Vitreous Enamel Art – Artist Collaborations & Residencies
As well as the more practical uses of vitreous enamel (also known as porcelain enamel), it holds huge potential for artists to create stunning work. Vitreous enamel art is colour-fast so all colours and patterns are fixed in a permanent state that won’t degrade over time. It’s resistant to harsh conditions, including extreme weather, chemical spills and even abrasion. It’s safe to say that Vitreous Enamel is of archival quality!
“The result is well worth the effort: all the durability of enamel signage and all the sensitivity and translucency of watercolour. The ideal outdoor work of art: happy to withstand anything the British weather can chuck at it…Enamel is a wonderful ‘paint’ for an artist.” Laura Boswell
History of vitreous enamel art
The medium offers a luxurious and glossy surface finish that lends itself to many applications. It’s a historical technique with evidence of its beginnings dating back to 1300 BC. Portrait miniatures from the Renaissance period (17th century) offer a glimpse of the potential to create an oil painting, using metal sheets instead of canvas. Previously, the main limitation of the technique was scale, with only fairly small pieces around 1 sq. foot being able to be produced.
Artists no longer have to consider scale a constraint and the developments in automated laser cutting means all kinds of intricate shapes can be fabricated. We have been fortunate to collaborate with a wide range of wonderful artists on some truly unique and fascinating projects. From small decorative vessels to cladding entire buildings, vitreous enamel offers so much as a medium. You can learn more about the vitreous enamel process here.
Artist collaborations & residencies
As well as a love for supporting the arts, A.J Wells provides artist residencies as they are an opportunity for all parties to be creative and innovate. This helps continue to build on A.J Wells’ 50 years of expertise with new knowledge and skills which we can then use across the business.
“I was immediately struck by the ‘why not?’ attitude of the staff…There seemed to be an air of instantaneous respect blended with mutual excited curiosity; we were keen to learn from each other. This was the first enamel factory that I was made to feel at home. A.J Wells & Sons really understand the strange foibles and working patterns of an artist!” Dale Devereux
“My paintings on sheet steel are the result of the unique opportunity that my residency with AJ Wells provided. I gained access to the materials, the skills and the facilities which, in conjunction with my naïve but correct assumption that enamel would handle with the sensitivity of watercolour, turns industrial process into fine art.” Laura Boswell
“AJ Wells is based on the Isle of Wight and the work that attracted me to them was their production of maps, panels and signage for the London Underground and their history of collaboration with artists and designers. I have now worked at their factory to produce two collections of homeware and subsequently I have also produced artwork there for two hospital art projects a school project and work for my YSP exhibition.” Alison Milner
Vitreous enamel artists
Laura Boswell
Studio space was allocated at A.J Wells and the project was incorporated into the factory workflow so that Laura had full access to facilities and assistance as and when required. Laura created the imagery by projecting and sketching out her carefully planned artwork onto the plain panels before applying the inks. The dimensions of the design and each colour were referenced and recorded should any of the panels need replacing in the future.
A.J Wells and Laura Boswell worked together in developing a hand-painted ‘Scraffito’ technique involving sponging the inks onto the panel, drying and scratching into the surface before finally fusing the enamel to the panel by firing it at over 800°C.
Dale Devereux Barker
Devereux is a painter, printmaker and vitreous enameller. With A.J Wells, he had created works in various formats including large metal sheet canvases which he hand paints and also wonderful ceramic vessels. He has continued to work at the factory on and off since his first visit, making both personal work and large commissioned projects.
“I am proud of the work that A.J Wells & Sons have enabled me to produce. ” Dale Devereux Barker
Yinka Ilori
A.J Wells surveyed, manufactured and installed a vitreous enamel cladding panel system for Yinka Ilori’s Happy Street project at Thessaly Road Railway Bridge, Nine Elms, Wandsworth. Vitreous enamel was specified due to its durability and fire rating considering its location and proximity to the public. This original large-scale new artwork was commissioned by Wandsworth Council in partnership with the London Festival of Architecture exploring the theme of happiness using colour.
A.J Wells’ sister company Vlaze also collaborated with Yinka Ilori on a fantastic range of Vlaze ADAPT kitchen units. It’s a stunning range of limited-edition units in Yinka’s distinctive style teamed with a luxurious Vlaze finish – well worth checking out here.
