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Robin Aronson
About the Artist

My full time art career began over a decade 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 the turn of the century that I was able to fully pursue my love of working with my hands and creating.

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.

I fell in love with anodized aluminum right from the beginning because of all of the vibrant color possibilities. I like the way the bright colors make people feel happy. Although I worked with many other mediums along the way, I always returned to the colorful metal.

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 the picture on the left, 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 also work with niobium and titanium, two other metals that can be colored by anodizing, although the process is different from anodizing aluminum.

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.

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.