Rikki Mitman - Small Works

---

Kiln-fired enamel on heavy copper.

Winter Street Studios
Studio 18
smallworks@esmitman.com

After decades of glass fusing and beadmaking, fabricating silver jewelry, hand-forming enameled earrings — and loving every minute — Rikki Mitman was suddenly done. Just done.
Ready for something that felt more deeply personal, she turned to kiln-fired porcelain enamel as a medium of expression. Mitman had studied traditional enameling techniques, but that wasn’t where she was headed.
“I wanted a freer, less formalized approach to enamels,” Mitman says. “You hear a lot of rules when you take classes, no doubt for good reason. Still, I wanted to see what I could get away with.”
Inspired by the experimental work of the late Fred Ball, she developed a unique process for creating distinctive collages of enameled metal. Most works are small: One is invited to come close, to glimpse a personal thought, to share an intimate little joke.
Mitman shakes her head over launching an art career in her ‘60s. “It’s a funny thing, to be the ‘new kid’ at my age,” she says with a grin. ”Not always comfortable. But here I am.”