Our community

This community site enables members of the British Society of Enamellers to share observations and ideas about the exciting world of enamelling. Treat it as a channel to talk to other enamellers, ask questions and even get technical if things aren’t going your way.

We also hope to use this community site as a channel to distribute information about upcoming events and general news about the Society. It’s a chance for us all to make contact with each other, learn more and make our Society  even better.

Don't be shy. Please leave a comment or ask a question in the forum or technical tips section. The more you interact via this site, the more we will all learn from each other.

And remember, the software for this site is free and as you would expect, has its limitations.

 

The British Society of Enamellers has a broad membership, encompassing enamel students to professional level enamellers. Our aim is to promote the highest standards of contemporary design and workmanship in all aspects of this unique and exciting medium. UK based, the BSOE has international connections and offers exhibition opportunities, bursaries, an online gallery, workshops and events for its members.

Our aims

The objective of our Society is to promote excellence in British enamelling and professional enamellers working in this country and abroad. The BSOE  aims to keep members and other interested bodies informed of our exhibitions and publications of interest, including a close co-operation with other international enamel organisations.

The BSOE organises meetings, workshops  and exhibitions in this country and where possible, supports participation in exhibitions abroad.

Membership is by application, and is open to anyone throughout the world who is interested in the aims of our Society. Participation in our exhibitions and in our website gallery is by selection, with a strong emphasis on original design in conjunction with technical competence in the medium of enamel.

Chairman - Melissa Rigby                                          

Melissa completed her HND in Design, Jewellery and Silversmithing at Sir John Cass, London in 2002. Since then she has worked mainly to commission as a designer goldsmith and enameller, exhibiting occasionally.  She teaches enamelling at the Camden Working Men’s College. Melissa is responsible for rebranding the Society with a new logo in 2009, building this community site in 2010, commissioning and editing all the magazine articles therein, and launching the New Graduate Award in 2010. Her current practice explores textural enamel surfaces using precious metal leaf. She curated her first Contemporary International Enamel exhibition at Flow Gallery, London in March - May 2011.

Melissa has won several prestigious jewellery awards, including three Goldsmiths’ Craftsmanship & Design Awards and an RSA Student Design Travel Award, among others. She also has an MA in Social Anthropology, and a previous career in textiles, but that's another story.

 

Secretary - Jane Moore                                              

Jane Moore has been designing and making jewellery for over 30 years. Colour is her main passion and enamel on silver has become her preferred medium. Jane is constantly pushing the boundaries in this field and has developed a process which enables her to achieve tiny coloured floral patterns which, combined with oxidised silver, produces a nostalgic element to her contemporary jewellery. Her work can be seen widely in the UK and in Europe.

Treasurer/Membership- Isabelle Busnel                  

Isabelle is French, and previously worked as a banker. But is now based in London. She has recently graduated from an MA by Project after completing an HND in Jewellery Design at Sir John Cass School of Art and Design, London Metropolitan University. She is currently an artist in residence at the same university. She specialises in making magnetic brooches with different nuances of white enamel.  She also writes a blog about everything that inspires her and makes her think http://thinkingthroughthings.blogspot.com/ 

Selection committee co-ordinator - Jane Short 

Having completed her foundation course in Bideford, Devon, Jane trained as a jeweller at the Central School of Art and Design.  Discovering the technique of enamelling in her second year of the course (in 1974), her work since then has been a continuous exploration into the richness and diversity of this medium.

After completing a further 3 years of study in silversmithing (and continuing to enamel) at the RCA, Jane  taught enamelling at many different art colleges, including Central St Martins, and established her own workshop producing one-off enamelled silverware and jewellery.

 Since having her first child in 1992 Jane has specialised in making larger items of engraved and enamelled silverware, working mostly to commission  from her workshop in Brighton.

Graduate Award Secretary - Hilary Bolton     

 

I have been a committed member of the society since 2002, was chairman from 2005 until 2008 and now am the graduate award secretary. I am very excited and totally supportive of the changes now taking place in the society. Time cannot stand still and neither can the BSOE.

The inspiration for my work comes from my interest in textiles, particularly fragments of embroidery and carpets with torn edges, in pattern and in design. I etch copper until it is highly textured, very thin and fragile. This, and the subsequent use of high firings, distresses the metal which is evocative of the wear and tear and aging of cotton and silk. Enamel then transforms this fragile material into something strong and lasting with deep and intense colours.

Blog/Newsletter Editor - Ruth Ball                             

Ruth Ball has achieved worldwide recognition for her quality of enamelling skills and attention to detail.

A published author, she has demonstrated that she is an expert within the creative sector of contemporary Jewellery, Silverware and Enamel Art for public, corporate or domestic settings. www.ruthballenameldesign.com

Commitee member - Maureen Casswell             

The founder of the BSOE and chairman for the first five years. Maureen served as secretary from 2001 – 2005, and was re-elected to the committee for a  third time in 2010.

 In 1986 Maureen served on the jury for L’Art de L’Email, the 8th International Biennale, Limoges. Also served on the Jury for Email International 2 in 1987 (Coburg, Germany), Email International 3 in 1995 and on the prize jury for the International Enamelling exhibition in La Coruna, Spain, in 1988.

She has exhibited in this country and abroad, most recently at three exhibitions in Finland from December 2007 to March 2008, with other invited BSOE  members.

Her work is in private collections, and in the permanent collection of the Enamelist Museum, USA, International Enamel Workshop in Kecskemet, Hungary, and the Moscow Museum of Decorative Art.

Maureen specialises in enamelling in 3D on very thin copper (.0005”), a technique which she pioneered and is still developing. She has taught many short courses on this technique and also the technique of torch firing 3D enamels.