Caroline Ingram
Enamel Artist

ARTIST STATEMENT:

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Caroline works with pre-formed copper bowls and copper sheet.  She fires each piece with wet process or ground enamels several times, to create dazzling effects, particularly when the piece is high fired.  She has an electric kiln which is heated to temperatures around 900 to 920 degrees.  Each piece will be fired to build up layers of colour.  On a copper bowl, the layers of enamel will slide over several firings and the colours may fuse to reveal further colour combinations, opalescence or golden colours.

 

Each piece has a unique visual and tactile quality, which Caroline exploits and enhances.  Some are experimental, incorporating both traditional and contemporary enamel techniques. All pieces are unique, some involving sifting many thin layers of enamel onto formed, copper shapes then high firing to produce an excitingly fluid, ambiguous explosion of colour and texture.

 
Inspiration is taken mainly from a collection of cards, postcards and photographs.  She is particularly inspired by landscapes and seascapes, whether this is stormy seas, or sea birds.  She has been commissioned to make panel pictures of garden and other tropical birds.  The natural world provides so much inspiration for us, if we have the time to stand and stare at it.  The uncontrollable forces of the sea, reveals layer upon layer of exciting textures, colour and detail.

 

 She tends to work spontaneously, allowing the piece to develop from an initial design, then experimenting with layers of enamel, liquid and powder, adding and subtracting to produce a handmade, vibrant piece of art.

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