Adorn Me! 2010 Houston.

A few months ago I found out about an art retreat that was going to take place in Houston, Texas.

I was very happy to know that I will have the opportunity to finally meet and take classes with three artists that I admired their work a lot.

Adorn Me! was organized by Phoenix Rising Productions and I have to say they are the best.

The teachers come from various states and are the best in their field.

I signed up with three incredible artists to take classes.

Richard Salley was my first teacher and his class was incredible. The class was "Caught in a trap" and it was very fun.

I have been a big fan of his work and meeting him was an honor.

During his class I did fold forming for the first time and created three pieces.

My second teacher was Thomas Mann and his class was a two day workshop. His class was "The found object sandwich."

The class was intense and he was very patience and nice with all of us. He shared tips in a lot of techniques.

I have admired his work for a long time, I ADORE to create hearts and that was somethings that caught my attention about his work. It was a pleasure to be in his class.

The crown is glow in the dark acrylic ! I LOVE IT !!!!

My third teacher was Keith Lo Bue. He is the most creative and fun teacher ever. He was very nice and shared a lot of his knowledge. His class was "Back on the chain gang."

We worked with steel wire and created links to be able to make a chains or a bracelet. It was intense, we used heavy duty tools !! ;-). It was very fun .

During Adorn Me! we had a night for vendors and I was invited to show and sell my work there. I had an incredible time and met a lot of wonderful people. Susan Dilger was a big help for me and I will always thank her.

I am ready for Adorn Me! 2011 and maybe next time I may be teaching metal clay.

I will post more information and hope to see you there next year!!!

LUMINARIA 2010. Arts night in San Antonio.

San Antonio, Texas is a beautiful city full of cultural events through out the year.

Yesterday we had a fantastic event in downtown called LUMINARIA.

LUMINARIA celebrates arts in San Antonio having lots of activities during the night of the celebration.

A view of the River Walk when we arrived for the celebration !

My beautiful kids and my parents ready to have fun.

We had a great laser show in the street, my kids enjoyed watching

the lights dance.

Veronica reading the Mexican Tale of "La Llorona" in the gallery section.

I love this beautiful technique called Papel Picado.

These paintings are gorgeous !!!!

The students from Say Si participated in LUMINARIA this year too, they did a fantastic job.

If you are in San Antonio next year around this time do not miss going to

LUMINARIA, you will have a great time.

Now we are getting ready for FIESTA !!!!

"Cultural Messages: Symbolism Through the Ages" Exhibition at Perdue University

I am honored to be part of the "Cultural Messages: Symbolism Through the Ages" Exhibition at Perdue University during the PMC Conference 2010.

My piece selected was my copper clay "Calavera" that symbolized the Day of the Dead in my culture from Mexico. We celebrate the loves ones that have died by honoring them with alters and skulls that represent them in life.

For my culture, dead it is not something that we need to be sad or scare of, on the other hand, we celebrate our loves ones for what they lived and their love for life and family.

It is a pleasure to share some of my traditions with my work and I am going to be very happy to part of these group of talented artists in the exhibition.

The exhibition was curated by the PMC Guild Director Jeanette Landenwitch specifically for the conference.

The making of...

Some of my friends have asked me how it is the process of making my skulls or masks and I thought that images can say more than words.
I created these collages with some of my photos that I always take during the making of my pieces.
I hope you like them !!!

Love,
Lorena

A little about my life.

This picture means a lot to me ! I took it for a challenge I got myself into this year to make one ring a day for the whole year.

Why is this photo so important to me, you may ask.

I was diagnosed with Diabetes type 2 last year at the end of May. For me to find out about this was devastating because I am young and have two small children.

Although I knew I will have a big possibility to have diabetes because it runs in my family, I did not pay attention to it and just let go of myself. I gained a lot of weight since I have my first kid and did not loose it. Being overweight triggered my illness and made it present in my life sooner.

I will never forget the day my doctor told me, "You have diabetes and I will explain to you what can happen to you if you do not control it."

He was very REAL and I knew he was not making the problem bigger because I have seen what diabetes can do to you and your family. A dear uncle die last year of this illness and it was very sad.

I was scared and cried with my husband a lot !!! But the second day I got my plan together and started to take control of my life and my health. I knew what I have to do and I was positive I will control my diabetes by eating healthy and taking my medication.

Medication is not the only answer, what we eat plays a crucial role in our control. It will not matter how much medication you take if you are not eating healthy and exercise.

Since then I have lost almost 40 pounds and let me tell you, I am eating very good !!!

There are some days, like today, that my sugar is not normal but everything can get out of control just because you may be getting a cold or having stress.

I know I am doing a great job but days like today make me feel a little sad because I remember again that I am living with Diabetes and it will never go away. I will control it but I will live with it forever.

I am fortunate to have the big support of my husband and kids, they are my big motivations and I will live healthy for them and me.

You may be thinking why am I writing about this in my blog and the answers is this:

I am writing this in my blog because I want to share my experience and inform you about this silent illness.

Take care and all my love for you all !!

Haiti Ring Auction !

Come and visit the "Haiti ring auction" to help the people from Haiti.

Artists got together and donated beautiful rings to help in this terrible disaster.

Every day two new rings will be in display to be auction, all the process will be going to an organization that is helping Haiti.

My ring is made with pure silver metal clay and has a beautiful LOS patina, the size of this ring is 8.

Superbowl 2010 !

Sorry!!! If you thought this was going to be about football, it is NOT!

I am talking about a bowl that I made to celebrate the coming Superbowl.

A group of artists is going to be making a bowl to celebrate this event and I decided to make it with copper clay.
Copper clay is the newest of the metal clays in the market and I LOVE IT !!!!
The color and feeling of this wonderful metal creates beautiful pieces.

In this collage you can see a little of the process for making a piece with metal clay. I am always trying to make bigger and bigger pieces, this is my third bowl or pot that I make. The first one was bronze and it is only 1.30 inches, the second one was copper and it is only 2.20 inches by 2 inches. This bowl is about 3.40 inches by 3 inches.

I fired my metal clay bowl at full ramp up to 1700 F and hold it in that temperature for 3 hours, my final bowl came out great with some imperfections but I will learn from them !!!