Tab Construction and Folding Techniques for Enamel Forms
Are you a fan of vintage tin toys? Do you long for connections and joints that provide textural and design interest? If so, this course is for you! Our focus will be to expand your volumetric capabilities by learning the tricks and the trade of tab construction, and to understand the requirements of enameling tab-constructed forms. Tabs are a light-hearted, yet terrifically sturdy method of holding together 3-dimensional forms – without the need for solder! They are full of decorative and textural potential and particularly well-suited to enameling applications. We will combine tab construction with a “pierced fold” technique that enables rapid creation of three-dimensional structures. Additionally, we will learn to create sturdy connections with tabs, slots, notches, etc., that allow for the easy assembly and disassembly of enameled components. Basic metalsmithing skills (sawing, piercing, filing, sanding) are desirable so you can “hit the ground running” in this workshop. We will work in thin copper sheet, with an emphasis on the construction of samples and finished forms that participants may later enamel.
NOTE: Enarmeling is not part of this workshop.
Nisa Blackmon
Nisa Blackmon is a vigorous hybrid of artist and biologist, with degrees in both fields. She has been a practicing metalsmith since 1992, showing her work both regionally and nationally and teaching metalsmithing and jewelry classes at the college and community level. Her areas of interest and research include the collecting culture of natural history museums, the power of souvenirs and the puzzle of tourism, and the mediation of scientific instruments between ”knowers” and knowledge. Her attraction to the process of enameling lies in its transformative power and the rich potential for color. She loves the challenge of problem solving inherent in the construction and enameling of three – dimensional forms, and what happens at the edges of things. Nisa teaches biology at Illinois Wesleyan University and maintains a studio practice in her home. She is working on a series of sculptural microscopes and is looking forward to collaborating with her scientific colleagues on a body of work about the hand and the instrument.