{"id":1361,"date":"2014-02-26T21:13:03","date_gmt":"2014-02-26T21:13:03","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/userblogs.ganoksin.com\/metalwerx\/?p=1361"},"modified":"2014-02-26T22:19:19","modified_gmt":"2014-02-26T22:19:19","slug":"angela-gerhard-deep-color","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/userblogs.ganoksin.com\/metalwerx\/2014\/02\/26\/angela-gerhard-deep-color\/","title":{"rendered":"Angela Gerhard: Out of the Deep and into Color"},"content":{"rendered":"

The award-winning enamel artist Angela Gerhard<\/a> was an experienced scuba diver by the time she plunged into the waters off Grand Cayman Island. But it wasn\u2019t until she dove at night, flashlight in hand, that she saw the undersea world come to life. At one hundred feet below sea level, Angela and her dive partners turned on the lights. \u201cIt blew my mind that the reef was so incredibly, vibrantly colorful,\u201d she said. \u201cIt was like in The Wizard of Oz when Dorothy woke up in a technicolor\u00a0dreamland. It was such a brilliant contrast to what that same reef looked like earlier in the day\u00a0. During the day, at those depths, things look mostly blue and green unless you shine artificial light on them. To my surprise the reef was full of oranges, reds, and bubble-gum pink\u2014not to mention what a stunning hive of activity it was at night.\u201d<\/p>\n

She\u2019s come a long way from the humid climes of the Yucatan Peninsula and tropical flora of the Caribbean.\u00a0 Always sensitive to and inspired by her surrounding environment, the Southbridge native now finds inspiration on walks with her dog around her neighborhood in Holyoke. Photographs of chipped paint, rusted implements, old signs, and other objects she finds in the old factory mill town give way to abstract compositions as she plays on her computer with shadow, line, color saturation, and other editing features.<\/p>\n

On left, Gerhard’s original photo of paint peeling off rusted metal, and on right, how she captured it in enamel.<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

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\u201cIt\u2019s my version of sketching. It can be more challenging to see what is beautiful in an environment like this, because you really have to look for it at times. It\u2019s not beating you over the head the way that being underwater and looking at reef life does. It\u2019s given me a more critical eye,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

Angela will teach \u201cTexture, Color, and Surface for Enamel<\/a>\u201d at Metalwerx March 28-30. In the class, she promises students will learn the \u201cfun of enameling if they\u2019re willing to experiment and take an \u2018I wonder what if\u2026’ approach.\u201d Recognized as a master of the sgraffito process, Angela will show how layering liquid and powders and using a variety of tools can create designs with varying depth and contrast. With this technique, \u201cYou can create very exacting, detailed work or very loose, expressive work,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

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Gerhard’s Gradient Necklace<\/strong>, left, and Totem Pendants<\/strong>, right.<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

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Other skills covered in the workshop include forming, embossing, and abrading metal to create texture, and using color in a piece to the greatest effect. Angela says the class is suited for those with little to no experience with enameling, but it helps if you are at least familiar with the process and have basic metalsmithing skills.\u00a0 She recommends to all her students that they purchase and devour \u201cThe Art of Enameling<\/em>\u201d by Linda Darty<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Angela took up jewelry making in 2006 after taking introductory classes in enameling and metalsmithing. She struck out on her own, but learned a lot of lessons \u201cthe hard\u2014and expensive\u2014way from being stubborn and doing everything myself.\u201d Networking, interning, apprenticing, and asking lots of questions are critical to an artist\u2019s development, she said. \u201cPart of taking yourself seriously as a business means learning \u2018business\u2019.\u201d\u00a0 Important things that will pay off include writing a business plan, finding a mentor, and learning bookkeeping software, she added.<\/p>\n

Her color-drenched pendants, earrings, and bracelets resonate with images suggestive of nature and bold but simple geometric shapes. Her pieces begin in the hydraulic press, and\u00a0are cut or sawn by hand, while others are stamped out with a die. She no longer goes to as many shows as she once did, freeing her up to make every piece of jewelry herself, and as of last April, to begin teaching.<\/p>\n

\u201cI had many requests to teach before that but was a bit nervous about it! I\u2019m so glad that I took the plunge,\u201d she said. \u201cLike many teachers say, I learn so much from my students, and it keeps me motivated and inspired to do work in the studio. I get lots of great new ideas and insights from students, which I believe in turn helps make me a better teacher.\u201d<\/p>\n

To sign up for the workshop with Angela, please click here<\/a> or call Metalwerx at 781-891-3854.<\/p>\n

–by Yleana Martinez<\/p>\n

Linda Darty will teach “Painting with Enamel<\/a>” at Metalwerx, July 30-Aug. 3, as part of our Summer with the Masters Series. <\/a><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"