Origins and Routes is here!

Alexandra Amaro Lifestyle Photoshoot #2

Photoshoots are EXHAUSTING but so incredibly worth the effort. I am lucky to have friends who are striking beauties and willing to model my jewelry.

Here is a little (unedited) preview of the shoot I finished just hours ago with Lauren Lauren, a fellow metalsmith and jeweler-in-training at CCA.

I am very, very pleased with the results!

Jewelry: Alexandra Amaro
Photography: Alexandra Amaro
Model: Lauren Lauren
Styling: Alexandra Amaro
Hair and Makeup: Lauren Lauren
on location in Point Richmond, CA

www.alexandraamaro.com

Happy Hour

My teachers let us out of class an hour early today. I am so appreciative of this unexpected extra time.

I am sitting on the deck with Rico, having a Smithwicks, and taking a break. Just me and him, which is great because we love our guests but it's awesome to have a moment alone.

In an hour, it's studio time! I am going to make 14k wee stud earrings. For myself. Because it's what I feel like doing, and I've discovered one of the tricks to getting hella work done (that is NorCal slang for those of you far away) is to simply make what you feel like making.

Alexandra Amaro Lifestyle Photoshoot

Jewelry: Alexandra Amaro
Styling: Alexandra Amaro
Photography: Alexandra Amaro
Models: Bárbara Albuquerque and Inês Carijó
Hair and Makeup: Bárbara Albuquerque and Inês Carijó
shot on location in Point Richmond

Trade Bead and Raw Diamond Cocktail Rings

Companion cocktail rings with Mozambique Island trade beads, raw diamond, 14k rose gold, sterling silver.

Marrying the Designer with the Traveler

Carved coral earrings from the Italian side of my family, remixed with antique trade bead tubes found at Mozambique Island. 14k and 10k gold hardware.

I've been working hard over the past few days to update my Alexandra Amaro jewelry website. I am trying to bridge the gap between what I am making in art school for my senior thesis and the work that I make otherwise. Check out the progress here.

For a long time I've felt like I have two distinct jewelry styles: "designer Ali" and "worldly Ali".

The first is clean, almost minimalist organic geometry. It's what happens when I sit down and sketch out a plan for a piece. "Designer Ali" is commercial, appealing to a wide audience, easy to wear. It is also, in the words of many a professor and peer at CCA, "safe work." Safe work isn't necessarily bad, but it isn't innovative or especially outstanding.

My other style, "worldly Ali," has its roots in what I loved making in Mozambique: fusion work that brings together various antique, ethnic, travel-inspired elements in a high-touch presentation. I've refined that look, and I love it. But it's very different from "designer Ali."

I often think that if you put the two categories of work side by side, nobody would ever believe that the same artist made them. On a certain level, this has always bothered me. I've long wanted to reconcile these two parts of my creative self, to marry them and create a hybrid offspring. With each new piece I make for my senior project, I believe I am coming closer.

The big question I am asked these days is, "So what are you going to do once you graduate?"

Honestly, I don't know. I have lots of ideas, I can see several viable paths to follow, but I don't really know what I want in terms of a grand strategy.

I know a few things, though:

- I want to continue working in the style of my senior thesis work. "Origins and Routes" is the kind of work I've always dreamed of doing. I find it highly fulfilling, exciting, and motivating (even when it's frustrating). I love working with materials from distant places and times. I am obsessed with where things came from, who used to own them, what path they traveled to reach me. I like telling stories about identity and place through materials. This style of cultural re-mix work speaks to me in a major way, and I feel that I should keep doing it, even if it's not immediately obvious who would buy it or where I would sell it successfully.

- I don't enjoy making the same thing twice. Yes, this will improve once I get an assistant and don't have to do 100% of the grunt work (e.g. filing, sanding, polishing, cutting) associated with metalsmithing. However, it's a fact that I am a one-of-a-kind girl. That said, I know that being able to work in some sort of production model is helpful (necessary, even). I believe the solution is to work in series, but the details are still becoming clear.

