TS Mastro Enamel
Maine Craft Portland: April 1 – May 1, 2021
Center for Maine Craft: May 5 – May 31, 2021
Maine Crafts Association presents the new enamel work of Tracy Mastro.
TSMastro Artist Statement
The new normal created by the pandemic allows more time and space to process thoughts and emotions generated from memories, events and interactions. So much time to think can create more anxiety as well as clarity and ease. In this series of paintings I set out to create visual diagrams of what equates to journal entries; rumination, ideas, mediation practice, rants…
I use vitreous enamel on copper primarily in my jewelry making and have carried that medium over to my painting practice. Building up multiple layers, sifted enamel is applied and kiln fired before the next layer is applied. Interspersed in these layers are various forms of enamel, some bleeding through to the surface and others revealing something beneath the surface. These bits and pieces are symbolic of various thoughts, feelings and ideas floating around and connecting or bouncing off one another. The finished piece is chemically etched and hand polished to give the surface a dreamy matte finish.
I live in the Sebago Lake region of Maine where I maintain a studio for my enamel jewelry and fine art practice in what was my late father’s studio. I enjoy using the vintage enamel powders, supplements, and tools that he had used when he was making enamel jewelry. My recent work was accepted into Surface Matters: Grit or Gloss a traveling exhibit by The Enamelist Society, Under Fire 3 an on-line exhibit by the Enamel Guild North East, and Chemical Exchanges presented by the Brookline Arts Center at their Beacon Street Gallery. I received my BFA for jewelry and Metalsmith from the Maine College of Art in 1991.
Image Description: A collection of original enamel wall pieces now on view at the Center for Maine Craft.