Marilyn Druin
	The enameling world recently suffered the loss of one of its finest craftspersons. Marilyn Druin, of Avon-by-the-Sea, New Jersey, USA died after a year's illness. Marilyn was widely known in the U.S. and abroad for her richly colored jewelry and goblets worked in gold cloisonné. Her work has been included in the National Handicraft Museum in New Delhi, India; The Enamelist Society International "Masterworks" Exhibition, Waterloo, Canada; the 9th International Exhibition of Enameling Art, Tokyo, Japan; "Enamel 3", Coburg, Germany, and numerous exhibitions in the U.S. She was the recipient of prestigious prizes in various exhibitions which included the Philadelphia Museum of Art Craft Show, the Smithsonian Craft Show, the Enamel Guild/Northeast "Art of Enameling". Druin taught workshops in many schools and art centers in the States, in Toronto, Canada, and was instructor of metal and enamels classes at Newark Museum, New Jersey. Though Mrs. Druin's formal schooling included a degree in Art Education from William Patterson University, she was largely self-taught in her own medium, learning also (as she said) "with help from generous metalsmith and enamelist friends". The evolution of her ability as a craftsman is apparent in the work. She established the simple but imposing shapes on which she liked to work in the 1980s. During the 1990s Druin, having made a decision to work only in gold cloisonné, integrated her use of form, design, and color to produce exquisite objects. These goblets, brooches, and neckpieces make use of simple shapes which gather their strength from the lushness of color, the textural use of the gold wire, and the richness provided by guilloché engraving on the underlying metal. Her craftsmanship was impeccable. Her resumé stated clearly her feeling for glass and metal: "I am moved by the strength of opposing forces - rock and water, wind and earth. I see metal and glass as possessing the same opposition and tension. I fabricate a rigid metal form, then alter the basic metal surface to add depth, texture, and definition to the smooth and fluid nature of glass enamel. ...I wish the hand of the maker to be evident in my attempts to create order and balance within my work." Acknowledgements: Text provided by Jean Tudor; printed also in the December 2001 issue of L'Esmalt (published by C.I.D.A.E.).
Click this link to go to a website devoted to Marilyn Druin which contains many excellent images as well as information about Marilyn and her work - it was constructed by her family.