Cathy De Young: Jewelry

Enamel offers me an endless palette of colors. I blend the colors of glass the way that a painter blends oil-paint pigments. The enameling styles that I most often use are champleve, basse taille, cloisonne and stencil sifting. I am very influenced by the aesthetics of the Art Nouveau style. In my emulation of that style, I darken the exposed copper to force a focus on color and intricate details. In most of my jewelry I incorporate natural gemstone beads or freshwater pearls. All of my jewelry is created with enamel fired onto copper, silver or 18k gold as the base. I use sterling silver and 14k yellow gold as the metals for the jewelry hardware.