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Helen Carnac Studio

@studio_carnac

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Artist based in Somerset, UK @helencarnac

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Seeing my work out on display @vamuseum for the first time is quite a moment for me…

Celebrating 30 years of working

#celebrating30yearsofwork
#helencarnac
#helencarnacenamel
#silvergalleries
#vandamuseum by @studio_carnac

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2 years ago

I am absolutely delighted to say that Overlap III, vitreous enamel on copper (2023) has been acquired by the @vamuseum for their permanent collection.

Thanks so much to @cavalierofinn and @becky_knott_ for all the hard work on making this happen.

#metalsculpture #enamel #metal #vitreousenamel #museum #art #contemporarymetalwork #somersetartist #artcollector #cavalierofinn #white #material #glassonmetal #curatorschoice #materiality by @studio_carnac

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2 years ago

We have a lovely new film that has been made by @catherinegarciaphoto, with sound by @carlosgarciav commissioned by Make Hauser Wirth. I will post the whole film to my website soon, in the meantime here's a short clip of it..

The film has been made as part of @davidgatesfurniture and my exhibition ‘Affinities' currently showing @make_hauserwirth where we are showing new works produced over the last few years as we relocated from London to Somerset.

The exhibition continues until 9th September 2023.
#helencarnac #helencarnacenamel
#davidgatesfurniture #westsomersetgarden
#makehw #affinities #contemporaryart
#contemporarymakers #westsomersetartists
#catherinegarciaphoto by @studio_carnac

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3 years ago

Continuing to shine a light on exhibitors in IDEA, CONCEPT, FIRE showing at Craft in The Bay, Cardiff until 26th October 2026.

Enameller Christine Graf was born in 1968 in Munich, Germany. From 1988 to 1991, she trained as a goldsmith at the State Vocational School for Glass and Jewellery in Kaufbeuren/Neugablonz and finished her training in traditional jewellery-making in 1996 by passing her master’s examination. After working for many years as a goldsmith for jewellery designers and running her own studio, Christine completed her studies at the School of Jewellery Birmingham.

‘In this exhibition, I will be showing works from two series. Firstly, four brooches that play on their opposites: black and white, open and closed. The basic shape is the same, as are the size and the used material, industrial manufactured copper mesh. Taken as a whole, the works raise several questions:
How do the two colours’ concepts change the viewer’s perception? How is the impression of space and weight altered depending on whether a form is open or closed? Are they competing or revealing all their details only in the comparison?

The two flat brooches are from my current body of work, also enamelled but they seem more graphic and abstract. They are characterised by their various surfaces and colour combinations. The three different surfaces - matt, high-glossy and velvety grainy - are in contrast with one another and create diverse colour effects. The glossy finish encloses the colour and, through its reflections, integrates colours from the sur-roundings; the matt grounded surface creates a calm, harmonious appearance that is free from any distraction, at least the rough surface suggests layers, evoking an impression of painting depth and three-dimensionality.

The pieces in context, their subtlest nuances and textures, their varied shapes, their dialogue in between create a multifaceted composition: a polyphonic symphony’.

@christine_graf_enamel @beate.gegenwart @makerswales #vitreousenamel #ideaconceptfire #enamel by @studio_carnac

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2 days ago

Continuing to post about the artists and makers exhibiting in Idea, Concept, Fire, on show at Craft in the Bay, Cardiff until 26th October 2026.

Anne Petters is a visual artist with a strong background in glass. She received an MFA in Sculpture from Alfred University, NY. Born in Dresden, East Germany in 1978, she now lives and works in London. Her work is exhibited and collected internationally, including the National Museums Scotland.

‘Books of disquiet is a series of works reflecting the desire to control and freeze moments of the ever moving space of thought. The writings are thought fragments that seem to contain information and draw the viewer into a secret but at the same time they elude themselves back into the ephemeral space they came from.The book as an object is a universal symbol for eternalizing someone’s ideas. I am taking the object book out of its function as a source of information and turn it into a poetic image that pictures our innate desire to control time and fleetingness.

Made in a specific version of the pate de verre technique that I have been researching for over a decade, this body of work allows me to transfer thoughts in form of writing and drawing in a very immediate, delicate and ephemeral way. Based on the idea of intaglio printing I use plaster silica moulds as a printing plate while heat and gravity replace the pressure of a press. I am particularly interested in using glass powders because this process allows me to imitate other materials. This trompe l’oeil effect creates moments of surprise, a way to experience the familiar in a curious way.’

