This event has been canceled.
Please check our calendar to see what other workshops we have to offer.
About the Workshop
Join BRAHM and artist Ilene Kay for a great introduction to enameling. Students will learn the steps to prepare copper for enameling and sifting techniques to create wonderful colors on metal. Sgraffito techniques will be utilized for this project, and each person will leave with a finished piece of jewelry.
About the Artist:
My jewelry is created from Argentium Silver, Gold, heat colored Titanium and Copper using traditional fabrication metalsmithing techniques. I am inspired by the natural world and each piece of my work has a unique story to tell. I deliberately arrange elements that appeal to the senses and emotions of the person who finally wears my jewelry. To a casual observer, my work would immediately convey a naturalistic nuance with an Asian infusion. My work has a Zen-like love of the natural world that makes me mindful of the beauty of the elements that surround us.
The creation of the story for each piece begins with my sketches of landscapes, trees, flowers, and water. Throughout the course of the day I often stop to sketch, or pick up a stone, a piece of bark just as I did as a young child when I would bring these treasures home. Now as an adult, when I start to design - I’ll look to these “treasures” for inspiration and try to convey the childlike awe and the beauty I see in them to others. I strive to remain open to the creative process and allow time for the design to develop. Often my sketches sit unused for many weeks until I am ready to develop them into working drawings.
I saw, texture, hammer, and form the metal with hand tools to create my Art Jewelry. The directness of forging metal in this manner makes each piece of my jewelry unique and my final creation becomes a piece of art. At this point the piece of jewelry’s story will become a part of the one’s life who will ultimately wear it.
I have been a member of the Southern Highland Craft Guild since 2019.
I am also a life member of the Argentium Guild and all of my jewelry is hallmarked with the winged unicorn, a hallmark of quality and excellence.
I am also part of the Blue Ridge Craft Trails and am thrilled to have my work be a part of this organization.