enamelling skills to create more ambitious larger scale pieces of art.

By hand-mixing enamel resin powders, I create unique colours, tones and hues (great concept but hard to replicate when I hit upon something good!) and I often incorporate raw metallic pigments to enhance the textural qualities of the work, or occasionally leave areas of exposed metal  (protected by transparent enamel) to act as a contrast to the more complex colours of the image.
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My designs tend to fall into two categories – abstract sea and sky inspired images based on my surroundings and -  in complete contrast -  complex geometric elemental images that come from within, often influenced by the music I’m listening to at the time.   I always work with a background of music -  all kinds -  sometimes specifically chosen to reflect my mood but often  when I’m designing  I hit shuffle and go with wherever that takes me.

​Depending on the image, I either design and make hand cut guides to form the key shape elements, or I work freehand, sifting the enamel to craft the image and achieve the vision I have for it.  It’s a long process because each design is made up of layer upon layer (all individually applied and fired), and I use a range of transparent, opaque and translucent enamels to give the image greater depth and life.
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Fusion of the enamel to the copper goes through three distinct stages once heat is applied. Using a hand-held butane torch rather than a kiln for firing enables me to control the fusion process at each of the three firing stages to give me the texture and finish I want.

I currently work with three sizes of panel – the largest being 300 mm sq -  but I’m really interested in seeing just how far I can push the process to go even larger.  Watch this space!
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  • Home
  • Enamel Artwork
    • 15 x 15 cm Enamel Artwork
    • 30 x 30 cm Enamel Artwork
    • 45 x 45 cm Enamel Artwork
  • Enamel Earrings
  • Enamel Cards
  • Contact
  • About
  • In-Situ Room Sets