📷 Anne Petters @annepetters @makerswales

Continuing to post about the artists and makers exhibiting in Idea, Concept, Fire, on show at Craft in the Bay, Cardiff until 26th

Anne Petters is a visual artist with a strong background in glass. She received an MFA in Sculpture from Alfred University, NY. Born in Dresden, East Germany in 1978, she now lives and works in London. Her work is exhibited and collected internationally, including the National Museums Scotland.

‘Books of disquiet is a series of works reflecting the desire to control and freeze moments of the ever moving space by @studio_carnac

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4 days ago

IDEA, CONCEPT, FIRE

Curated by Helen Carnac and Beate Gegenwart

Craft in the Bay, Cardiff until 25th October

The concept for the exhibition grew from our concern for the future of larger scale and experimental enamelling in the UK, its use among artist and makers is in decline and departments in colleges and Universities that have previously taught it are gradually closing. We have included works in glass and pate de verre in the exhibition as the materials used across these subjects are overlapping and we wanted to give our audience an opportunity to visually compare materials and understand processes.

As Edinburgh University announces the closure of their esteemed Jewellery and Silversmithing course we cast a spotlight on one of its previous graduates and exhibitor in the exhibition Cóilín O’Dubhghaill - a silversmith based in Dublin, Ireland. He studied at Edinburgh College of Art and the National University of Fine Arts and Music in Tokyo. He is a lecturer at the National College of Art and Design in Dublin. Coilin has work in colletions including the National Museum of Ireland and the Goldsmiths’ Collection, London.

“Lann” (meaning scale in Irish) is a series of work in which I am exploring the construction of modular forms and the contrast of flowing outer surfaces and complex inner structures. I’m interested in the small changes that come within the repeated enamel elements, the chance responses to differences in temperature and time.

#kirstenhaydon @lianapattihis @davidrhys.jones @beate.gegenwart @coilin_o_dubhghaill
@guymarshallbrown @joshuakerleymaker @janeshort_silver_enameller @annepetters @tracy.nicholls.glass @makerswales
@christine_graf_enamel @jackyolivermetalwork @beate.gegenwart @makerswales

“Lann” (meaning scale in Irish) is a series of work in which I am exploring the construction of modular forms and the contrast of flowing outer surfaces and complex inner structures. I’m interested in the small changes that come within the repeated enamel elements, the chance responses to differences in temperature and time. As a silversmith, I usually purchase my metals as pristine manufactured sheet, wire, or grain, with limited understanding or by @studio_carnac

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5 days ago

Here’s a little look at what’s on show👀

‘IDEA, CONCEPT & FIRE’
This autumn, Makers Guild Wales brings together 13 artists exploring the many ways enamel and vitreous materials can be used to create work that engages with personal, political and environmental themes. Curated by @studio_carnac and @beate.gegenwart From delicate surfaces to striking forms, the exhibition explores ideas of transformation, fragility, permanence and risk, showing how heat can shape both the material and the meaning behind the work.

Come and experience the exhibition for yourself.
🕰We are open everyday 10am-5pm

#IdeaConceptAndFire #MakersGuildWales #Enamel #VitreousMaterials #ContemporaryCraft taken in Makers Guild Wales by @studio_carnac

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10 days ago

Helen Carnac | Meadownotes
Wake This Land | Thorns Gallery until 18 October.

‘The works in the series Meadownotes capture impressions of organic materials and are printed
using graphite which is applied through pressure. The range of marks and impressions that can be achieved through this process is surprising. Some prints are very graphic, almost photographic and others more abstract. The prints include many wildflowers - yellow rattle; lady’s bed straw; rough hawkbit; common knapweed; self heal; hogweed; sheep’s fescue; smooth stalk meadow grass; cut leafed cranesbill and many more. Also garden plants such as viburnum, salvia amistad, maple keys, aquilegia, clematis, allium, euphorbia and lavender.

When we moved from London to an old farm in rural west Somerset in late 2020 our intention was to try and make a more wildlife friendly environment on the 10 acre plot that we now inhabited. We have planted over 700 native trees and 3 meadows so far and have let the rest of our land and garden take on a more wild aspect. Finding plants that thrive in the climate here seems incredibly important, especially after this long, dry summer. Walking around the fields each day I have
become fascinated by everything growing around us and collect materials to bring back to the studio.
Learning to grow things has also led to my interest with using seeds as a print material, the prints reveal something of their structure, spreading, setting seed and growing qualities. I am very passionate about highlighting the delicate qualities of these plants which many consider to be weeds’. - Helen Carnac

‘Wake This Land’ features Max Bainbridge, Helen Carnac, Ken Eastman, David Gates, Nicola Tassie.