- I want to make things that nobody else could make. Us metalsmiths are a pretty versatile lot. We have mad skills, and once we are trained we can work in essentially any style, making any kind of piece. I could make a Tiffany-style solitaire engagement ring just as readily as I could make a necklace out of found objects and melted plastic. So it comes down to a unique vision. I believe my Origins and Routes work is on the right path here, too. Yes, technically others could assemble or form these pieces, but nobody will ever have the same vision I do when it comes to the cultural mash-up.

- I don't want to grow to hate being a jeweler. I know it's a possibility, that burn-out is hugely common especially when acting as a one woman operation. But I really, really, really want to avoid it. I also don't want my hands to crap out on me. I have problems with tendonitis and fatigue and pain, but it's manageable as long as I don't abuse my body with long hours and horribly repetitive tasks.

Other than that, it's pretty much up in the air. I have faith that as graduation draws closer, answers will become more obvious. Until then, I will continue to prepare as much as possible for that elusive next step. Website updates, photo shoots, business plan brainstorming, gallery and boutique scouting, and everything else that seems of use no matter which path I decide to follow.

I'm a Star in a Metalsmithing Video

You can see me in all my film-worthy, jewelry-making glory on my Alexandra Amaro blog (click here).

Lost and Found Exhibition May 5 - June 15

I am very excited to announce a gallery show that I will be participating in together with my fellow CCA jewelry students at D&H Sustainable Jewelers in San Francisco. The show will feature works made in the Lost and Found class that focuses on recycling, repurposing and reusing materials. There will be an opening reception this Saturday, May 5th from 5-8pm (there is a wine bar in the gallery so fun times for all). Work will be on view through June 15.

Here is the card for our show as well as the official press release (that I wrote - yay for business skills coming in handy).

 The students of the “Lost and Found” Jewelry/Metal Arts class at the California College of the Arts will be presenting works created throughout the Spring 2012 semester in an exhibition at D&H Sustainable Jewelers in San Francisco, on view from to May 5^th to June 15^th  2012. There will be an opening reception on Saturday May 5^th 5pm-8pm.

Through discussion and experimentation, the class explored the formats of jewelry, functional object, and sculpture to change perception about found materials. A primary challenge was to transform waste materials into objects that have purpose, thus allowing potential landfill to have a second life.

Using a wide array of materials including discarded jewelry, hard drives, phone books, antique trade beads, found wire, and recycled metal, students created reimagined pieces with new layers of meaning.

For more information on the “Lost and Found” exhibition or the Jewelry/Metal Arts program at California College of the Arts, please contact Curtis Arima at curtis@curtisharima.com  or visit www.cca.edu. D&H Sustainable Jewelers is a fine jewelry design house that works only with reclaimed precious metals and ethically sourced diamonds and gemstones, located at 2323 Market St., San Francisco, CA, (415)500-2550,  www.dnhjewelers.wordpress.com.

Lost and Found

This semester I am taking a class called Lost and Found that is all about reusing and reworking materials or components into new pieces. Our first assignment was to select a piece of old, unwanted, possibly ugly jewelry from a pile of stuff to be donated and somehow remake it into something new and fabulous.

I selected a surfer-style shell necklace that had multiple disc-shaped white shells strung together and some chunks or coral and dyed turquoise in the center. Instead of stringing the shells together, I envisioned them riveted to a backplate of some sort. After an intense design session, I decided to create a spinoff of my Floral Chain Maille nekclace.

I punched out a series of nu-gold brass discs, drilled holes, then linked them together using double-balled wires. This has become one of my favorite constructions, not only for the aesthetics but because it is relatively fast and creates a pretty impressive end result. The pieces move like chain maille and drape really nicely against the neck and chest.

As a result of the torch technique required to get the double-balled wire links, I got a really interesting patina on the nu-gold discs. For a while I thought it might be too charred for appealing wear, but I liked it so much I decided to leave it. I waxed the metal to make a nice surface and preserve the patina, then got to riveting. I attached a selection of shells from the surfer necklace I'd originally selected to recycle, then added some black antique trade beads from Mozambique Island that I'd collected on a visit there in 2009.

The final touch was a pair of stud earrings to coordinate with the necklace. I am so excited about this piece. It's really nice and heavy to wear, and I love that the materials are a combination of old/antique and old/reclaimed/recycled plus a new design. This set will likely go into an exhibition at D+H Sustainable Jewelers in San Francisco at the end of our semester.

