Hello! My name is Amy Tavern and I am a studio jeweler.  I live and make my work at the Penland School of Crafts in North Carolina where I have been a resident artist since January 2009. Over the past three years I have done lots and lots of exploration of my medium, other materials, and process.

Bow Cluster Brooch with Tassel. Sterling, spray paint, cotton string.

The work I make primarily involves spray paint on sterling silver. I layer different colors and then once the paint is completely dry, I scratch the surface with files, a scribe, and heavy- grit emery paper. My use of spray paint comes from my love of graffiti, the scratching comes from my love of distressed surfaces and signs of age.

Leaf Crystal Brooch from Fabricated Memory: Jewelry Box, 1980. Sterling, spray paint.

Most recently I completed a large body of work for my first solo exhibition. The work was based on my personal history with jewelry. You can read my artist statement here and view the two collections here and here.

The front cover of my enameled book. Enamel, steel, book cloth.

Although not an enamelist per se, I have done some enameling and have wanted to focus more attention on it. During the summer I made an enameled book while Elizabeth was teaching a class here at Penland. Something went “wrong” during a firing of one of my steel pages, but Elizabeth suggested I look at it in another way. This “mistake” will be my starting point as I begin work for this exhibition.

My studio.

Thanks so much for reading.

Amy Tavern

featured in our first Heat Exchange exhibition in 2012.

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In Australia right now, you would expect some roaring summer temperatures. Not so! We are having the coolest summer ever I think. Fortunately I have been firing so my kiln is warming my studio very nicely.

I would like to tell you a little about an adventure I have been having over the last few years. I have been fortunate to make a delightful connection in Japan through contributing to some International Exhibitions there. In 2007 I received a grant from the Australia Council to go and study Japanese enamelling techniques with a gentleman who has become my mentor and dear friend. Mr Sakurai is now eighty eight years old and has worked for his company, the Ando Cloisonne Company, all his life. So you can see he has a depth and breadth of experience and understanding that is truly impressive.

I have been back to study with him three times since then and on each visit I have concentrated on a particular technique. In my practice, I wanted to be able to work on a larger scale. I completed a post graduate year of studies in 2006 where I worked on larger forms utilising low firing temperatures to create richly textured surfaces. The image below is from a grouping of work based on bushfires. As you know, we have plenty of fierce bushfires in Australia and after one event near my old house, I went out and photographed the ravaged areas over a few months. It is amazing to see the devestated blackened and ashen ground gradually give way to the tiny and delicate green and ruby shoots of new growth.

Now, my Japanese studies have allowed me to return to using cloissone and start exploring it on smaller vessels.

There were two techniques I studied at first; Yusen Shippo and Doro Shippo. Yusen Shippo is really the same as Cloisonne work (shippo being enamel). I have used Cloisonne for years, though now I was learning to apply the wires to a three-dimensional object. This was quite challenging and I learned many interesting tricks. The second technique, Doro Shippo, is actually about the enamel. That is, Doro is a primitive form of enamel that has a rather stone-like quality when fired. It is pretty finely ground, so when mixed with water, it’s quite like working with mud!

I have started working on two brooches using the Doro Shippo. As I have had quite a break from work while re-establishing my studio, it takes some time (and often some dud enamelling) before I get in the zone again. So, start small and work slowly. Don’t make assumptions!

Barbara Ryman

featured in our first Heat Exchange exhibition in 2012.

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