Fred Ball Experimental Enameling Techniques

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Class Days: Please make a selection aboveMonday to Friday

Class Time: Please make a selection above1pm-4pm (15 total hours)

Age Group: Ages 16+

Class Code: Please make a selection above7ENL34M25-A

Entry Level Class (No prerequisite required) in Enameling

Price: $575.00

Member Price: $540.00

Description

🔥 Registration closes October 14!

Fred Uhl Ball (1945-1985) was an enamelist who lived and taught in Sacramento. Ball’s techniques and approach to enameling were viewed as highly unorthodox at the time but created a firm basis for current contemporary enameling. The techniques he wrote about in his out-of-print Experimental Techniques in Enameling (1973) included working with fire scale, creating collages, using liquid enamel and other materials associated with the porcelain enamel industry, over- and under-firing, adding unusual materials to enameled surfaces, and much more. Explore a wide range of Ball’s techniques and some newer experimental methods of enameling with Judy Stone, whose own work was greatly influenced by Fred Ball’s book. This class includes a Thursday evening lab after class for students to be able to work on their final projects. Some enameling experience is preferred.

Health and Safety Policies

All students must review and adhere to all Crucible Health and Safety Policies.

At this time, individuals are not required to show proof of vaccination or wear a mask inside our facility. We strongly encourage staff, faculty, students, and visitors to wear masks and stay up-to-date on COVID-19 vaccinations in order to keep our community safe.

Age Guidelines

For adult classes, youth ages 12+ are welcome to take any adult class for ages 16+, if the parent/guardian is registered in the same class with them. The only exception is for classes in the Glass Blowing Department, where youth must be 14+ to register with their parent/guardian. Adult classes marked 18+ are only for adults over the age of 18. For youth classes, the age requirements stated on the class are generally non-negotiable, unless a student has taken multiple prior classes with us and gets approval from Crucible staff and the class instructor for an exception.

Class Policies

A student may be eligible for a refund less a non-refundable registration fee. Refunds are based on the type of class and the date of request. All registrations are subject to applicable fees regardless of the payment method or purchaser.

Students wishing to transfer must first withdraw from their registered class, adhering to the Crucible withdrawal policy. Any refund or credit due after withdrawal can be applied to enrollment in a different class.

Refunds for classes regularly priced at $200 or less:

Withdrawals made 14 or more days before the first class date: Full refund less $50 registration fee
Withdrawals made 7-13 days before the first class date: Full refund less $50 registration fee plus $25 processing fee
Withdrawals made 6 or fewer days before the first class date: Ineligible for refund or transfer

Refunds for adult classes regularly priced over $200 and youth classes outside of youth weeklong camps:

Withdrawals made 14 or more days before the first class date: Full refund less $100 registration fee
Withdrawals made 7-13 days before the first class date: Full refund less $100 registration fee plus $25 processing fee
Withdrawals made 6 or fewer days before the first class date: Ineligible for refund or transfer

Refunds for Youth Spring and Summer Weeklong Camps:

Withdrawals made 30 or more days before the first class date: Full refund less $100 registration fee
Withdrawals made 7-29 days before the first class date: Full refund less $100 registration fee plus $50 processing fee
Withdrawals made 6 or fewer days before the first class date: Ineligible for refund or transfer

Read our full withdrawal and transfer policy here.

If you wish to withdraw from a class or have questions about the class registration process, please email registrar@thecrucible.org.

What To Wear

At The Crucible, you must dress safely and appropriately. Arrive for class in all-natural fiber clothing, long pants, and closed-toe, closed-heel shoes with socks that protect up to the ankle. Long hair must be tied back. Nylon, polyester, spandex, or other synthetics are not allowed around machines, equipment, or processes that can produce hot fragments, sparks, or flames. Layers are encouraged as the studio can be very cold or very hot. Additional protective gear will be provided as needed. The CDC has a guide to acceptable cloth masks that help prevent the spread of infection. Bandannas will not be accepted inside The Crucible.

Location

The Crucible is conveniently located at 1260 7th Street, Oakland, CA, just two blocks east of the West Oakland BART station. There is a student parking lot with spaces available on a first-come, first-served basis. The lot fills up quickly, and we encourage students to bike or take public transit to class. For weekend or weeklong classes, there are great places to grab food around the area, including at 7th West and Mandela Grocery Cooperative, as well as a microwave on-site at The Crucible for students who wish to warm up packed lunches.

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Judy Stone

Judy Stone, founder of the Crucible enamel department and current co-department head, is a hidden treasure among all the illustrious Crucible faculty members. Her worldwide reputation among enamelists as a teacher, mentor, and artist is unprecedented and has earned her the moniker of “the enamel doctor.” During the 50+ years, Stone has been enameling she undertook the task of learning the scientific underpinnings that she could use to solve technical problems she was encountering. As a result of her research, she developed a unique approach to teaching enameling which other enamel instructors have wholeheartedly embraced.

Keep reading.

Majoring in German language and literature, Stone received her bachelor of arts degree from Miami University in Oxford, Ohio in 1966 and her master of arts from the Indiana University in 1968. She first encountered enameling in 1968 while studying on a Fulbright fellowship in Germany. She later recalled, “One day I saw a piece coming out of a kiln. It was molten red and as it cooled I could see brilliant color emerging. It was the alchemy of that transformation that piqued my interest.” After returning to the United States in 1969 and settling in the San Francisco Bay area in 1972 she taught herself to enamel while also enrolling in workshops with some of the leading figures in the enamels field. “I took workshops with Margarete Seeler and Bill Harper in the mid to late 1970s, with Jamie Bennett in the early 1980s, and with Bill Helwig in the 1990s.” But it was Fred Ball’s book on experimental enameling that had the most profound influence, encouraging her to explore non-traditional approaches in her work.

Like her Bay Area friend and mentor June Schwarcz, Stone rethinks venerable vessel-making traditions as she creates open forms in glass and metal, abstract sculptures which, while referring to tradition, defy the fundamental notions of containment, enclosure, and functionality so long associated with the vessel. However, unlike Schwarcz, whose enamel and metal sculptures are created, for the most part, through an electroforming process, Stone works with spun or hand-raised copper forms. She then cuts into and rips open these pristine vessels and re-stitches them with metal wire.

The principles of destruction and renewal or “healing” are central to Stone’s work. Her process involves tearing open a form to reveal what lies within and then reassembling it to construct a new reality. As she states, “These ‘destructed vessels’ challenge me to heal what has been destroyed, making it more beautiful and more balanced.” However she is also mindful of the unique properties and capabilities of enamel: “I want the satin finishes, the exterior of the piece, to be handled and caressed. I paint with light and want light to play on and through the piece.”