kaleidescopes

Some Notes about my Background

I have been a self employed artist for 30 some years now, reliant on creativity as my "soul" source of support. Artistic pursuits occupied my attention from earliest recollections, and they are still my main attraction. As an extracurricular activity, I attended art museum schools from the age of 8 through 15 when the family migrated to California. The Golden State provided a veritable plethora of inspiration to the budding artist I had become, so I took advantage of art and craft classes in the California Junior College system while I was still in High School. Graduation was the start of a new adventure as an art major at the University of California, Berkeley. While there, I supported myself by learning how to fabricate silver jewelry, and I found a ready market for my wares throughout the Bay Area, and at those WILD early craft fair venues.

A move to Southern California changed my perspective again, and I began to seek out new areas of artistic exploration. I learned to cast metal centrifugally with instructor Toza Radakovitch. I learned the art of vitreous enameling with one of my special mentors, Inna Babich. Cloisonné became an obsession because of another ethereal talent and teacher, Lilli Hill. Other workshops taught me other skills, and I started The Bazzel Workshop in 1980, creating such diverse treasures as stained glass boxes and custom diamond rings.

California became inhospitable, so in 1991 myself, my husband, my son and 2 dogs climbed into our K5 pulling a Streamline and headed for parts unknown. Something intangible and unspoken drew me to North Carolina like a magnet. We arrived in the summer, and I went straight away to a Southern Highland Craft Guild fair. I was so impressed by what was exhibited there that I sought out information about the organization and applied as soon as possible. I became a member in 1992 and met Maggie Masters, who offered me a position as resident enamellist at the John C. Campbell Folk School in Brasstown, NC., where I remained active in that role for five years. During my tenure there, I had the opportunity to take many interesting workshops to add to my enameling skills.

Currently, Kaleidoscopes have captured my interest because the cases are perfect vehicles for enamel experimentation, and the ever-changing kaleidoscopic image symbolizes life itself. What a perfect marriage of

Yin & Yang !

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