Inspirational Artisans
Our tribute to multi award winning master craftsman
PHIL BARNES
1952 - 2019
Phil was born in London in 1952. His father, Charles Frank Barnes – known as Charles ‘Fred’ Barnes - was a master enameller with his own company, C.F. Barnes & Co. Phil showed a very early interest in the craft, from around the age of eight years old joining his father at weekends and on school holidays in his workshop. In 1967, at the age of fifteen, Phil decided to follow in his father’s footsteps and serve a full time apprenticeship with him.
My training followed the traditional apprentice path; serving under masters as they themselves had done, passing down the skills that had been passed down for generations...
In 1971 he was awarded 'The Jacques Cartier Memorial Award'. This was an incredible achievement for one so young and is given for ‘exceptional and outstanding craft skills and serves as a benchmark of craftsmanship of the highest order’. The award is noted as ‘the perfect way to celebrate craftsmanship that manifests near - or actual - perfection.’
In 1978 Phil received two further prestigious awards, the ‘Freedom of the Goldsmiths’ Company’ and the ‘Freedom of the City of London’.
In 1983, following his father’s retirement, Phil set up his own workshop in Clapham. Later he moved to Yoxford in Suffolk where he remained working as a freelance enameller and engraver, designing and crafting his own pieces.
Over the decades he has also worked for and collaborated with many of the internationally famous jewellery houses such as Asprey, Cartier, De Vroomen, Elizabeth Gage and Theo Fennell. Many of these pieces were commissioned for the owners of prominent private collections such as the British Royal Family, the Maharana of Udaipur and the Sultan of Brunei. Fine examples of Phil’s work are also in the permanent collection at the Musée de l’Horlogerie et de l’Émaillerie, Geneva and in The Goldsmiths’ Company Collection.
Talking about his work Phil said...
Enamelling is a technique with a long history going back as far as jewellery itself, with fine examples still existing from Egyptian, Roman and Anglo Saxon times. The charcoal kilns they used then may have given way to the modern thermostatically controlled gas and electric kilns of today but very little else has changed.
...I incorporate finely hand engraved detail beneath the enamels to bring out the vibrancy and life of the subtly graded colours. Even with a long and full enamelling career behind me, I still get excited about the look only enamel can bring to a piece...
Engraving plays a large part in my work through the line of design and the use of different textures. The transparency and the clarity of the enamels reflecting back from a brightly engraved background
still thrills.
He continued to receive a glittering array of awards throughout his life in recognition of his creative designs and fine craftsmanship, among them were numerous Goldsmiths’ Craft and Design Council awards (known as the ‘Jewellery Oscars’) and The Balvenie Masters of Craft Award.
Phil ensured his knowledge and decades of experience were passed on to a new generation of enamellers. He was master to three apprentices, ran numerous short courses on enamelling techniques for small groups and recently worked with the Queen Elizabeth Scholarship Trust (QEST) mentoring enamellers, Naomi Nevill and Harry Forster-Stringer.
In addition, he gave several master classes in the UK and abroad and was a visiting lecturer on enamelling techniques at The Sir John Cass School of Art, Architecture and Design and the Royal College of Art – to name but a few.
PHIL AT THE PRESTIGIOUS 2019,
'THE GOLDSMITHS' CRAFT AND DESIGN COUNCIL AWARDS'
IN LONDON, ALONGSIDE QEST SCHOLAR, NAOMI NEVILL
A MASTER CRAFTSMAN
How was it made? Champlevé enamelling
In the Studio
FINE EXAMPLES OF PHIL'S WORK
AND CRAFTSMANSHIP
AWARDS
Just some of the awards Phil received over the years...
JACQUES CARTIER MEMORIAL AWARD
FREEDOM OF THE GOLDSMITHS' COMPANY
&
FREEDOM OF THE CITY OF LONDON
GOLDSMITHS' CRAFT AND DESIGN COUNCIL ANNUAL AWARDS - GOLD
THE BALVENIE MASTERS OF CRAFT AWARD
Phil was diagnosed with stomach cancer in 2018. In December of that year he learned that it was terminal.
One thing this terminal cancer diagnosis has given me is time, over the past couple of weeks I have had the pleasure of getting together with family, friends, work mates. Other nasty diseases can just snatch you away, but although this cancer is brutal it has given me some reprieve which I am truly grateful for…
Very sadly, Phil passed away on Sunday 5 May 2019. Since then, hundreds of tributes have poured in from many parts of the world. Clearly a well loved, very inspirational master craftsman, with great creative spirit and enormous respect for past masters. His legacy of stunning work will continue to inform and inspire future generations alongside his book “Engraving and Enamelling – The art of champlevé”.
Just some of the hundreds of tributes paid to Phil...
“He was such a lovely man as well as being a brilliant enamel artist
and an excellent teacher…” - Linda Connelly
“…a wonderful man and an absolute inspiration to so many…”
- Stéfanie Donau
“…His talent as an artist was unmatched and we are so fortunate to be able to view his legacy in his pieces for generations to come…”
– Marsha Greene
“…I just recently discovered his work and anyone who can make such beautiful things had to be an awesome human being…” – Ruth Hilliard
“…He made amazing pieces. I wish I had discovered his beautiful work sooner…”
– Kerry Middaugh
“…I just found him to be a lovely generous soul and with incredible talent. He'll always be a great inspiration to me…” – Sarah Madsen
“…He was such an important person in this industry and to all of us personally, a wonderful man that I will miss a great deal…” – Naomi Nevill
“…He was an inspiration to a generation of enamellers. He will be missed by more people than he could ever realise…” – Robin Phillips
“…Phil was a real master of his art and an inspiration to all of us as a human being…” – Rebecca Plum
“…so many of us who were lucky enough to benefit from his knowledge and craftsmanship will miss him enormously…” - Jeanne Werge-Hartley
'A WELL CRAFTED LIFE'
'A Well Crafted Life' will be a regular feature which looks at the lives of Inspirational Artisans as they talk about their passion for their craft and the things that inspire them. In recent years Phil agreed to be the first Inspirational Artisan to appear in the feature.
Here were his thoughts on his life and craft.