There's something magical about making a person smile. That warm feeling of knowing you are making someone happy.
Introduced to clay by a random coincidence, I decided to start creating small figurines that would bring smiles to people. And, as an animal lover, there's nothing more cute and lovable that makes everyone smile than tiny animals.

I started playing with clay, feeling it and getting frustrated many times because of the difficulty of the medium. But, little by little things started to look good. And then, it happened: I discovered luster.

Luster contains real gold and is extremely toxic but it gives that shine and extra cuteness to the figurines. Determined to be able to add gorgeous gold details, I saved money and bought my first little kiln to use outside the studio.
My first gold test was during winter. I added a table outside the studio, put on my respirator mask and plastic gloves and started painting.
On that first attempt I discovered rule number one: NEVER PAINT IN THE COLD.
Seriously, I had to wear plastic gloves to not touch the product and they were extremely thin so my hands were freezing and my fingers were going numb. I had to resource to warming them up with one of those plastic warmer bags that grannies used to have. Definitely not the best experience.

Opening the luster kiln for the first time to discover a golden rainbow of little figurines was the most exciting thing ever and I knew I was going to do it again.

If I have learned something, is that adding gold details is hard because of the toxicity and inconvenience of the product, but seeing how everyone smiles when seeing those shiny little animals makes it all worth it.