Meet Pamela Espinoza rebolledo | jeweler & traveler

We had the good fortune of connecting with Pamela Espinoza rebolledo and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Pamela, what role has risk played in your life or career?
I believe it is essential to take risks to be able to advance in all areas, in my case as a jewelry artist it involves and joins the personal life with the professional one and it was there where I took my first big risk. When I started Ave Joyeria I knew of my potential and saw something special in my work, the question was whether people would like my jewelry and would want to buy it, essentially if they would love my jewelry as I do.

when you are an artist and you try to live from what you love to do, you expose to the rest an essential part of who you are, your intimacy , aspirations and part of you . The risk of exposing your inner life falls on how much acceptance you can have from the outside , and that it can be a very hard job because it can damage your self-esteem, I was afraid of not being valued, I always knew that jewelry is part of who I am and in a certain way defines me, but it is a constant job to be able to separate the artist that is in I accept/value my work, if there is a ring that is not well received, it does not mean that I, Pamela, am not worth it, that I am bad at what I do or that I am not good enough as I thought, it is the danger of being an artist creator

Can you open up a bit about your work and career? We’re big fans and we’d love for our community to learn more about your work.
I was 15 years old when I came to the world of jewelry, every Saturday it was sacred to go to jewelry classes with my teacher Candia at a school of applied arts near home, after graduating my first intention was to continue formal jewelry studies, but the life led me to graphic design, it was not until I was 23 that I entered the fire school of applied arts. Almost in my 30 ‘s , after having lived through many experiences , among some , a series of tendinitis and inflammation from the wrists to the neck , having heard doctor after doctor advise me to give up jewelry , not having been able to graduate for the same reason , having entered the university to study arts to see if I could dedicate myself to something else … it led me to make the decision to leave Chile for the first time , I lived in New Zealand for more than a year and dedicated myself to taking every job I could , from cleaning houses to collecting kiwis, living in campsites for months and meeting wonderful people from all over the world, when I returned from my trip I found myself with my arms crossed, I had no other option and AVE JOYERIA was born, jewelry was my path and at this point I was willing to give everything … from then to today it has been an incredible road , a similarity to nature , changing , beautiful , with cracks and colors , always different , rocky and smooth , with storms and clear skies. But at the end of the day, art is an experience worth taking.

In jewelry everything has to do with technique, as a jeweler what can differentiate you is how you work with it. design is a fundamental part of my work, over the years I have been able to see the evolution and transformation of my style, the development of an idea can last many years and that is where I recognize my growth as an artist, in each piece I see the challenges that I have overcome and it is where I find the peace and joy that I seek , I am excited to see new results in my works , on a sublime level all the answers are in the evolution of my work , I see my improvement , my falls and the critical eye helps me to improve and set sights on new goals.

I would love to see that having a ring created by me could give them the joy that I feel when I finish the piece. I would like to convey that special feeling and give that person something that I consider beautiful, it is like giving a flower and sharing a beauty that only you and that person understand.

On this path , learning has not come until after being down and even so ,
sometimes it has been difficult to recognize it , we have a phrase in Chile that says ” one always trips over the same stone ” and I feel very identified with that . But well, if there has been any way that I have learned to improve, it has been by falling down and getting up again and again.

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
In this question I am going to choose a jeweler friend. The first place would be to my goldsmith classes at rogue community college with my teacher danna, two days a week I spend hours and hours in that incredible workshop and I would love for one of them to meet him, on the way back from classes we would go to eat at one of my favorite restaurants in grant pass oregon is called the laughing clam . coming home we would go back to drink eleven and play a board game with my friends pam and tim or we would go to a nearby vineyard with patty and bill , the next morning i would take her to have a typical american breakfast at river valley restaurant . At noon we would go fishing in a spectacular river near our house , the illinoy valley river , oregon is impressively green and beautiful . And at night maybe camping in the majestic Reed Woods National Park. And finally , I have two jewelry banks in my workshop at home , I think we would be locked up every day making jewelry just like we do in Chile , enjoying the view of the forest and sharing stories and new techniques

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
What a beautiful question, I could write hours in gratitude to all the people who have supported and helped me on this path. The first without a doubt were my parents Brenda and Belfor, they always believed in me and from the beginning they encouraged me to continue in the world of jewelry. My brothers Camila and Belfor were with me through the good times and the bad, guiding me not to leave the course.

There is always a teacher who shows you the way and opens your eyes to that world you want to know, for me that teacher was Carlos, the first time I worked in gold and saw real diamonds was working as an apprentice in his studio.

The turns of life led me to meet and share a studio with Javi, Tere and Jesu. Along with them I advanced and they were my beginnings in ave jewelry, they introduced me to the world of sharing experience, advancing as a team, drinking a lot of coffee and having friends working with you.

And of course always them , the best , my team , my hands and ears , my LATADIA team .

One of the most difficult things about leaving Chile and coming to live in the United States was leaving them, they were always my emotional and professional support. It was almost 5 years in which I worked and spent eternal hours learning with my colleagues, sharing the studio with your friends is priceless, learning together, seeing the progress of each one, that fraternal union that is created in a group of women is an unbreakable canvas that lasts forever. I bring them with me every day in my new studio, I am in another country but they are always with me in my first coffee in the morning, when I am ready to work

Instagram: @ave_joyeria