CV
2013 - 2017 Resident at Ruskin Glass Centre, making & selling, running enamel courses
2010 - Present Set up Design and Enamelling Business, ‘Carol Griffin Enamels’
2009 - Present Enamel Workshops at: Cheltenham Art Gallery & Museum
New Brewery Arts, Cirencester
Black Country Living Museum
Bilston Craft Gallery
Secondary Schools
Guild of Enamellers Conference & Region Meetings
Mid Wales Arts Centre
Private Groups & Own studio
2009 Sept Organiser, Large Scale Enamel Panel Workshop, at AJ Wells, Isle of Wight
2006 - 2009 Chairmanship, The Guild of Enamellers UK
2011 - 2013 Guild of Enamellers Bursary Secretary
2003 - 2011 Guild of Enamellers Region 4 Rep
1981 - 2010 Design Technology Teacher , Secondary Schools, Wolverhampton (Full & Part time)
EDUCATION:
OCR NVQ Level 2 IT Course 2009
City & Guilds Enamelling on Copper 2003
PGCE Birmingham 1981
BA (Hons) 3D Design (Specialising in Jewellery & Silversmithing) 1980
MEMBERSHIPS
Guild of Enamellers
British Society of Enamellers
Bead Society of Gt Britain
EXHIBITIONS
2017
BSOE touring Exhibition 'Enamoured'
Goldsmiths London, Birmingham, Sheffield,
Mid Wales Arts Centre
2015
Ruskin Glass Centre, Stourbridge Ruskin Collective - Tenant Exhibitions
2014
Ruskin Glass Centre, Stourbridge Black Country Echoes - Echoes of Glass exhibition
Bilston Craft Gallery, Bilston 'All Fired Up' Guild of Enamellers, Region 4
78 Derngate, Northampton BSOE exhibition
Bilston Craft Gallery 'Beside the Sea'
2013
School of Jewellery, Birmingham Heart of the Heat BSOE & Guild exhib.
The Heritage Centre, Macclesfield The Button Project
York Theatre Royal, York Contemporary Enamel Works, BSOE
2012
Dial Glass Works, Plowden & Thompson, Stourbridge International Glass Festival, Gallery 90 in the Store
2011
Bilston Craft Gallery & Museum Craftsense 2011-2012
Oxfordshire Museum, Woodstock 'The Heat is On', BSOE
West Ox Arts Gallery, Bampton, Oxfordshire Guest exhibitor with Oxford Sculpture Group
Museum voor Vlakglass-en Emaillkunst, Netherlands Guild of Enamellers Exhibition
Broadfield House Glass Museum, West Midlands ‘Beside the Seaside’
2010
Dial Glass Works, Plowden & Thompson, Stourbridge International Glass Festival, Gallery 90 in the Store
2007
Broadfield House Glass Museum, West Midlands 'Gifted Show'
2006
Trackside Gallery, London 'The Art of Enamel' British Society of Enamellers
2005
The Museum of Contemporary Enamel, Salou, Spain BSOE Invited Guests 6th International Exhibition
2002
Sutton College, London ‘Process’ BSOE Exhibition
1984 – 87
County Museum Shugborough,
& Birmingham City Museum & Art Gallery 'Body Dazzlers' West Midlands Arts
PUBLICATIONS
Craft&design magazine article 2013
Bead Society of Gt Britain magazine article 2011
British Society of Enamellers Magazine, article by Pat Johnson 2006 Summer
ARTIST STATEMENT
Carol Griffin Enamels www.carolgriffinenamels.com carol@carolgriffinenamels.com
I work mainly with sheet copper and vitreous enamel to create individually designed and made, wall panels, bowls, jewellery and 3D pieces.
Each piece has a unique visual and tactile quality, which I exploit and enhance, sometimes with the addition of a textured pewter setting, or the addition of frits or an embossed copper base. Some are experimental, incorporating both traditional and contemporary enamel techniques. All pieces are one-offs, some involving sifting many thin layers of enamel onto formed, often irregular copper shapes then high firing to produce an excitingly fluid, ambiguous explosion of colour and texture, only possible due to the interaction of the copper oxides with certain enamels at high temperatures.
Inspiration is taken mainly from my photographs, landscapes and seascapes, from telephoto to macro, often including decay and erosion, from skeletonised leaves to flakes of rusty metal and flaking paint on a worn door. The uncontrollable result of decay, over days or months or years, reveals layer upon layer of exciting textures, colour and detail, which becomes the focal point of some of my enamels.
I tend to work spontaneously, by manipulating the soft malleable copper into a variety of shapes and forms using presses and a range of paper & silversmithing tools, then experimenting with layers of enamel, liquid and powder, adding and subtracting to produce a handmade, vibrant, unique piece of art work.