Where are you from and does that affect your work? I’d say I belong to a lot of places as I have traveled a lot and I have lived in many different locations (Madrid, Naples, Rome, Canada, Australia, and several spots in the USA…) but if you ask where I was born, I was born and raised in Madrid, Spain.

Having been to so many countries has made me seen the world around me with open eyes, definitely affecting my work by taking mental notes of all the landscapes, nature, cultures, textures, colors .. and mixing all that into eclectic collections that are inspired by all the things I lived and saw in each of those beautiful locations

That is so cool! Who/what are your biggest artistic influences? Nature plays a big part in my inspiration process but also the places I've been to and all the elements I encountered while traveling: Textures, colors, shapes, materials and people.

On another hand, I have always been into botany and plants ( as a pharmacist I guess that's unavoidable! ) and when I first saw my Australian teacher John, a royal artist, sculptor and master opal Jeweler, I soon wanted to learn his technique so he taught me how to turn organic materials into living jewelry pieces (amongst other things). John travelled the world in search for stones, pearls and all kinds of materials that he then incorporated into these designs. He was one of my biggest inspirations as well; thanks to him I quickly found my passion in metal smithing, as this allowed me to use the chemistry involved in the process to combine the beauty of different elements and natural materials in my designs.

What would you say is the hardest part of your creation process? Sometimes I have an idea to make a piece of jewelry, but the material does not allow making it because it would be too fragile or not suitable to wear it comfortably. This happens a lot with those pieces inspired directly by nature, when I try to cast a tiny lichen into a necklace, for example, and it does not work.. or a tiny something. However when it works it’s a reason to celebrate because the piece becomes so special. I remember last year when I succeeded electroforming a sea cucumber and a cicada into a pendant and a pin respectively, of course they had to find that special person to take them home, but when they did, it was amazing to share the story of the making with the customer and sharing how unique that piece they took home was.

Another challenging part is the tech part of running a business… the social media slavery!

Haha we agree on that! What is your favorite piece that you have created and why? Lately I am loving more than anything else the 18K gold salt and pepper diamond rings and the contour rings that I created for them. It was lot's of fun to make those waxes and trouble shoot the unusual shapes of the stones. And I love thinking that I was able to create such a beautiful piece from repurposed diamonds. (By the way, those will be discounted during the Burbank market ! Shhhhhh... Keep the secret! ;-) )

What do you love most about Burbank? I love the huge creative community that Burbank has. It makes sense having all the big movie studios near! I always get customers with the most amazing professional stories and creative advice, and I really like that.

I also have special friends from my very first job in Madrid who live now in Burbank so I enjoy seeing them after the markets every year :-)

I have participated in a continuous way in the Downtown Burbank Arts Festival with Jackalope from the beginning of my jewelry adventure and I have really good connections there.

Some of my best customers I met there, they kept on coming through the years and I ended up making their engagement and wedding rings. They even invited Cat and I to their wedding! It was so special to feel a part of the community in that way.

What is a fun fact about yourself that others may not expect? Quite a few!

I am a Pharmacist as well and used to work in Breast Cancer Research.

I sang at the Sydney Opera House with their choir while I was living there
I was in a Roller Derby team in LA
I've been to 47 countries around the world
I was almost attacked by a Grizzly bear in Yellowstone while happy campers were trying to warn me and my husband from the base of the mountain that the Bear was coming! Now I laugh but that was quite scary... We could hear his menace grawl!

OMG you win on the fun facts! Where do you see yourself in 5 years? Hopefully having a successful and sustainable business that allows me and my family to travel every year looking for adventure while searching for new materials and stones :-)

You have the day off, what do you do? Now that I am a mother.... SLEEP!!

Find Minkara at the Downtown Burbank Arts Festival on May 31st & June 1st.

Website: www.minkara.life

Instagram: @minkarajewelry

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