Jenn Bell

"it's like that book from doctor seuss.
i'm just going to fill in answers to most frequently asked questions.

i studied jewelry design and metalsmithing at college. they teach you about enameling a little bit. i liked it and kept doing it.

i have a studio in scranton pa. it's actually a live/work/cat playland. 
i grew up down the road from scranton. that's how i ended up here.

i went to kutztown university.

i've been making things since i had the motor skills to pick up stuff and they let me play with glue and scissors."

About the Art:

"They’re glass
On copper
The glass is ground finer than sugar
and sifted onto a copper plate
then it’s placed in a small electric kiln
the drawings are made from copper wire
they sink into the first layer of glass
and get filled with a different color

that’s the process simplified for your protection
i wear a mask when i sift the enamel on the copper
i use pliers, my fingers and anything in my sight to make the wires do what i want
i use tweezers to place the wires where i want them
i use dental tools to fill the drawings with the colored glass paste

the whole thing is insane
i look like a mad scientist and spend a good deal of time crawling on the floor looking for the piece of wire i dropped

but the end result is enchanting
and i can’t stop

as much as i make the wires do what i want and place them where i want
they have a way of doing what they want
and changing what i want

the glass does this too
i think i know what’s going to come out of the kiln
and then i don’t
the copper and glass get together and do something incredible
and i stand back and applaud
we’ve learned to work together, enamel and i"