How are the new entrants in the medium of enameling and related fields managing to cobble together a living?
SPOTLIGHT: SARAH LOCH-TEST
Desiring to keep up with the young enamelists in our community, I reached out to Sarah Loch-Test, currently working at UNT at Denton. So I asked, how are you making ends meet? We all know it is very challenging to be out of school for only a few years or less and be able to cover the bills using the skills we have. Sarah graduated from East Carolina University in 2016.
Here’s some of what she shared:
I am a full time Visual Arts Technician for the Metals & Jewelry program at the University of North Texas. I’ve been working at UNT for almost 3 years. I also teach as an adjunct from time to time.
Knowing how challenging it is to get a university position right out of school, I queried her about connections.
Sarah: After graduating, I spent the fall at Arrowmont as a Work/Study intern with their Development & Marketing department. During that time, I was applying for jobs, including the UNT position. While I had met the UNT metals faculty through symposiums, it was my experience coordinating the ECU Metals Symposium and being the Studio Apprentice at Society of Contemporary Craft that made me a good candidate for the Metals Technician.
I then wondered how much time Sarah is able to devote to pursuing enameling.
Sarah: Since I work this day job year-round, my studio work can be sporadic. I aspire to do even a little something related to my studio work every day, even if it’s editing images while I eat lunch. During breaks in the school year I’m able to get more done in my studio. While I can use equipment at UNT, I do have a set up at home that includes a bench, various hand tools and a small enameling kiln. I don’t dedicate my work to any one enameling technique, preferring to jump between sifting, decals, China Painting, Plique-a-Jour, etc.
Asked if she has any venues at which she sells, she responded in the affirmative, and added a little more details for us.
Sarah: I have work at Creative Metalsmiths gallery in Chapel Hill, North Carolina and I sell work occasionally at local events or SNAG trunk shows. Since I have a ‘full-time-plus’ job, I don’t focus on sales or production style work. Instead, I try to make work that I can enter in exhibitions or that will allow me to become more familiar with a piece of equipment we have at UNT.
And what is Sarah up to recently?
Sarah: I recently took a workshop with Jamie Bennett at Pocosin Arts and it was a wonderful break from my everyday routine; I was really able to focus on enameling all day. I had worked with China Paints before and it was interesting to see how he approached these materials. I’ve been brainstorming since about how to incorporate the techniques I learned with technology I have available to me and the imagery I use in my work.
