Corazon Renacer , my journey.

Corazon Renacer (reborn heart) symbolizes the journey I experienced last year, the sensation of feeling scare for the unknown and what the future will be and the way how all the pain and insecurities transformed into faith and a strong will to keep moving forward.

One of the new symbolic elements that I am adding to my work is the use of the butterflies. I am using the butterflies because they embrace the will to accept transformation in the best way possible, to enjoy every minute of your life with faith and positivism, to overcome any obstacles and learn from them and focus only in the positive.

In my brooch-pendant "Corazon Renacer" I wanted to include the Milagro Hearts with the butterflies, I added a scar in the center of the big heart and all the butterflies which symbolizes any obstacle or problem that has made us stronger and that has transformed us into better people.

Corazon Renacer (brooch-pendant)
©2014 Lorena Angulo 
Bronze (Goldie Bronze)
3.18 inches by 2.85 inches by 0.33 inches

Corazon Renacer (brooch-pendant)
©2014 Lorena Angulo 
Bronze (Goldie Bronze)
3.18 inches by 2.85 inches by 0.33 inches

"We all have the power to transform pain into something good, we are the ones who decide to sit and suffer or stand up and choose to live life to the fullest no matter what. "

The Transformation of my "Corazon Renacer" necklace

I have been working on this new piece since January 1st, I noticed I am still not as productive as I used to be because is taking me longer to finished this piece but I am SUPER HAPPY to be back in my studio creating no matter what.
It all started with a bronze clay bezel I had in my work table, I looked at it and was not sure what I will do with it. I knew I will add a heart inside but the rest was still a mystery. A couple of days later I knew what I wanted and little by little this new piece is transforming to what I have know. I am again listening to my heart and following my emotions to finished creating my necklace.
Hope you enjoy some images of this journey!

Corazon Renacer
(Reborn Heart)
©2014 Lorena Angulo
Bronze

I still need to add some final details and then it will be ready to go to the kiln for its final transformation!

Thanks for visiting my blog!

Metal Clay & Color

I am very happy to share with all of you that I am part of a wonderful new book coming up this summer. I was invited to be part of a group of artists who will share projects made with metal clay and different mediums to add color. The book's name is Metal Clay & Color by Kalmbach Books and complied by Mary Wohlgemuth. 

20 leading artists (Janet Alexander, Lorena Angulo, Lorrene Baum-Davis, Maggie Bergman, Pat Bolgar, Susan Breen Silvy, Barbara Briggs, Sandra Butchko, Catherine Davies Paetz, Pam East, Joy Funnell, Vickie Hallmark, Hadar Jacobson, Patricia Kimle, Irina Miech, Kim Otterbein, Cindy Pankopf, Cindy Silas, Jewelyn Vanoni and Michela Verani ) contributed ideas and projects for adding color to metal clay.

I created two projects for the book with bronzclay and added color using Creative paperclay and Gilders Paste, I will also have some images of my work for the gallery.

I am sure you will be inspired by the 25 projects included in the book.

Remembrance Necklace

This necklace is very close to my heart. My family had a very difficult year on 2011, we lost three important members of our family in less than 3 months during the summer. Losing them was very painful and I lost the interest in making new pieces or designs. My heart was sad but little by little I have regained my passion for making and drawing my jewelry designs.


I made this necklace as a remembrance of my Soul-Brother Alberto, my Grandmother Felicitas and my dear Mother-in-law Ana Maria. To represent them in my necklace I decided to make three butterflies, each butterfly represents the soul of my dear family members who are now in a better place. In Mexico the butterfly symbolizes the soul of our family member who passed away.


The tree of life who is the center of my piece symbolizes the family and even though the pain is very hard we have to continue with our life and always have them in our hearts. On the back side of the piece I added the heart symbolizing our passion, love, gratitude and respect for them and for continuing with our life and their love they left behind.

Remembrance
©2012 Lorena Angulo
Bronze, coral and chrysocolla

Remembrance
(close up)
©2012 Lorena Angulo
Bronze, coral and chrysocolla

Remembrance
(back view)
©2012 Lorena Angulo
Bronze, coral and chrysocolla

Remembrance
©2012 Lorena Angulo
Bronze, coral and chrysocolla

My new inspirations: The Mayans and Aztecs

I have been designing some new pieces inspired by the Mayan and Aztec cultures. My country has so much richness in its culture and heritage and I always very proud to create pieces that represent me and who I am. Here are some of my pieces I made using Bronzclay (metal clay).

AZTEC
©2011 Lorena Angulo
Bronzclay, Gilders Paste Patina, Bronze chain and
African  Glass Beads

Quauitl (arbol)

©2011 Lorena Angulo

Bronzclay, Bronze wire, Turquoise and Red Coral

My latest piece is named after a wonderful Mayan mask,The Mask of Dead and Rebirth. This is the meaning of this mask that I found in the internet:

This Maya mask shows the different stages of life as part of a never ending cicle of human evolution through life and the afterlife as it was understood by the mayas. The mask has three layered faces, each representing one particular stage of life. The inner face represents the beginning of life at birth. The middle face is the most important one since it represents the adult stage when the person comes into his full potential and most of his life experiences happened. The outer or third face represents the end of earthly life. This sacred time was viewed by the Maya as the end of one cycle and the beginning of another one. Death was followed by lavish preparations for the next life.

