Artist Found For Prized Piece of 70s Horseshoe Nail Jewelry!

Amazing as it may seem, we were at the Equine Extravaganza located in the Richmond Raceway Complex in Richmond, VA over Halloween weekend and Elaine (pictured above with Armando) took one look at Armando’s jewelry and immediately suspected that he was the genius behind a piece that her sister purchased for her many years ago at a thrift store in Greenville, North Carolina.

“I actually didn’t wonder much, I was quite certain he had to be the artist, and I couldn’t wait to bring it in the next day to verify my suspicions! My sister was the one who actually bought it and it quickly became one of my favorite pieces, and I’ve gotten sooo many compliments on it and love explaining that it is made from farriers’ nails. Now I will be able to add that I’ve met the artist: Armando Suarez!!!!!!!!!!!”

What a find for all of us and many thanks again to Elaine!

Have a safe holiday,
KoKo

The Artisans In The Park show

The Artisans In The Park show was a tremendous success – beautiful wooded area with really nice people in attendance. A woman put us in touch with an upcoming show in Richmond (The Equine Extravanganza) and a charming man made a point of stopping in to tell Armando that he ate in his restaurant every single night that he stayed on the Eastern Shore a few years back and that he will always remember Armando as the one who “taught me how to really eat tuna: pan-seared.”

And, to top it all off Armando (pictured dancing his dance of joy) won an award from the show’s judges for his creative approach. All in all, a lovely time and we look forward to doing it all again next year (if we can have the very same spot under that amazing shade tree!)

Hope to see you at our next show,
Koko

Armando's shows and veggies

Around this time of year people on the Shore ceremoniously display their “Gone Fishing” signs – some for months at a time. Armando (always the one who has to be a little different) has instead “Gone Gardening”
between art shows and out of town guests. It’s a little bit like making jewelry: it’s creative, relaxing, colorful, flavorful (???) and most certainly, time well spent that reaps such amazing rewards. Off to the Artisans In The Park show at Great Neck Park in Virginia Beach and we’ll be back to tell you all about it. Oh – we’re packing a tomato basil salad for the trip!

Hope to see you at the shows,
Koko

Care and Handling for your Beautiful Handcrafted Jewelry

People often ask us about caring for their jewelry.

Care for your handmade horseshoe nail jewelry as you would any delicate piece. Try not to sleep, swim, shower or sunbathe in your jewelry and, when exercising, use discretion in an effort to minimize exposure to excessive body oils and perspiration.

However, wearing your jewelry often actually enhances the patina and, more importantly ..... read more

Hope this helps you,
Koko

Horseshoe Nails for Armando's Jewelry

One of the questions we get asked a lot is about the material armando's nails are made of?

Are they some kind of art nail made from silver?

Armando uses actual nails purchased from various East Coast farriers and prefers Swedish Mustad to all others, although he does work with Capewell nails from time to time. Sometimes you will come across an artist who has the shape of a horseshoe nail caste into silver but Armando, the true craftsman, uses the real McCoy. And so, the nails themselves are actually made of steel.

Hope this helps,
~~ Koko
PS: If you have questions, you can ask in the 'Comments' section right here or email us here.

Fourth of July '08 and More!

Happy Fourth to the US
It’s the Fourth of July and in anticipation of the celebrations going on across the country with corn on the cob and strawberry shortcake and fireworks displays in all their glory, I am reminded of the brilliant questions that have been bombarding our email box lately…

What is horseshoe nail jewelry?
Fantastic question! One that we should have addressed from the get-go:
I don’t know whether there’s a universal definition but ours would be based upon Armando’s own design and technique of creating innovative, hand-crafted jewelry that incorporates the dense metal of authentic Swedish horseshoe nails with handmade raku-fired ceramic beads, recycled glass, wood and leather. The result is reminiscent of the 70’s, yet contemporary, eco-friendly, eye-catching, wearable art.

Be talking with you soon,
~~~ Koko