Known for her long tenure in San Diego’s Allied Craftsmen, Phyllis Wallen was one of the area’s most-recognized enamelists. A member of the San Diego Art Guild and later, the Enamel Guild in Spanish Village, Wallen joined the Allied Craftsmen with her husband, Fennel, becoming the 19th member in the early 1950′s.
Although her background was in painting, Phyllis Wallen began to exhibit mobiles with the Allied Craftsmen but progressed through a variety of media including mosaic, paper sculpture, felt banners and eventually enamel on copper. Inspired by an evening demonstration given by her friend Barney Reid, she took up enamel as an art form and developed her own singular techniques. By 1969, Ms. Wallen worked primarily in enamels - often combined with macramé. She studied art at San Diego State College, U.S.C., Chouinard, and the Schaeffer School of Design.
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