Customer Reviews

500 Enameled Objects: A Celebration of Color on Metal (500 Series)

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

My wife and I jewelers by trade and she does a lot of enamelling. We have many of the Lark jewelry books and find them inspirational. I did not hesitate to buy this one sight unseen.

NEVER AGAIN!

Should have been called "10 Great Enamels, 10 OK ones, and 6 that weren't bad, followed by 474 pictures of absolute trash."

Worst Lark book printed in this "500" series. I really question the dubious taste and experience of the person that put this book together. If they had no choice but to publish these pieces because that is all the photos they received, the book should never have been published.

Please don't waste your money on this book, just go buy something else in this series. Don't buy this book because you think,"I should give it a chance, no matter what the reviewers say." I looked through it, my wife looked through it and we debated whether or not to just toss it in the trash afterwards, because we will never look at it again. It just made us sad to think that this is the state of modern enamelling.

After reading the three 5-star reviews, I'd say neither of the first two actually looked at this book or know anything about jewelry and apparently the other person rated it incorrectly. It's a shame that those reviews are the ones you see posted first.

This Lark publication marks a nadir for the 500 series.
It should have been titled: "A Dozen Enameled Objects & 488 As Found In Local Landfills".
Many books of enameling/enamelling technique have a far superior sampling of this art form.

This is a lovely coffee-table book for all who appreciate interesting jewelry and enameling. Bought it for my mom for mother's day, and she loved it.

I was completely unprepared for the wonders I discovered in this remarkable book, 500 ENAMELED OBJECTS, A Celebration of Color on Metal.

It was as if I had been freed from a time capsule into the modern age of enamel, and the potential which it offers now, as an art medium, in this present day.

Three hundred artists participated in this book. As Juror Sarah Perkins explains in her introduction, many artists who are good with enamel are not as good at metal work. Conversely, there are metal smiths who are not as adept at enameling. To find the perfect balance is one of the keys of great enameled metal pieces. I believe this book, which mostly focuses on jewelry and adornments (some wearable, some more as artistic statements ) but which contains many objects as well, is the perfect place to begin one's understanding of what makes enameling so special as an art form.

I found some of the pieces to be stunning, grand and heartbreaking all at the same time. One example of that type was Kim Eric Lilot's "Endangered Species Carousel", a commentary upon the imminent loss of some of our most precious animals, in bracelet form. The piece is made in 18-karat white and green gold, with Burmese ruby cabochons and fired enamel. That it is totally beautiful and rich looking emphasizes and reflects the major loss which could take place if these spectacular animals disappear from our planet.

Another of these pieces was made by Wendy Yothers. Titled "A Pull Toy for a Czaravich", it is made of sterling silver, enamel, diamonds, hematite, and rubber O rings. It is fabricated, employs the use of cloisonne',and is raised and spun. This toy is in the form of a beautiful enamel egg, such as the ones which were favored by the Czar and Czarina of Russia at the turn of the century. The egg lies on its side, on wheels, with a beautiful chain and toggle bar with which to pull it. Inside, according to the artist, is "a fabricated silver chicken foot that can be unscrewed and installed on the round end of the outside of the egg, making it freestanding".
As I looked at this pull toy I could not help but remember the tragic story of Nicholas and Alexandra, and also their delight with the collection of enameled eggs which were made for them and their family by Faberge'.

I found other pieces to appeal to my organic side. Yi Chen's "Sea Creature #7" was created in 2008. It is made of copper and enamel and is torch fired and raised. It is a perfect study of a sea form; strange and definitively alive, existing seemingly specifically for its own reasons.

