Making a home for my little figurines

It been almost a year since I made my ring figurines and after spending a day cleaning up my studio I noticed they were all inside a box and I felt very sad about it.

I LOVE making them, they gave so much joy and looking at them all together inside a small box make me realize they deserve much better than that.

I took them out of the box and decided to make them a new home.

Looking around me studio, I saw something that will work perfect for what I wanted to make. I want to each have their own space and I am very sure I will have a great time making them.

I painted some unfinished wood boxes in bright colors (of course!) and this is just the beginning of how their new home will look like.

I will post the "nichos" with my rings inside them when I finished making them!


Love,
Lorena ♥
 

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.

Powder Coating class with Michael Dale Bernard

I just had the most amazing and fun class this weekend. Michael Dale Bernard came to Southwest School of Art to teach Powder Coating.

I was very excited to learn this great technique because I love to add color to my work without using beads or stones.


Powder coating is a thermo set, polymer paint process. The coated is applied electro-statically and is then cured under heat to allow it to flow out into a smooth, durable surface.


Here is a great video Michael has about this topic:



The class was intensive but we all had such a great time. Michael is an incredible artists and a very good teacher, he was always willing to answer all the questions the students had.

©2010  Michael Dale Bernard  
Wood be Diamonds, brooch series
Steel, copper, wood, silver, powder coat, enamel paint

The first day of the class Michael let us used some of his found metal objects to start playing with powder coating. We were all eager to start adding some colors. Here you can see some examples that I made with the metal objects he let us used.

These two pieces are still in progress. I will make some
bronze metal clay pieces that will be riveted in the
center to attach all the pieces together.

For the second day I wanted to make something with my own creative style. Of course I had to create a heart and also I decided to powder coat some pieces I had for a necklace I am making.

©2012 Lorena Angulo
CORAZON
Copper, Bronze, powder coat

I am still working in this piece. I am making a necklace using a beautiful
button that was embroidered by Ellen Louwes.
(Copper, Embroidered button , powder coat.)

I am very excited to keep on playing with powder coating, the equipment is not very expensive and I can see myself doing much more of this in the future.

Michael photographed this picture of
my piece.

My little Catrinas: Veronica, Dolores and Carmelita

I finally finished my little Catrinas and I am very happy to see them with their own personalities and charm.

I present to you my "Little Catrinas."

Catrina CARMELITA
©2011 Lorena Angulo
Creative paperclay, acrylics, watercolors

Catrina DOLORES
©2011 Lorena Angulo
Creative paperclay, acrylics, watercolors

Catrina VERONICA
©2011 Lorena Angulo
Creative paperclay, acrylics, watercolors

Here you can see better their faces.

Catrinas DOLORES, CARMELITA and VERONICA
©2011 Lorena Angulo
Creative paperclay, acrylics, watercolors

Before and after images.

Catrinas CARMELITA ,VERONICA and DOLORES
©2011 Lorena Angulo
Creative paperclay, acrylics, watercolors

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Color, Texture & Casting for Jewelers by Carles Codina

I was so HAPPY when I got this wonderful book in the mail. Carles Codina has been one of my favorite artists since I started taking metal smithing classes, his books are in my bookshelf and I always go and look back at them all the time. One of my first books I got was The Complete Book of Jewelry Making and I knew Carles Codina is not only an amazing artists but an incredible teacher and book author.
Color, Textures & Casting for Jewelers is published by Lark Jewelry & Beading (Sterling publisher) and it is a book that covers wonderful ancient techniques as keum boo, mokume gane and granulation.
As Carles Codina says in his book, the truly best way to learn and understand jewelry making is to practice it directly in the workbench. This is why I think this book is going to be a great source to have in any studio because it shows hands-on demonstrations and ways to put all the techniques covered in the book into practice.
The book has beautiful pictures which makes it easier to understand every technique covered in it. 

Mokume Gane involves creating a block made up of different sheets of metal without using solder. This has been a technique I have always admired and Carles Codina explains and shows every step of the process to create it in this book. The images are very clear and I am sure you will be eager to try it just by looking at the pictures and the wonderful gallery images.

Granulation is a technique that involves joining small granules or balls of silver or gold together or on a precious metal surface. I have seen so many wonderful pieces made with this great ancient technique and the book demonstrates very clearly how to be able to do it.  


A big part of the book is dedicated to modeling and casting, which is one of my favorite things to do and learn.
I have done lost wax, sand, cuttlebone, water and tufa stone castings but this book covers much more than that.

You will learn about modeling, microcasting, working with waxes, ceramic coatings, bronze casting, mold making, casting in a closed crucible and much more.


This book is a source of great information with incredible images that will make any jeweler eager to get into the studio and start working and practicing. I know this because that is the way I felt when I finished reading the book.


Great book to have !!