Hi there! This is my first JAM...my poet is John Milton, there's a lot to read there! I've snipped a few quotes that resonated 

"This horror will grow milde, this darkness will light"

"Better to reign in Hell, then serve in Heav'n"

"Knowledge forbidd'n? Suspicious, reasonless. Why should thir Lord envie them that? Can it be a sin to know, can it be death?"

Lots of opposing/contrasting ideas, Im playing with shapes/colours & symbols...cant wait to see everyones finished items.

Hi enamel friends,
I had a deadline for our local enamel guild show, so I decided to quick make something that I could use for both. My poet, Hafizah Geter, was raised in Zaria, Nigeria.
Her poetry is about the oppression of her people in Africa as well as in the US, where she has lived as well.  I am terrible with creating imagery in the drawing sense, and I had no idea about how to create an image based on her poems that was not very cheesy.  However, I am drawn to bold colors and shapes.  I found a photo of a palace gate from Zaria that I was immediately drawn to.  I used a little section within that gate as inspiration, as  well as the quality of the colors.            

I am miffed that my wire didn't end up perfectly symmetrical, but I'm trying to get over it

Sarah

Originally, I was going to choose my own poet, as I wanted to start work while I was at a workshop starting 1st August.  But I couldn't make up my mind!  So I decided to stick with my assigned poet.  Unfortunately, I have never heard of him, so have had to do some research.  That's not proved easy as he wrote in French, I believe, and although I have found some English translations, they are way over my head!  This was a black African man who was the first president of Senegal, much of whose work appears to involve images of black women.  I am a white woman who comes from a country which heavily colonised large parts of Africa and stripped them of their resources, so it's no wonder I find it difficult to relate!  I am persevering at the moment, trying to think of some imagery I can use.  I'm trying hard not to give up, as the point to me of signing up was to stretch my creative ideas.  Wish me luck!

This is my first EAJ and I'm excited to do something artistically creative again after a long time of only doing commissions or trying to make stuff to sell. I'm also jumping back into enameling after a very long time away from it.

I requested EAP as he was always a favorite and after doing some genealogy stuff in the past year, I've learned he's even a distant relative. Bonus!

So, in sticking with his poetry (vs. short stories), I have a theme of connecting more than one together as an "ode to Poe" sort of idea - A Pæan. There are 5 of them - Annabel Lee, Lenore, The Raven, The Bells, and Dream-Land. I may be getting myself in way over my head by being so ambitious, but I'm thinking to do 5 links that will connect as a necklace or bracelet. I've made a lot of notes on various imagery symbols to use. Now I need to simplify it and design each link.

I was unfamiliar with my assigned poet, W. H. Auden. I mentioned his name to an enamellist friend and she got all excited as she knew one of his most famous poems from its use in the movie “Four Weddings and a Funeral”. I’ve now have had a chance to read a number of his poems and find that time is a recurring theme. And in many of them, time is expressed using the symbol of clocks. Here’s a few examples:

But all the clocks in the city
Began to whirr and chime:
‘O let not Time deceive you,
You cannot conquer Time.
…
It was late, late in the evening,
The lovers they were gone;
The clocks had ceased their chiming,
And the deep river ran on.
 
(from “As I Walked Out One Evening”)     
 
___________________________________
 
Stop all the clocks, cut off the telephone,
Prevent the dog from barking with a juicy bone,
Silence the pianos and with muffled drum
Bring out the coffin, let the mourners come.
 
(from “Funeral Blues”)
 
___________________________________
 
You are the town and we are the clock.
We are the guardians of the gate in the rock
…
 
This might happen any day
So be careful what you say
Or do.
Be clean, be tidy, oil the lock,
Trim the garden, wind the clock,
 
(from “The Two”)
___________________________________
 
Clocks cannot tell our time of day
For what event to pray
Because we have no time, because
We have no time until
We know what time we fill
 
(from “We’re Late”)
 
I like the idea of making something that features clocks, not only because of their use in Auden's poems, but because enameling has been used to decorate clock faces. Next stage is to sketch out some ideas.

Rich

I'm already feeling crunched for time!  So far, I've only come up with a basic design.  My poem is "Athena" by Nikita Gill.  It's going to be a two-sided vessel shaped pendant.  

But this time, I'm going to do a few tests because I've never been happy with a portrait.  My skin tones always end up mottled, flat, or just bad...

Here's my pic so far.  Hoping to get some tests done this weekend.  (But today the weather is so nice, I'll be in the garden... )

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Hi enameling friends, I"m excited for another Enamel Jam.  Sandra's prompts are definitely different than my usual inspiration!  My poet is from Zaria, Nigeria and there is a gorgeous graphic colorful palace there that will be the basis for my champleve/cloisonne piece.  Hope you all are finding inspiration from the poets!

Can't recall. . . how do I upload an image of my piece once I compete it?

Thanks for signing up for the JAM!  Here's a list of your assigned poets.  You have until November 1st to create a work of art inspired by your poet:

ENAMEL ART JAM Poet List

Good luck!

Anyone can read the posts, but if you want to reply or post anything, you need to register.  Just click the "Register" button in the upper left corner and follow the instructions.

This is the free version of the forum, so you won't actually get an email after you register.  After you register, the Admins (right now just me and Warren) get notified and have to manually activate your account.  I'll log in at least once a day to do this, so give it a moment.

Thanks!
Sandra