If anyone, in particular you Marion, are interested in enameling- I
wholeheartedly endorse, recommend, and urge (anyone) you to take
Patsy Croft’s plique a’jour class at Wildacres, Arrowmont, or John C.
Campbell Folk School…all in the Southern Highlands Arts Triangle
that includes E. TN, W. NCand N. GA and includes, in addition to the
above Penland (long term residencies and programmes are available
there) and the William Holland School (for lapidary classes only- i
have reservations about recommending this school for genres other
than lapidary and wirewrapping- if wirewrapping can be considered a
metalsmithing genre at all- and policy issues regarding their fee
structures) and a couple of newer smaller “schools” just beginning to
offer structured, organized classes at locations fully equipped to
teach what is offered… Patsy Croft is a modern master enamelist, a
goldsmith and a highly adaptive teacher (she flexes to the group’s
abilities) and pushes participants to pull the best they can produce
from within one’s creative consciousness and translate that to a
tangible object of adornment.
While I rarely make recommendations about teachers, Patsy Croft is
among the best working artisan goldsmiths at this time on the
chronological continuum of arts history. If you have the money to
take classes, consider any that Patsy offers as an investment in your
continuing education, and a resource for developing your repertoire
of techniques that warrants travelling to wherever she is teaching…
rer