The Surprise Necklace for Renata

Nearly two years ago, Rico's aunt Renata saw the sterling silver version of the Floral Chain Maille Necklace and fell in love. Only she wanted it in 18k yellow gold, a material that I didn't know how to work with at that point in my metalsmithing training. Renata said that she would wait as long as it took, but that she wanted the first necklace in this design in gold.

Good thing Rico's uncle took note. Last year, when I finally started some goldsmithing, we made a plan to give this necklace to Renata for her 50th birthday. I worked like crazy over winter break (but in secret, because Rico's aunt and uncle were staying at our house!) , and managed to get everything ready in time to be hand-carried down to Brazil. That was in December, and I've had to keep my mouth shut for nearly two months, not an easy task since I was so excited about how the necklace turned out.

Yesterday was the big day, and Renata finally got her birthday gold necklace. As you can see from the photos below, I think she was pretty surprised. :)

That grin just makes my day. Every time I get overwhelmed by school and question why I am doing any of this if it makes me so stressed sometimes, I just need to look at this photo. It perfectly expresses why I love to make jewelry.

Renata's the perfect model for the necklace, no? What a glamorous way to make my entry into the Brazilian market!

Mantras for the Semester

"Perfect is the enemy of good (enough)."

"Rome wasn't built in a day."

There's so much to consider in building a creative business. First, obviously, you must have a well-designed, beautifully made, compelling product. Creating amazing jewelry has been the focus of most of my efforts over the past two years, as without the good pieces it makes no sense to invest in growing the business. However, I'm at a point where my business side needs to make a leap forward. Not the numbers and accounting, although that could use some attention too. Rather I'm talking packaging, website content and layout, product tags, letterhead, logo, business cards, etc. Essentially the whole branding and marketing effort that will really send a professional, polished image to back up my jewelry.

It's so frustrating sometimes because there are so many details and I can't always tackle them all. Sometimes my packaging is not ideal to the shape of a piece, or a label is hand-written instead of stamped, or my website still carries my old logo and branding because I wasn't able to make the change to the new site in time for the holidays. There's just so much to think about and be on top of...

That's when I try to remind myself of the two sayings at the top of this post. Something is better than nothing, always. Baby steps to your goal. Or as they would say in Mozambique, "pouco-pouco."

The Traveler Necklaces

Each necklace in the 15-piece Traveler series has the name of a different city worldwide that inspired the color palette. Adding to the traveler vibe, the trade beads used in the design are hundreds of years old and have crossed the globe several times over, starting in Venice or Bohemia where they were made, carried to Africa by the Portuguese, washed up on the shores of Ilha de Moçambique after shipwrecks, and finally brought here to San Francisco in my luggage.

Where will their next stop be?

(The Helsinki Traveler Necklace and the other Travelers are available at www.alexandraamaro.com)

Custom Jewelry: Cornflower Sapphire Set

Here is another one of my custom jewelry designs from this summer. A client wanted me to make some jewelry for his wife's birthday. She happens to be a friend of mine, which is great because I know her style. She wears very small, minimal jewelry and is somewhat conservative in her taste. She loves the color blue and only wears white metals. These were basically my only guidelines.

Here is the set I designed, plus the original sketch. I bezel set sapphire cabochons on a sterling silver backplate that looks like a cross between a cornflower and a cog wheel. I'm happy to say everything was a hit, and my minimalist friend is using these pieces frequently.

Custom Tibetan Turquoise Bolo Tie

A family friend had a very large nugget of Tibetan turquoise he acquired while living in Asia in the 1970's. He wanted it made into a bolo tie and asked me to put together a custom design.

This project was full of challenges. First, it's daunting to work with a precious one-of-a-kind object from a client, in particular a soft stone like turquoise that likes to crack. Second, the nugget was very irregular, making it hard to set (at least it presented a challenge for my fledgling stone-setting skills). Third, someone had already drilled two holes all the way through the stone back in the day, so that it could hang as a pendant on a cord, and I'd have to figure out what to do with those very visible, crookedly-drilled holes.

