Inside/Out Enameling 
Empowering Your Creative Journey Through Questions and Discovery

Unlock the Art of Cloisonné Enameling:
A Hands-On Workshop with Ricky Frank​

Enameling is not just about mastering a technique—it’s about unlocking your unique voice, embracing transformation, and igniting your creative fire. Too often, artists seek answers outside themselves, chasing perfection, replicating techniques, or striving for approval. But the most profound growth happens when you turn inward, when you start with the questions that truly matter to you. When you shift your mindset from performer to explorer, your creative path becomes one of endless discovery, fueled by curiosity and passion.​

Cloisonné is more than a technique; it’s a gateway to creativity, blending structure with expression. With delicate wires guiding the flow of color, you gain both control and artistic freedom, shaping vibrant designs that glow from within.

This class is your invitation to step into the world of cloisonné enameling, where tradition meets innovation and your unique vision comes to life.

The Power of Questions: Your Creative Compass

Instead of asking, How can I make a perfect enamel piece?, ask, What do I see? What calls to me? Questions are not obstacles to be solved; they are doorways to possibility. They open new paths, reveal insights, and invite you to experience enameling in a way that is deeply personal and alive.
Consider these guiding questions as you step into your practice:

• What excites me about enamel—its alchemy, its color, its unpredictability?
• How do I want to feel when I am working? What energy do I want to bring?
• What would happen if I played instead of proved? If I explored instead of perfected?
• What small experiment can I try today that challenges me in a new way?

Discovering and Embracing Your Burning Questions

Your burning questions are the fuel for your creative fire. They are not just about technique; they are about your essence as an artist. These questions act as your internal compass, guiding your passion and shaping your actions. They connect your artistry with your deeper self, transforming your work from something you do into something you are.
Ask yourself:

• What stories am I yearning to tell through my enamel work?
• How does my artistic vision reflect my life, my emotions, my evolution?
• What materials, textures, or forms resonate deeply with my inner voice?
• How can I push beyond what I already know and trust my own instincts?

​Your artistic vision and voice are not separate from your burning questions—they emerge from them. By embracing these questions, you give yourself permission to create fearlessly, to step into the unknown, and to let your work become a reflection of your ever-unfolding artistic journey.

Turning Questions Into Creative Action

Questions are the beginning of transformation, but real change happens when you act on them. Instead of searching for the ‘right’ answer, engage with your questions through experience. Let them lead your hands, your eyes, and your intuition.
If you ask, What if I let go of control and embrace unpredictability?, try:

• Layering enamels freely, allowing heat and chemistry to collaborate with you.
• Experimenting with unconventional firing techniques and observing the magic that unfolds.
• Breaking from routine—choosing a new tool, a new method, or an unexpected material to see where it takes you.

When you let your work become an ongoing conversation rather than a performance, you invite deeper understanding and profound creative breakthroughs.

Shifting From Performer to Explorer

Shifting From Performer to Explorer
Are you creating to prove something—or to discover something? The performer mindset seeks validation, fears mistakes, and hesitates in the face of uncertainty. The explorer mindset finds joy in the unknown, embraces failure as fuel for learning, and values the process over the outcome.
Step into the explorer’s shoes and ask:

• What can I learn from what didn’t go as planned?
• What if I welcomed mistakes as hidden opportunities?
• How can I make this practice about growth instead of judgment?

When you shift into exploration, you replace fear with curiosity. You move from rigid expectations to creative freedom. And in that space, you’ll find the most authentic, vibrant version of your work.

Weaving It All Together: A Daily Creative Practice

To build an inside-out enameling practice, create a rhythm of questioning, experimenting, and reflecting:

1. Begin with a Question – What excites you today? What do you want to discover?
2. Take Bold Action – Let curiosity lead. Let go of the need for a perfect result.
3. Reflect and Celebrate – What new insights emerged? What surprised you? What can you carry forward?
4. Iterate and Expand – Each experiment becomes the foundation for the next breakthrough.

