Color Play
I have been an "art major" since kindergarten and was very fortunate to always have lots of opportunity and encouragement throughout my school years.
I began making and selling enameled metal jewelry in high school in the late 50s when I discovered a passion for color and the endless possibilities for fusing glass to copper. I continued my art studies at San Francisco State University and graduated with an MA degree in art, and then built my jewelry and photography businesses. I taught jewelry making, including enameling, at Monterey Peninsula Community College from 1986 to 2013. I am now officially retired from teaching and keep busy with making jewelry, photography for myself and others, gardening, and enjoying life in beautiful Monterey.
I continue to explore a great variety of metal working and coloring techniques, often using my photos of patterns as a beginning for new work. Most recently I am experimenting with electro-etching patterns in metal, fusing gold to silver, and getting back to enameling for the color.
Some years ago I learned to make lampwork glass beads, a technique for melting glass on to steel rods to create small works of art. I combine these with metal for my jewelry making or sell them in sets for other artists to use. After about ten years I needed to move and downsize my studio. Due to the space and considerable ventilation required, I chose to give up the bead making while continuing with the metal working and enameling techniques. However, I still have a huge inventory of treasured beads that I continue to offer for sale here.
If you are interested in seeing more of what I am up to with metal, enamel, and electro-etching, please visit my blog at .https://carolholadayblog.wordpress.com/