I put together a design that involved prong setting the turquoise nugget, attaching said prongs to a pierced sterling silver backplate, and putting ball rivets through the existing drilled holes so that they'd attach to the backplate. Then I attached a bolo mechanism, brown leather cord, and silver end pieces on the cord.

The client appears very satisfied, and I am too. More than anything I'm happy that I'm increasingly able to come up with a design in my head and replicate it in metal pretty faithfully.

Here's a few photos of the initial sketch and the final piece.

Relaunch, Refresh, Recreate

Dear Friends,

I'm getting ready to re-launch my Alexandra Amaro jewelry website to better reflect the work I've been creating in art school. To celebrate (and to make re-listing my inventory easier), I'm offering 20% off any piece online, even those already on sale.

Use coupon code RELAUNCH at checkout, good through August 31st.

Stay tuned at www.alexandraamaro.com for the new site, coming soon!

Mandala Necklace (In Progress)

Edited today to add the story of how this piece made me cry. I was too tired last night and forgot.

Last semester (Spring 2011) my jewelry class concentrated primarily on chasing and repoussé, a technique that involves hammering steel punches against a softer metal (e.g. copper, silver) to create three-dimensional relief and fantastic texturing. It's the closest to drawing in metal I've ever experienced. Chasing is when you work the front side of the metal, creating outlines or adding detail to a previously "pushed out" section. Repoussé, or more properly repoussage, is when you work the back side of the metal to create volume, the aforementioned "pushing out".

In preparation for our first big assignment, we made tools (intimidating but useful) by grinding steel punches into different shapes. We then practiced tap-tap-tapping the tools against copper to get an idea of how much you can manipulate metal into the form and design you desire. Metal really is more like clay than you'd ever imagine. It's amazing how elastic it can be when manipulated with punches and a hammer.

Our first assignment was to create a piece that expresses a dichotomy, ideally using chasing and repoussé. We were challenged to be conceptual, and to express two polar opposite concepts within one piece of jewelry or sculptural object.

Nearly all of my ideas for this project revolved around the idea of ornamentation vs. clean space. I love patterns and embellishments, but they need some negative or quiet space to feel balanced. Taking it further, when I create hand-drawn patterns or do repetitive decorative work, I get into a trance-like state. The work is very meditative, and I find it ironic that by making something so "busy" I am able to attain the clean-mind state of being that is the goal of most meditation. That was my conceptual dichotomy - the contrast between ornate, busy embellishments and the quiet, blank mind-space I reach by creating them. Now how to express that idea in metal...

I first started by sketching some pattern progressions. I wanted to make a necklace where each link would be progressively complex in form as well as texture/ornamentation. My inspiration was from a Nanettte Lepore dress I coveted earlier in the year.

Once I had a progression I was happy with, I started to sketch out the center medallion for the necklace. I wanted it to be mandala-like, a repetition of the shape used in the links. My idea is for the outside of the mandala to be super textured, but for the center to be very clean and smooth to express how my meditative mind feels while making all these patterns and textures.

After I got my idea sorted, I started to work in sterling silver. In order to chase and repoussé, you need something to support the metal when you strike it with the steel punches. We use a bowl full of a resin-like substance called pitch that is viscous and tar-like when heated, then dries to a hard consistency that will securely hold your metal in place while you work it, yet is supple enough to allow the metal to expand and contract. It's messy but pretty amazing.

Once I'd worked each link in my necklace, I cut them out with a jeweler's saw and soldered a border on the back to reinforce the edges (they get pretty thin with all that hammering). The links between the chased and repousséd pieces were cut from very thick silver that I recycled myself.

Back and forth, back and forth. You have to flip your metal several times in order to get the desired effect. It takes time. Lots of time. And all that hammering and holding tools is pretty hard on the hands and forearms. I struggled with repetitive stress injuries nearly all semester despite being really vigilant about stretching, resting and good posture.