In this video you can see how I made this necklace:

Mask of Dead and Rebirth
©2011 Lorena Angulo
Bronzclay

Mask of Dead and Rebirth
©2011 Lorena Angulo
Bronzclay

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My beginnings

I clearly remember my first time working with a new material that looked like clay but was not clay at all. I just could not believe this clay was in reality pulverized pure silver mixed with organic binders to make the metal have a consistency of clay.
I was starting taking metalsmithing classes at  Southwest School of Art in San Antonio with the wonderful Chair of the department (metals) at that moment, Claire Holliday. She mentioned to me about this great material that she tough I will love to learn how to use it. I was very curious to see this "magical" clay and decided I will be taking her introduction class. When the class started I was anxious to get my hand into this material and see first hand what was all this about.
I do have to be honest with you when I first put my hands into the clay I was so stressed because I have an obsession of having my hands clean ALL the time. The clay was in my hands and fingers and I had to clean them very often, I did not realized I was washing away SILVER !!!! The class was fun but I was not very much convinced about it, mostly because I did not like the idea of my hands getting dirty. I continued with my metals classes and left the metal clay on the side for a while. I just did not know what to do with that material, it was until I got in another class with Claire Holliday that I finally realized the great potential this amazing material has. Since then I have been creating most of my work with metal clay (PMC3) and every year that goes by I can see through my work how much I have progressed. 

These are some of my first pieces I made with silver metal clay. As you can see my obsession with hearts has always been present in my work.


The Milagro Heart at the bottom left corner was made during my first ever class with metal clay.




Next to this piece you can see a hollow carved bead, my first bead I ever made too.




The earrings were the first time also using a stone in the jewelry.




The heart on top was made because someone love my first heart (the one at the bottom) but I already had sold it so I had to recreate another in a bigger size.

This rosary was made a very long time ago !!! I used my first cross I made during my first class and a center piece also made on my first class.
I can definitively see how much my work has change since the time I made this piece.  


When my teacher and mentor, Claire Holliday, retired from Southwest School of Art; the students decided to make pins or pendants for her as a way to say Thank You to her great teaching and guidance all these years. I could have done the piece with sterling metal sheet but I decided to make it with metal clay since she was the person who taught me how to work with it. 

Later on more types of metal clay came to the market, first was bronze clay. I was eager to try the new clay and I played in my studio with it making these pieces.

It is so great to go back at my pictures and see what I was making more than 5 years ago, very few of this pieces are with me now. 
I can see how with a lot of practice and not getting discourage because maybe something did not fired correctly, I was able to mature and get better.
Now I do not care if my hands are dirty any more, on the other hand I WANT to get dirty with the clay and create, create, create !!!!


How was your experience when you started creating your art?

Making my Bronzclay pot was an adventure.

For starters, I had to find a way to create the shape of the pot. It came to my mind the way we build piñatas in Mexico, we use a balloon as the core and build around it, so I've got a water balloon and wrapped it with a sheet of bronzclay.

It was a little messy, I had to make 4 cuts on the top to be able to form the pot.

Working to get the basic shape for the pot was a lot of fun and not as difficult as I thought. I had to be very careful to avoid the clay getting dry and tear in some areas.

After sealing the cuts and adding more clay and paste to the joints, I let it dry and started sanding to obtain a smoother surface verifying that the joints were perfectly sealed.

After I was satisfied with the texture and joints, I started giving the pot its own personality, cutting the top and adding some texture on the inside.

My design came alive at the same moment I had the pot in my hands, ideas started to flow and my pot was on its way ;-}.

The pot is finished and ready to be fired in the kiln!!!!

I was very anxious and a little worried about how it will come out.

Waiting was very stressful ;-}.

My pot came out of the kiln in perfect conditions!!!!!

I was very happy!

"Oaxaca"

Bronzclay pot

Lorena Angulo

My Etsy store is open for business !!

Etsy :: pueblofolkart :: PUEBLO FOLK ART Presents:

Finally I finished my piece.

"Frames of a miracle"

My necklace is finished and I enjoyed every minute working on it.

I always try to make a piece of jewelry that will tell a story or will give you a feeling when you look at it.

This piece was a great way to express our journey through my daughter's first three months in the Intensive Care Unit and also represents the beautiful personality that she has today.

The Materials I used were PMC3 for the two main frames, Bronzclay for the six little frames , copper wire, epoxy resin, photos, sterling and pearls.

All the texture on the frames was done by using my own design stamps and carving the design on the metal clay.

Lorena

A new project, a new challenge

I am starting to build a new piece that it is very close to my heart.



This new work piece is inspired by our journey with our daughter Veronica when she was born 3 months early in 2002.



Veronica's birth weight was 1 lb 11 oz, and even though she was extremely ill more than two times she always fought back with all her heart.



She was an inspiration for all of us because she never let go and fought all the time during her three months at the NICU.



Veronica nowadays is a very healthy, energetic, positive and loving little girl that is always teaching us a new thing every day ;-).



The piece is going to be created by a combination of bronzclay frames and two PMC3 (silver clay) frames that will be the central focus of the necklace.




I am still working on the final design and a title.

Lorena

Working with Bronzclay

I had a great time making these Bronzclay pieces for future jewelry pieces.

Every time I play with the clay I learn something new and I like it more and more.

Some of the pieces are going to be on a necklace I will be creating with different metals (copper, bronze and silver). This necklace is very close to my heart because it is inspire by my daughter Veronica and her journey in the NICU on her first three months of life.

The name of the piece is going to be "Frames of a Survivor" but it may change depending on the feeling I will have when the piece is finish or maybe my own daughter will tell me the name ;-}.

Lorena