BELLEVUE, WA.- Jamie Bennett is an internationally acclaimed artist and innovator in the world of contemporary jewelry. Edge of the Sublime: Enamels by Jamie Bennett explores the artist’s imaginative use of paint, pencil and enamel to create uncommonly poetic and highly sensuous works of art. Included are more than 75 jewelry pieces and 35 works on paper, wall reliefs, sketches and notebooks, in addition to numerous drawings that shed light on Bennett’s productive 30 year career.

Bennett’s painterly innovations have greatly expanded the field of fired enamel into a medium for contemporary expression. Enameling is an ancient method of decorating metal by sifting or painting enamel powder (finely ground glass) onto a metal surface and then heating the piece with a torch or in a kiln to melt and fuse the glass to the metal. This exhibition explores the artist’s creative use and development of a variety of enameling and metalworking techniques to produce highly color-saturated imagery on signature brooches, necklaces and pendants. The drawings and accompanying text will inform viewers of Bennett’s artistic practices, revealing both his working processes and conceptual development.

Bennett graduated from the University of Georgia, Athens with an undergraduate degree in business in 1971, but followed his passion for the arts to the State University of New York at New Paltz, where he devoted himself to becoming a metalsmith. He completed his MFA there in 1975, and went on to several teaching positions including a faculty position for the Program in Artisanry at Boston University. He is now a Professor of Art in the Metal Program at his alma mater, SUNY at New Paltz. His work is included in the collections of over 20 museums around the world including: The Victoria and Albert Museum, London; The Philadelphia Museum of Art; Musée de Arts décoratifs, Paris; Museum of Arts & Design, New York; and the Renwick Gallery, National Museum of American Art, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C.