Another organic, yet more classically formal piece, to which I was drawn, was created by Kristin Mitsu Shiga. This is called "Evolve" and is a box. The artist employs copper, sterling silver, enamel and pearls. To understand it you have to see it, but it has been electroformed,
fabricated, sifted (a word I had to look up, which means the enamel pieces are placed in a sifter and shaken onto the metal in a manner which the artist chooses) wet packed, ground and sandblasted. This object resembles a chrysalis from outer space. It is in beautiful tones of green enamel and is gently ribbed, with a petite sterling clasp. When it is opened, white pearls of different sizes are revealed on one side of the top. They look like eggs. I think there is another clasp as well but the viewer doesn't get a look inside of that area of this strangely fascinating and a bit disturbing box.



I wish to mention that there are people who work with enamel who go way back in time, as well some who travel way forward in concept.

One artist who made a set which reminded me of my visits to the Metropolitan Museum of Art is Mary Heller. Her necklace and pendant are called "Ancient Rhythms" and they are absolutely grand. The color and detail on each plaque of the necklace is exquisite and the matching pendant is worthy of a queen. This finely worked, intricate set has a bounty of 22-karat gold, 24-karat gold, enamel, fine silver, labradorite, jasper, and tourmaline. Ms. Heller employed cloisonne' and hand fabricated the set. It is also granulated, fused and bezel set. I could just picture this necklace and pendant being worn by the ruler of an ancient civilization. Or maybe by me. Hey, it could happen!



As an example of a time traveller who demonstrated a love of enamel and metal purely for their own sake, I particularly noted and liked Jim Norton's "Sputnik Structure". It is a white object with a lot of dimensions and edges. I had to study it for quite a while to take in all its dimensions and structural aspects. It is made of copper and enamel, and was dipped and then kiln-fired. As the artist explains, " ...The enamel couldn't take shape without the metal as support,
and the metal wouldn't remain an object without the introduction of the enamel". I thought that was wonderful minimalistic thinking, and the piece is very fine to look at.



This book, 500 ENAMELED OBJECTS, A Celebration of Color on Metal, is a true treasure chest illustrating the contemporary enameling scene. I do not believe there is another book out there which can hold a candle to this beautiful collection of remarkable, varied, dazzling objects and jewelry. If you get this book, you will learn a lot . You will be amazed at what artists can conceive of and create, and you will fall in love with the fantastic process of enameling. I think Juror Sarah Perkins did an amazing job putting together this collection of pieces. There isn't a dull page in the whole book. You will choose your favorite pieces just as I have mentioned a few of mine!

I own all the other Lark Books 500 series that cover jewelry. As a jeweler, I have enjoyed all of them and found in their pages many sources of inspiration. This volume was a big disappointment. There is too much work that seems to be the result of pushing the medium as far as possible and thinking that just because it is edgy or extreme it is good or even worth looking at. (An electroformed banana peel with an enameled label! Give me a break!) There are some very skilled and truly artistic uses of enamel in the book, but they are lost in the plethora of wanna-be-art.

A great resource for jewelry makers and those interested in enameled objects. The photography is great as it show cases the pieces very well.

This exquisite photographic collection of enamel work, juried by Sarah Perkins, is striking in its range of artistic expression. In this diversity, the book presents consistent excellence and accomplishment, beauty, and inventive surprise.

This is another great book in the 500 series. I have collected all the books representing the jewelry field. As a collector of the jewelry arts I am distressed that so much of the work in this book lacks beauty. It would seem as if there is a group of artist/enamellists that find ugly to be the new in thing.
Do not get me wrong there are many beautiful works of art in this book but the thing I noticed the most was the lack of beauty in so much of the work. The right of each and every artist to make the decision to create what ever they want is true and valid. And while there may be a market for much of the work I hope this is just a stage society is going through that these artists are reflecting.
I do like having this book because it does reflect the authors' selection of contemporary enamel work. But my first thought after looking at all the work was, there is a lot of work that I find unattractive. I would not, for the majority of the work, buy them for myself. Since beauty is in the eye of the beholder, I am stating this as a personal observation and I am glad this book is in my library. I do recommend purchasing this book as an overview of current enamel work.