Walter Jack
Walter Jack designed a series of 40 curved monoliths each one a different colour. A.J Wells supplied the steel material to Walter Jack who had then fabricated it to fit the structural element of the monoliths and then returned them to A.J Wells to be enamelled.
Alison Milner
Alison Milner is a Worthing based artist. Originally trained in furniture design at the Royal College of Art. Her work has developed and broadened over the years to include vitreous enamel as a medium.
Using graphic and photographic decoration Alison has worked at A.J Wells’ studios on several private and public commissions from large scale murals to small bowls. Her in-depth knowledge of materials and processes outside of the factory environment have aided her in combining the industrial and handmade enamel processes uniquely.
Alison’s collections are available through retailers, websites and exhibitions. Clients have included Habitat, Royal Daulton and West Dean House and Gardens.
Hilary Paynter
Hilary Paynter is one of the UK’s leading wood engravers and past president of the Royal Society of Painter-Printmakers.
For the 250th anniversary of the birth of the wood engraver Thomas Bewick, Nexus (the public transport authority for The Tyne and Wear Metro) launched ‘The Bewick Commission’ which facilitated the installation of contemporary artwork at its stations.
A.J Wells produced 31 vitreous enamel panels decorated with engravings created by Hilary Paynter. The 2 x 1-metre cladding panels formed a 22-metre long panoramic mural.
Hilary’s intricate engravings were scanned and enlarged to ten times their original size before they were screen-printed onto the enamel panels. The cladding panels were officially unveiled in June 2004.
Vera Ronnen
A.J Wells worked with internationally renowned enamel artist Vera Ronnen on a series of large enameled mural panels for The Skirball Cultural Foundation in Los Angeles, California (architect Moshe Safdie).
Vera Ronnen’s work combined medieval and modern industrial enameling techniques to create unique large-scale architectural works. Enamel colours are applied by a sieve to the pre-enamelled surface in several layers, resulting in a depth that is unique to this process. For the first time in her career, Vera Ronnen used commercial signage enamel colour, applied by spray gun and roller, as a base for her powders.
This project consisted of four large-scale units with dimensions totalling 340 square feet. The artist executed the project over three weeks at the premises of A.J. Wells with the assistance of painter Carmelle Safdie and A.J Wells Project Manager David Knight.
Lisa Traxler
Lisa Traxler has collaborated on many projects with A.J. Wells & Sons for over a decade. (Image above by David Whistance).
The artist’s recent grant award from Arts Council England included new works made at the factory, a ten piece wall mounted sculpture, ‘Descendants’ (2021) and exhibited at Quay Arts, IW (2021) and Southampton City Art Gallery (2022).
Her Public Art Commission’s include ‘I Am Not Afraid’ vitreous enamel wall sculpture for Mountbatten Hospice, IW (2019), ‘Transition’ the multi-panelled enamel and steel wall mural in the entrance foyer of the Art & Design College, Stourbridge, West Midlands (2011) and ‘Take Wing’ the enamel and steel triptych situated in the double height space of the entrance foyer of vistas Technology Centre, IW (2010). Traxler creates many sculptures working with vitreous enamelled steel.
One of Traxler’s first projects with AJ Wells was a hand-painted, multi-panelled cladding system that wrapped around the ground floor of the house she was building with her partner, architectural designer, Lincoln Miles (2010). Featured on national television (Grand Designs, Channel 4, 2010/12) the up-cycled bungalow with tower went on to win an award at the Architects Journal Awards, London (2011).
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We welcome artists to work with us at our factory, allowing them to create their own original artworks directly onto our vitreous enamel panels. Our panels can be decorated in an array of different colours, gloss levels, patterns, and textures to suit client requirements. Alternatively, we are also very pleased to receive artwork electronically, allowing us to reproduce it using enamel decals, spray application or screen-printed images onto our panels. All our WellsClad panel systems are both non-flammable and zero-smoke, making them ideal for the most challenging locations.
If you have a project that you would like to discuss then please don’t hesitate to get in touch with the team.
To see and learn more about our artistic collaborations please check out our portfolio here.