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Robin Aronson
About the Artist

Because I love bright colors, I have found ways to create colorful metal jewelry. I use mostly aluminum because it is so lightweight. Much of what I use is recycled. I also incorporate brass and steel.

My primary method of coloring metal is anodizing. Aluminum, Niobium and Titanium are several metals that can be colored through anodizing, although the process for anodizing aluminum differs greatly from the niobium and titanium. For the aluminum, a much greater variety of colors is possible.

My full time art career began close to 2 decades ago. Although my sister, April (also an artist) and I have done arts and crafts together since we were old enough to hold crayons, it wasn't until around the turn of the century that I was able to fully pursue my love of working with my hands and creating.

Aluminum is anodized by immersing it in a conductive solution and applying current, which builds an oxide layer on the surface of the metal. The new layer is strong and porous and able to absorb color. Color is applied in many different ways, including immersing the metal in a dye solution, hand-painting, or using imprinting or silkscreen techniques.

In this picture, I am removing a batch of components from the conductive solution after anodizing them. Great care must be taken when working with the solutions and electrical current. Prior to the actual anodizing process, the metal goes through several other tanks to strip old color, de-grease, and de-oxidize. Then the anodizing takes around 45 minutes. After coloring the metal, it will be steamed for an hour to seal in the color.

I have added several other methods over the years to achieve greater color control and variety. They include color-electroplating, dye-sublimation and powder-coating.

I texture the metal, and then cut out shapes with a jewelers saw or with dies that I have designed. I form the metal shapes and then connect layers of metal with tiny rivets, since aluminum can't be soldered after it is anodized. I handcraft each piece individually, and the bulk of my work is one-of-a-kind or limited edition.

I have worked with many jewelry-related mediums including precious metals and gemstone setting, polymer clay, glass fusing and lampwork, and metal clay. I have Art Clay Silver Senior Certification and PMC Level II certifications.

We live in Jacksonville, Florida, where I grew up and lived most of my life. My studio is my happy place, where I spend most of my day. Reilly and Ziggy, my two studio pups, come in periodically to check on me and make sure I'm working hard.

My husband Bob and I travel in our camper to art shows in the southeast, and in the midwest in the summer. I have a studio set up in the camper so I can work on the road.