I also had a mini-breakdown due to this piece taking so much out of me. I had about 10 times the work I'd anticipated, and spent 12-hour days in the studio everysingleday of Spring Break. That Wednesday it got to me. I hated my work. I was exhausted. I resented not having a vacation when I already so desperately needed one. I was especially frustrated because it was a *choice* to do this project, and a *choice* to work every damn day of my break, and a *choice* to push myself so hard. I had nobody to really blame/thank for how I felt but myself. After stepping outside into the alleyway outside the studio and having a good, lonesome cry I felt somewhat better. Still, I thought quite clearly, "I don't want to do this anymore." In that moment, I wasn't sure what that feeling encompassed. My specific project? School? Becoming a jewelry artist? Having my own business at all?

Although I worked a ridiculous amount on this piece, I wasn't able to finish it in time for the deadline (or even for the end of the semester, although I had good intentions). That was tough, but there came a point where I just had to set the necklace aside and concentrate on the next project so I wouldn't fall behind on that one as well. Being super burned out didn't help either. Honestly I didn't want to work on the dichotomy piece anymore. We needed some time apart. It was useful to see how much I can push myself, where my limit is, at what point I burn out physically and/or emotionally.

At least I was in good company for this whole experience. I think nearly everyone in our department has turned in a piece late despite their best intentions and efforts, and definitely everyone has had a crisis or three. I felt ashamed, defeated, tired, and stressed...but I felt like part of the team. Ha!

This is how far I've gotten on the necklace. I still need to do some texture work on the center mandala and then saw it out. I also plan to use dark patina (liver of sulfur) to add shadows to each of the elements and bring out the texture of the chasing and repoussé. I also need to finish a clasp. I'd estimate I have another 40 hours or so before completing the piece. Looks like I have my work cut out for me this summer!

The center medallion is about 5 inches in diameter and will hang just above the bust when worn. This is not a necklace for the faint of heart. Fittingly, it's being custom-made for a very strong woman: my mom. :)

The Plan for Summer 2011

My goals for this summer include:

1. Redesign my website. Increasingly I find myself wanting a site where I can show my portfolio of jewelry and metal objects I've made in art school, as well as other forms of art I find myself drawn to (i.e. work with patterns and painting). I want people to be able to see what I've made in the past and what I'm currently working on, not just what I have for sale. I'm in a funny position being in school. The jewelry I'm making right now is very different from what I've done in the past (basically higher-end, metal-based pieces vs. beaded and wire-work jewelry), but because each piece takes so much time and effort, it's hard to offer them for sale. I can still keep chugging along with the strung/wire jewelry because it's relatively fast to make, so that's what I'll primarily keep selling until I've graduated, I imagine. What I sell isn't representative anymore of the direction my art is headed, and I want a way for my website to reflect the whole picture.

2. Train for a 10k. I used to be one of those people who hated running with a passion. Running was suffering, a form of punishment, a way to compensate when I'd been "bad" with food. Something shifted about a year ago. I discovered that I actually love to run now. It's still really hard some days, but the payoff I get in terms of stress management and a runner's high is unbeatable. Rico has also gotten into running, and our New Year's Resolution was to do a 10k. We're targeting a race in September, so this summer is the prime time to train. I'm currently running about 4-5 miles, so it definitely seems like a feasible goal.

3. Work in the studio. I have a lot of projects I'd like to start/finish over the summer. I need to fabricate the clasp and do some final chasing and repousse work on this giant silver necklace I'm making for my mom. It was actually one of my assignments this past semester, and I wasn't able to finish. More on that later. I'd also really like to tackle some side projects that I've had in mind for months. My goal is to go to the studio at school 3x/week.

4. Gardening. Lots and lots of it. We have so much to do at Casa Cali to get the yard in shape, and it's only going to happen if Rico and I are outside with our hands in the soil. We have blackberry and ivy to pull out, a second stone retaining wall to build, vegetables to plant and much more.

5. Home improvements. Paint Rico's home office Azure, a gorgeous hue of royal blue tinged with gray (paint was bought at least 6 months ago and we still haven't gotten to it). Finish replacing the flooring downstairs. We're ripping out old carpet and putting in cherry wood veneers. Rico already did the hallway and the guest room, now we need to do his office and mine.

6. Go to Houston for a long weekend. We have my cousins AJ and Renaud to visit, as well as Tia Lindy, our friend and ex-roommate from our days in Maputo, not to mention my college best friend Angel and her Brazilian husband Tony.

