Today we’d like to introduce you to Kat Cole.
Kat, can you briefly walk us through your story – how you started and how you got to where you are today.
I have been a practicing studio artist for 12 years. I received a BFA from Virginia Commonwealth University in Craft and Material Studies and an MFA from East Carolina University in Jewelry and Metals. I moved to Dallas in 2014 and have had a full-time studio practice here doing both jewelry and sculpture. I work with various enameling techniques in my work and teach workshops on these skills.
I began my studio practice in 2007, when I moved to Pittsburgh, PA after graduating from undergrad. I set up a jeweler’s bench in the living room of my basement studio apartment and worked as a waitress. I didn’t have much money for materials like gold or silver and started making small sculptures and jewelry from found metal bits I would pick up off the streets of Pittsburgh, I was attracted to their rough and worn surfaces. As I walked the city collecting, I became inspired by the industrial, urban cityscape. This was really the beginning of an inspiration and esthetic I continue to work with today.
Since then, my work has evolved with different materials and techniques, but the core of what inspires me has stayed the same. I find meaning through the observance and intimate awareness of the places I inhabit.
With each geographic change, I have become more attuned to the natural and man-made attributes that make a location unique. I look to the built environment, the city in which I live, for the formal qualities of my work: materials, forms, color and surface quality. The steel and concrete structures that surround us are evidence of human inhabitants- past and present. Monumental structures are interpreted into the intimate scale of jewelry or wall sculpture.
I work in steel and porcelain enamel, both materials predominately used industry. The combination allows me to create unique, lightweight, and durable forms with distinctive surfaces and colors. Enamel is sifted or painted onto the surface of the hollow steel forms and fused in a kiln at 1500 degrees.
Great, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
Choosing a non-traditional career path like becoming an artist is not to be made lightly. One does not do this to make the big bucks or have the comfort of having nights and weekends off.
The choice to cobble together a life from the things you make and the skills you have can be very difficult and will usually include other jobs that are not making your art to make ends meet.
I count myself very lucky to have had most of those other jobs be things like working or an arts center and teaching- jobs that kept me connected to the art community even when I had less time to make my own work because I was busy paying the bills and saving money for school.
I think finances is one of the biggest stumbling blocks for artists, learning how to run a small business and manage cash flow is key.
Kat Cole Jewelry & Sculpture – what should we know? What do you guys do best? What sets you apart from the competition?
Most of my time as an artist is spent making jewelry, but what I do is not what most people think of as jewelry. I work almost entirely in steel and vitreous enamel- there is no gold or stones. Many people liken the work to small wearable sculptures, which is exactly what they are.
The technique of enameling is one that I have been doing for many years and find to be a magical process. Small grains of glass are applied to the surface of a metal, and then put into a 1500 degree kiln for a minute or less and then pulled back out to reveal glowing red metal and a glossy coating of molten glass on the surface. As the metal and glass cool, rich colors emerge.
This process is repeated multiple times to build up a colorful surface that will not fade or scratch over time. This is a process that has been done in jewelry since Roman times. I do this process on both a small, jewelry-scale but also on a large scale for my wall work. There are not very many sculptors who work with this technique.
I teach a lot of enameling workshops, both here in Dallas and across the country. That is a big part of my business. I enjoy teaching this process and love getting out of my studio and interacting with new people to teach them a new skill.
What moment in your career do you look back most fondly on?
I don’t think there has been just one moment and I would say it is more satisfying than pride that I get. I have those moments in the studio when I solve a problem or figure something new out.
I also get them when I see students I have worked with taking what I have shared and make new and exciting things. There isn’t anyone telling me I have to get up and work in the morning except me, so finding everyday ways to be satisfied and happy with my work is very important- keeps me motivated.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.kat-cole.com
- Email: kat@kat-cole.com
- Instagram: katcolemetalsmith
Image Credit:
Gail Reid, Dasha Wright
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