INTRODUCTION
My way to enamelling: Working in the industry as an electrical engineer, I started enamelling in 1974. The activity in craft/art was meant as an addition to my main hobby, playing the piano, and as a balance to the many technical and other problems to be solved in the daily routine of my industrial occupation.
A preference for beautiful colors and patterns obviously played a certain role in my subconscious. The choice of the craft and the technique was accidental. Instinctively I was looking for an activity demanding full concentration and thus not allowing me to further occupy myself with the problems of the day after long working hours . At first I was self-taught, having different books about the subject - after a while I took short courses in enamelling and participated in workshops. Later I started to try to show my works in juried international exhibitions, learning much from the work of other participants. In the course of time I have participated in different exhibitions in Japan, USA, Germany, Spain and have also had solo exhibitions in Switzerland.
My fascination with enamel: I guess the reasons I chose this type of work are manifold. The brilliant colors provide a source of permanent enchantment whilst the many different techniques that can be used to reach the same goal allow for individual skills and temperaments.
For those of us in industry who work in an environment with highly differentiated technical fields and many experts, it is rewarding to work with our own hands - you contribute, directly influence and execute the work and immediately see the result, frustrations included. In addition you have the element of the fire during processing with all the attendant uncertainties presenting challenges to the enameller. This seems to me to be the adventurous part.
My work: My main activity includes wall panels on copper, the size determined by the dimensions of my kiln, which will take a one-piece panel of about 21 cm x 29 cm. Having a certain affinity with the graphic arts, I like to use the sgraffito technique, allowing for thin but definite lines and drawings with many shades. My favorite colors are transparent with some priority in the blue-green region. Cloisonne on silver or on copper for jewelry or for small decorative objects as well as for a chess set or the like is a tedious but rewarding job in my enamelling practice.
My subjects: Many of my pictures deal with the city, an important subject for me. Another source of inspiration is the field of fairy tales and dreams. I also like to create picture stories out of my own fantasy. Observing the world as an intricate assembly of many fine details, lines, shades and maybe hidden codes or signs not well understood is a further inexhaustible source of ideas for pictures.
Gabor Forgo
