New pieces in my Arbol de Vida Collection

Since I started making and designing my jewelry I have been making various trees of life in different forms. I always love the symbolic meaning of the "Arbol de Vida" and it has been my passion to make them all the time.

The tree of life represent the union between earth and heaven. It was said that the founder gods in Mexico came down to earth through the trees. I love to make them using flowers and birds because they represent new life, hope and love.


My latest piece is going to be a necklace and I am still working in it. It gives me joy to see this piece come alive little by little.

©2012 Lorena Angulo

My other pieces in this collection are one more brooch and earrings. Every piece I design is unique and have the same feeling of nostalgia about the wonderful folk art from my beautiful country, Mexico.

©2012 Lorena Angulo
PMC3 (silver)

©2012 Lorena Angulo
PMC3 (silver)

Amor
©2012 Lorena Angulo
PMC3 (silver)

Arbol de Vida Esperanza
(tree of life hope)
©2012 Lorena Angulo
PMC3 (silver)

A look from Behind

I have always thought that the back of any jewelry piece is as important as the front. I always try to have something on the back of my pieces as a surprise for the wearer and also because I think it says a lot about the maker.
Most of the work I do has a detail on the back, I enjoy very much doing it.

CRUZ PASION (front and back view)
©2011 Lorena Angulo
Pure silver (PMC3), sterling and LOS patina

Soulful Heart (front and back view)
©2011 Lorena Angulo
Bronzclay, brass and coral

MILAGRO HEART pendant (front and back view)
©2010 Lorena Angulo
Pure Silver (PMC3) and LOS patina

CORAZON (front and back view)
©2009 Lorena Angulo
Brass and copper

Lately I started making brooches but I was very curious to see how other artists where making their pin backs and the back of their designs. I looked for inspiration everywhere but it was very hard to find images of the back side of the brooches.
Because I had a difficult time finding images of the back view of brooches I started thinking it will be great if I can create a collection of images from other artists as an inspirational tool.


I finally did it in my Pinterest page, I created a board about the back view of brooches called "Behind the brooch."

Come and take a look at the wonderful work by these artists. I am sure you will find it very interesting and helpful.


I took a class with the talented Gary Schott at Southwest School of Art and I learned how to make my first pin back with him. It was fun and I know I have to practice much more to feel more comfortable making my own pin backs and also start thinking of different ways I can design my own.

Back view of my first time making a pin back.
©2011 Lorena Angulo
Copper and steel wire

I also work a lot with metal clay and took the challenge to make my own pin back and pendant finding for my piece.

Back view of my first brooch/pendant combo
in pure silver (PMC3)
©2011 Lorena Angulo

How do you approach the design of your work ? Do you do something special for the back side? I will love to find out what your ideas about this topic are and if you want me to share an image of your back view of a brooch, let me know and I will add it to my board.


Love,
Lorena Angulo
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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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The journey is complete

I started to create this new piece almost 5 days ago. I knew this new journey will give me a lot of satisfaction since I draw my design.

My first drawing is just an idea of what I want to create. When I am in the process of making the piece and I start to see how it is developing, some changes are made to better fit my idea and what I want to transmit when I create my work.

 My first idea in making my pure silver heart was to make it 

flat and attach it with two rivets.

At the end I decided to make a dimensional silver heart with a flower, I made the flames of the heart with brass and on the back of the heart I hand formed a rose that will have a big place on my back design of the piece.

 I am very happy with how the piece looks. 

It really transmits my passion for what I do.

I always make something on the back of my pieces, I think the back is as important as the front. When I hand sculpted the rose on the back inside of my heart, I knew I will saw out a little window on my copper for the rose to show up.

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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

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

Jewelry & Beading Profile

Thank You Cyndi for featuring me on your awesome blog.

I had a great time answering your questions.

Lorena