7. Do something lovely for our 3-year wedding anniversary in July. I'm thinking wine or beach, a day's drive away from Casa Cali at most.

8. Paint a few portraits and do some color mixing exercises. I fell in love with painting last year, and sadly haven't had much time to keep experimenting. This summer I'd like to paint my mom's portrait, see if I can find an old photo of my cousin's mom who passed away and try to paint her, and do lots of color mixing gradients. Dark to light, mixing complementary colors, etc. I actually love the technical aspect of learning to paint. I feel it's akin to doing your scales and learning theory when you play a musical instrument, only I always hated that part of playing the piano and avoided it like the plague. :)

9. Go pick fruit in Brentwood and do another round of canning. Rico thinks I'm crazy for liking to pick my own fruit. I think it's loads of fun. I'm thinking cherries again for sure, and maybe some peaches and nectarines.

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10. Hang out with friends. I finally have a small group of people here in the Bay Area I consider friends, and I'd really like to take the opportunity to have them over for churrascos, go hiking, go to museums, go to concerts, etc. Some are school friends, others are random friends, but I'm looking forward to further developing our fledgling bonds.

Do you have any goals or plans for this summer?

Love Goes Beyond Borders Adoption Fundraiser

Lately my life has been on a faster, crazier, more sleep-deprived track than usual - but I'm happy to report it's for a fantastic cause. I've been working in collaboration with a friend I went to high school and college with, Ashlee Othick Andrews, who is expanding her family through adoption. Ashlee and her husband live in Calgary (Canada) and have two gorgeous children of their own, but they believe strongly in adoption and have decided to welcome an 18-month-old boy from Uganda into their family. Between traveling to Uganda and the fees associated with the adoption, they are looking at a significant financial hurdle.

Ashlee and I began talking a few months ago about doing a jewelry fundraiser to help offset these expenses and make their adoption a reality. I've since been hard at work designing a Uganda-themed jewelry collection, producing sample pieces, taking photographs of everything, writing descriptions, and brainstorming how to get the most support possible for the fundraiser. In short, Ashlee and I have pulled off the design, production and marketing for a jewelry line! Not an easy feat, especially with the craziness of school, but it's been an amazing experience and I'm really proud of the collection.

It's been especially inspiring to work with the gorgeous handmade paper beads I sourced for the collection. Women artisans in Uganda make these beads by cutting strips from magazines and rolling them up until a bead is formed. They then coat the outside of the bead with a clear varnish to make them stronger and water-resistant. The colors and patterns in these paper beads are unbelievable, some of the most amazing materials I've ever worked with. I sourced the beads from two nonprofit organizations, Paper to Pearls and Outreach Uganda (both out of Colorado of all places!) who send their proceeds back to the women in Uganda who made the beads.

Ashlee has set up an online shop at Etsy where we're listing the fundraiser jewelry. There are limited quantities available, and some pieces one-of-a-kind. We're taking orders through Tuesday, February 15th, then I'll do all the production and have everything shipped out by March 10th. All shop proceeds go directly to the Andrews' family adoption fund.

Please stop by the Love Goes Beyond Borders shop on Etsy, if nothing else to have a look and admire all the fantastically colorful pieces in the collection. If you are able to support Ashlee and her family in bringing home their new son, it would mean a great deal to them and to me as well. Thank you all in advance!

You can read more about the Andrews' adoption saga on their blog.

Alexandra Amaro Jewelry Clearance Sale

In order to open the doors for new jewelry designs in 2011, I am holding a super sale with select Alexandra Amaro designs marked up to 50% off. Visit www.alexandraamaro.com to see the selection of beautiful pieces that need new homes.

Anasazi Africa Necklace - antique trade beads salvaged from shipwrecks off the coast of Mozambique, turquoise, hand-carved sandalwood beads, sterling silver

Pimenta Earrings - handmade recycled glass Krobo beads from Ghana, Indian Rubies, Swarovski crystals, 14k gold-filled wire and ear hooks

Maliana Necklace - ceramic beads from Mali, Swarovski pearls, Thai Hill Tribes silver

Ghana to Gallup Necklace - recycled glass Krobo beads from Ghana, turquoise, sterling silver