For further information about the exhibition, the artists or their works, please contact:
jacquelinemoore07@icloud.com

To visit the gallery by appointment, please contact:
info@thorns.gallery

#wakethisland #thornsgallery #yorkshiredales taken in Semerwater Near Hawes by @studio_carnac

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11 days ago

Graphite print from series Meadownotes.

The works in the series Meadownotes are printed using graphite which is applied through pressure. The range of marks and impressions that can be achieved through this process is surprising. Some prints are very graphic, almost photographic and others more abstract, there are many that fail and there is always something to be learnt through this iterative process - mistakes lead to interesting findings.

When we moved from London to an old farm in rural west Somerset in late 2020 our intention was to try and make a more wild life friendly environment on the 10 acre plot that we now inhabited. I had grown up on a small holding in rural south-east Wales and so there was a familiarity with being in a rural place and I wanted to try and embrace this in my work, which had previously been very much focussed on the city scapes and marks found in a London environment.

We have planted over 700 native trees and 3 meadows so far and have let the rest of our land and garden take on a more wild aspect. Finding plants that thrive in the climate here seems incredibly important, especially after this long and dry summer. Walking around the fields each day I have become fascinated by all the plant material and collect materials to bring back to the studio.
Learning to grow things has also led to my interest with using seeds as a print material, the prints reveal something of their structure, spreading, setting seed and growing qualities. I am very passionate about hi lighting the delicate qualities of these plants which many consider to be weeds.

My meadow prints include the following: yellow rattle; lady’s bed straw; black medic; wild carrot; rough hawkbit; common knapweed; field scabious; self heal; common sorrel; hogweed; fennel; yarrow; common bent; sheep’s fescue; smooth stalk meadow grass; cut leaved cranesbill...

‘Wake this Land’, Thorns Gallery, Raydale, Yorkshire Dales.

5 September - 18 October by appointment.

Artists include: Max Bainbridge, Helen Carnac, Ken Eastman, David Gates, Nicola Tassie.

#wakethisland #graphite #botanicalprints #helencarnac @jacquelinereddymoore @thorns.gallery #westsomersetgarden by @studio_carnac

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20 days ago

Lovely opening of Idea, Concept, Fire at Craft in the Bay, Cardiff yesterday.

Enamel, Glass, Pâte-de-verre - as Material Thought
Curated by artists Helen Carnac and Beate Gegenwart

‘The concept for the exhibition grew from a concern about the future of larger scale enamelling in the UK and beyond. Although Heritage Crafts currently classifies the technique as ‘alive, its use among makers is in decline, and opportunities to learn enamelling are diminishing as it disappears from many educational programmes...the exhibition highlights the visual, material, and chemical connections between these practices, revealing shared processes of transformation through heat’
Thanks to all you so much to all the artists involved and the gallery staff and volunteers.
#kirstenhaydon @lianapattihis @davidrhys.jones @beate.gegenwart @coilin_o_dubhghaill
@guymarshallbrown @joshuakerleymaker @janeshort_silver_enameller @annepetters @tracy.nicholls.glass @makerswales
@christine_graf_enamel @jackyolivermetalwork
@studio_carnac

Exhibition continues until 25th October 2026 by @studio_carnac

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22 days ago

Lovely opening of Idea, Concept, Fire at Craft in the Bay, Cardiff yesterday.

Enamel, Glass, Pâte-de-verre - as Material Thought

Curated by artists Helen Carnac and Beate Gegenwart

‘The concept for the exhibition grew from a concern about the future of larger scale enamelling in the UK and beyond. Although Heritage Crafts currently classifies the technique as ‘alive, its use among makers is in decline, and opportunities to learn enamelling are diminishing as it disappears from many educational programmes...the exhibition highlights the visual, material, and chemical connections between these practices, revealing shared processes of transformation through heat’

Thanks to all you so much to all the artists involved and the gallery staff and volunteers.

#kirstenhaydon @lianapattihis @davidrhys.jones
@beate.gegenwart @coilin_o_dubhghaill
@guymarshallbrown @joshuakerleymaker @janeshort_silver_enameller @annepetters @tracy.nicholls.glass @makerswales @christine_graf_enamel @jackyolivermetalwork

Exhibition continues until 25th October 2026 by @studio_carnac

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22 days ago

New works photographed in one of our barns at our home and in the first image in situ in a new exhibition Wake This Land which opened this weekend @thorns.gallery curated by @jacquelinereddymoore

#helencarnacenamel #helencarnac #wakethisland by @studio_carnac

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a month ago