The Society’s 5th Annual General Meeting was held at the Durham Light Infantry Museum and was followed by 4 workshops: Cloisonné Enamelling by Jane Short, Approaches to Enamelling on Copper Foil by Elizabeth Turrell, Champleve and Basse-taille by Phil Barnes and Enamelling on Steel by Edward Heath.
The Society also organised a month long exhibition of work by 24 members in the museum.
Anny Hooton and Alex Raphael were invited to participate in the annual enamel symposium of the Soviet Artists’ Union in Palanga, Lithuania.
ENAMELLING SYMPOSIUM PALANGA
‘Through winning a bursary from Goldsmiths’ Hall, I was able to realise my dream of visiting the USSR to work with the Soviet enamellers in their first international symposium at Palanga.
I travelled to the Soviet Union with Alex Raphael, who as also invited. We arrived in a cold and snowy Moscow and were greeted by our guides, Olga and Irina, who enquired, “Where are your hats?” It was time for the pink 'titfer'.
After a night in the Rossa Hotel, we were collected and put on the plane for Palanga, to travel without guides or translators. We were met at our destination by Indulis Urbans and Felix Kuznietsov, enamellers whom we had met in Limoges during the 1988 Bienale.
At Palanga the artists were housed in a special building for the arts, called the ‘Daile’, which consisted of a kiln room, metalwork room, conference area, plus over 100 individual or double bedroom/ateliers and a large dining room.
Our days were filled with meeting the other artists and looking at their work of two months, testing the Dulova enamels, experimenting with ‘technical’ (liquid) enamels – a new technique for me and producing a piece of work for the final exhibition, in my case a copper piece of champleve, for Alex a silver and gold cloisonné domed plaque.
The Soviet people place a strong accent on health and swimming was part of the programme. Indulis, the president of the enamelling group, arranged for us to visit the doctor for a blood pressure test, then off to the open-air swimming pool for an hour. The air was freezing cold, but the water (piped in from the Baltic) was hot. There were two pools, one hotter than the other, steam hung above one’s head like fog, but at night with soft light and Western rock music, waterfalls for massage and a long slide for fun, it was a wonderful and exhilarating experience.
The local people came to look at the final exhibition and took a great interest in our Western work. E met Madame Romanova, the head of the Soviet Artists’ Union, who came to review the work. Because modern Soviet enamels have only existed since 1982, the artists use great inventiveness with contemporary thought and political statement.’
©1989 Anny Hooton
Anny Hooton and Alex Raphael were invited to participate in the annual enamel symposium of the Soviet Artists’ Union in Palanga, Lithuania.
ENAMELLING SYMPOSIUM PALANGA
‘Through winning a bursary from Goldsmiths’ Hall, I was able to realise my dream of visiting the USSR to work with the Soviet enamellers in their first international symposium at Palanga.
I travelled to the Soviet Union with Alex Raphael, who as also invited. We arrived in a cold and snowy Moscow and were greeted by our guides, Olga and Irina, who enquired, “Where are your hats?” It was time for the pink 'titfer'.
After a night in the Rossa Hotel, we were collected and put on the plane for Palanga, to travel without guides or translators. We were met at our destination by Indulis Urbans and Felix Kuznietsov, enamellers whom we had met in Limoges during the 1988 Bienale.
At Palanga the artists were housed in a special building for the arts, called the ‘Daile’, which consisted of a kiln room, metalwork room, conference area, plus over 100 individual or double bedroom/ateliers and a large dining room.
Our days were filled with meeting the other artists and looking at their work of two months, testing the Dulova enamels, experimenting with ‘technical’ (liquid) enamels – a new technique for me and producing a piece of work for the final exhibition, in my case a copper piece of champleve, for Alex a silver and gold cloisonné domed plaque.
The Soviet people place a strong accent on health and swimming was part of the programme. Indulis, the president of the enamelling group, arranged for us to visit the doctor for a blood pressure test, then off to the open-air swimming pool for an hour. The air was freezing cold, but the water (piped in from the Baltic) was hot. There were two pools, one hotter than the other, steam hung above one’s head like fog, but at night with soft light and Western rock music, waterfalls for massage and a long slide for fun, it was a wonderful and exhilarating experience.
The local people came to look at the final exhibition and took a great interest in our Western work. E met Madame Romanova, the head of the Soviet Artists’ Union, who came to review the work. Because modern Soviet enamels have only existed since 1982, the artists use great inventiveness with contemporary thought and political statement.’
©1989 Anny Hooton
