[Jewelry making - Article 00473] - [Orchid] A brief history of my metal life

[tosca teran]

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    I first started out in lapidary (stone cutting-opals no less!) and
    scrimshaw when i was 14 years old sitting in on the seniors (grade
    12) jewellery class at redwood highschool. My interest in
    Goldsmithing grew as I was taught Lost Wax casting, gold lamination
    and stone setting. My true love at the time, however was painting and
    super animation on the commadore 64! In '83 I started working for HZH
    Designs in Sausalito, creating earrings, keychains, and bags. These
    were extreme 80's kitsch- clear vinyl filled with coloured liquids,
    plastic bugs, and people, then heat sealed. The earrings we designed
    were made from HO scale models of people- we would ammend the people
    in various ways making them more 'San Francisco' friendly and heat up
    ear posts and stick them on. They sold like hot cakes! After
    highschool I worked with Tabra Tunoa Designs - silversmithing earring
    components, anodizing titanium, embossing metals, and soldering the
    designs together. When I wasn't working for Tabra I was going to
    school studying graphic design/desktop publishing on the new- Apple
    computers!!- it was 1984 at the San Francisco Art Academy (now
    university) and studying jewellery fabrication at The College of
    Marin. I dropped out of Art School and opened my own design business.
    When I wasn't creating ad campaigns for various corporate clients, I
    was putting together jewellery lines for small boutiques throughout
    the San Francisco Bay Area. One line was created for -the Outback
    Clothing Company- which eventually became known as Banana Republic in
    Mill Valley. 

    Several years later I moved to Taos, New Mexico. New Mexico is known
    as 'The land of enchantment', and for good reason. It is beyond
    beautiful-surreal there. The desert landscapes, mesas, purple and
    red earth with sage brush and chamisa growing every where- pinon
    trees, cotton woods, the Rio Grande, and the Sangre de Christos. In
    my 13 years of living in New Mexico- I lived in Santa Fe off of Old
    Santa Fe trail, later in a studio off of 2nd street, near the
    Cloudcliff, and the last place I lived in Santa Fe was in a
    beautiful old adobe on Canyon Road. In between my years in Santa Fe
    attending The Santa Fe Metalsmithing school, I lived in Taos, New
    Mexico, Dixon and Vadito (9000 feet above sea level). Taos, and
    Santa Fe are at 7500 feet. The highest peak in New Mexico is in Taos
    at 13,161 feet/4,012 m. 

    While in Taos I studied Goldsmithing at the Taos Art Institute with
    Harold O'Connor- this man changed my views of metal, working with
    it, and what 'jewellery' could be. Back in Santa Fe I apprenticed
    with and assisted Silversmiths and Goldsmiths, such as Melanie De
    Luca, Mona Van Riper, Doug Magnus, James Reid, Olin West, etc.
    Working with and learning from these highly skilled metalsmiths
    taught me a wealth of tricks and techniques that are usually not
    covered in most college courses. At the Santa Fe Metalsmithing
    School I studied with Philip Poirier- who has a vast knowledge of
    tools and how to use them beyond their 'normal' use, as well as
    creating Japanese alloys, and making and using dies with the
    BonnieDoon Hydraulic Press. 

    In Taos and Santa Fe I became known for my 'small sculptures', and
    was named (for my jewellery) one of Taos' next generation of artists
    by the Harwood Museum. My work was exhibited and sold throughout the
    US, I was juried and invited to exhibit in various galleries, as
    well as the ACC shows- Chicago and Baltimore. 

    All of that happened a long time ago- but I continue to study and
    learn new techniques to incorporate into my work and instruction. I
    don't believe in 'keeping secrets' and I strive to pass along as
    much information as I can to people that sign up for my jewellery
    courses. I am a strong believer in "..anything is possible.." and
    that one learns by doing. I feel strongly that the work created by
    beginning students with little or no previous experience that can be
    viewed on this website is a testimony of my ability to transfer the
    knowledge that I have gained. My classes are structured but not
    hindered by formality or pre-requisite abilities; I provide an
    environment in which individual creativity is nurtured and small
    ideas can flourish to great work in an exceptionally short period of
    time. 

    Tosca Hidalgo y Teran 

    b. 1966, San Francisco, California. Lived in Taos, NM + Santa Fe for
    approximately 13 years before making Toronto her current home. 

    http://www.nanopod.tv 
    http://www.nanopod.etsy.com 

    Where there is a work of art, there is no madness; and yet madness
    is contemporary with the work of art, since it inaugurates the time
    of its truth. 

    Tosca Hidalgo y Teran has been working with metal and computers for
    over 20 years. Her work explores this synthesis in retelling stories
    from memory via her own representational language. Tosca pursues her
    art and metal work, glass-blowing, flame working, casting and fusing
    at nanopod, her hybrid studio in Toronto, where she also teaches
    jewelry-making workshops.
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