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Carolyn Williams....The Enamel Diva
My first interest in art was in the field of painting. As a grade schooler in Brooklyn N.Y., I spent a lot of time in my mother's studio where she taught me about paints and pastels, colors and composition, form and fantasy.
Being a 3-dimensional person by nature, I "graduated" to jewelry making. My father's hobby was gem faceting and casting silver and gold jewelry to hold the stones. On my 15th birthday, my father let me facet my first semi- precious stone and cast my first ring. Ever since that initial thrill, jewelry has been my passion.
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My first formal training in the jewelry arts was at the Glassel School of the Houston Museum of Fine Arts. I concentrated on silversmithing and stone setting, the skills I had learned from my father, years before.
I expanded my silversmithing skills at the Taos Art Institute in Taos New Mexico where I learned the Native American Indian and Santa Fe' jewelry styles.
Then to the Revere School in San Francisco to learn the skills and production techniques of commercial jewelers.
Despite extensive training and experience in fabricating silver and semi precious stone art objects, my soul craved something more. I wanted more color in my work. Not just patinas but clear, luscious, brilliant, everlasting colors that could only be obtained with melted glass.
My husband called me his little "Otter" because I was so attracted to bright, shiny colorful objects.
I tried my hand at torch firing glass into beads, pins, brooches and other gorgeous glass objects. I started a small business making fused glass picture frames that I sold at the Dallas Gift Mart and at upscale gift shops in Houston. I thought I found my niche, but as fate would have it, the major company in the U.S. that produced the raw glass, went out of business. Still, I knew I wanted to use molten colored glass in making jewelry.
It was back to the Glassel School to study under Jan Harrell, a dynamic, dedicated and patient mentor in enameling. Together we explored every phase of enameling from champlevé to grasaille, from scraffito to bas-taille, from plique-a-jour to cloisonné. Finally I found my niche. It was Cloisonné The art of outlining tiny cells with gold and silver wire and filling them with powdered colored glass. The pieces are then fired to melt the glass. Now my art was three dimensional, gem like and had a color palette of extraordinary range. My soul was now at peace.
Since focusing on Cloisonné, I've made it a point to study under the recognized masters of the art at such renowned workshops as the Mendocino Art School, the Glassel School, San Diego State University, the Revere School and The Enamelist Society Workshops in Toronto, Canada and Arrowmont, Tennessee.
In 1998, I moved to Chula Vista CA and became active in the local and regional enameling societies. The local San Diego enamelists operate a working / teaching retail shop in the Spanish Village Arts Center in Balboa Park. It is called Studio 5. Each member operates the shop for 1 day each month where we sell each other's work. I also have private students and teach at the Arts College International in downtown San Diego.
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