By embracing your questions, following your curiosity, and stepping boldly into exploration, you transform not only your enameling practice but your entire creative life. Learning enameling from the inside out isn’t about acquiring technical skill—it’s about discovering the artist you are meant to be.

The Three Pillars of This Workshop

1. Mastering the Techniques

Cloisonné enameling is built on a foundation of skills that allow you to prepare, apply, and fire materials with precision and intention. Ricky, with over 48 years of experience, shares his knowledge of:

• Preparing a copper and fine silver "Canvas Blank"
• Preparing and shaping wires for intricate designs.
• Applying silver/gold foil to create "layers of reflected light"
• Choosing, applying, and layering enamels to create depth and vibrancy.
• Firing techniques to achieve consistent, beautiful results.

He shows you how he uses a skill, encourages you to try it his way, but invites you to explore and find "Your Way".  But more than simply teaching technique, Ricky shares his decision-making process: the questions he asks himselfand the conversation he has with his tools and materials that help him make his choices.
​This isn’t about copying his way; it’s about discovering your way.

2. Enamel Science: Understanding the ‘Why’ Behind the ‘What’

Cloisonné enameling is not just an art—it’s also a science. When materials are exposed to heat, chemical changes occur. Understanding these transformations allows you to troubleshoot and refine your process with confidence.

In this class, you’ll learn about 2 Enamel Science Concepts:

• Variables—anything that you can change that will create a different result.
• Principles—the natural laws that guide how enameling works, helping you move with them rather than against them.

For me, one of the most important questions in enameling is: "What does it depend on?". Does it depend on the firing temperature? If so, what happens when I change it? When you understand the Variables you can imagine possible options. 
​ When you understand the principles you prevent problems before they occur.  No more guesswork—just informed, intentional creativity.

Change the variables and
​change your results.

• Type of enamel
• Layer thickness
• Enamel grain size
• Firing temperature
• Firing time
• Type of metal

Learn the Principles and understand the WHY?

• Chemical Reactions
• Eutectic Bonds
• Transparency & Air Bubbles
• Thermal Expansion/ Cracking
• Firing Stages 
• ​Time/Temp Relationship

A Mindset​ that takes you "Beyond Techniques"

True mastery of cloisonné enameling isn’t just about technique or science—it’s about intention. Why do you want to learn this art? What excites you about it? How do you want to express yourself?
Ricky doesn’t just teach you how to replicate his work. Instead, he empowers you to:

• Critically examine what you want to learn and why.
• Design exercises that strengthen your skills and artistic voice.
• Move beyond imitation and step into creative confidence, where your enameling becomes an authentic expression of you

What Will You Learn?

Cloisonne´ Skills

 Opaque White Canvas Blanks

Wires and Foils

Color Layers

Both Mindsets are important, but many classes get stuck in the Performer Mindset.
​We find the balance that helps you build enamel skills and your creativity.

Performer Mindset
​Informational Learning & Teacher-guided

• I just want the Facts
• The teacher shows me what to do
• I believe what others tell me is the Right Answer
• I try to remember and recall the Right Way
• I try to do it the Right Way & be Perfect
• I ask "Will it work?"
• I can feel stuck when I don't know the Right Answer

Explorer Mindset
​Experiential learning &  Self-guided

• I learn from my Results
• I learn from my experiences (good or bad)
• I see different Results with my own eyes
• I internalize the process and can remember what I did
• I imagine possible ways to "do it"
• I ask "What if" questions and do it just to see
• I do One Thing to discover possible answers to my questions

Learn the Core Skills

Canvas Skills

• Copper/silver shape
• Form/Dome
• Base layers of enamel

Wire ​Skills

• Bend wires to design
• Apply to canvas blank
• Fire into place

Foil ​Skills

• Cut silver/gold shapes
• Apply to enamel
• Fire into place

Color ​Skills

• Prepare different colors
• Apply into wire cells
• Fire and build up layers

Finishing Skills

• Grind enamel surface
• Final firing
• Polish surface

Design Skills

• Design elements
• Design Principles
• ​Format/Composition