Episode 41: Dichotomy as Inspiration in Art Jewelry with Bill Harper, Artist and Enamelist

Published: Jan. 4, 2022, 3:30 p.m.

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Bill Harper began his career as an abstract painter, but in the early 1960s switched to enameling to achieve more intense colors. Fascinated by the supernatural aura of ritual objects, such as amulets, charms and tribal power figures, he began to produce brightly enameled necklaces and brooches in gold, silver and gemstones, as well as nonprecious and found objects that evoke a similar and mysterious power. Many of his recent pieces are mythical and ironic self-portraits that suggest intense introspection.

A dedicated educator, Bill taught at Florida State University from 1973 to 1992, and published \\u201cStep-by-Step Enameling: a Complete Introduction to the Craft of Enameling\\u201d in 1973. Bill\\u2019s work has been widely exhibited, including a one-person exhibition in 1977 at the Renwick Gallery of Smithsonian American Art Museum in Washington, D.C., and an internationally traveling retrospective in 1989. His work has been featured in collections of The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Philadelphia Museum of Art and Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, among many others in the United States and Europe. Bill\\u2019s most recent solo exhibit, \\u201cThe Beautiful & The Grotesque,\\u201d closed in June 2019 at the Cleveland Institute of Arts\\u2019s Reinberger Gallery.

Bill was awarded a National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) fellowship in 1978 and NEA grants in 1979 and 1980. In 1980 and 1985 he received fellowships from the Florida Council on Arts and Culture.

What you\\u2019ll learn in this episode:

  • How Bill became a self-taught artist.
  • Why Bill doesn\\u2019t identify as a jeweler.
  • Bill\\u2019s creative process for creating art jewelry.
  • How dichotomy influences Bill\\u2019s work and creates stimulation of the senses.
  • What design concepts Bill has in the works.

Additional resources:

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