A WORLD OF CRAFTS BRINGS PERU TO BROKEN ARROW

Arts and crafts are not just for anyone, only those really talented with an extra dose of patience and the exquisite ability to embellish even the most ubiquitous objects are chosen to craft the world. And among them is Erica Escalante, a Peruvian immigrant currently living in Tulsa who dared to make a living out of crafts.

“We make personalized cup holders with resin. And many other objects, for example if you have a picture you want to preserve, we can use resin to do it, even coffee grains, dried leaves, stones, whatever you consider fit,” explained the artisan.

“It’s a very delicate work that requires a lot of patience. First you choose the piece you will apply the resin on, then you create the gum with a hardener, all that is spilled on the clean surface of the object and twenty-four hours later it is completely dry and solid,” detailed Escalante.

The craftswoman works at her studio in Broken Arrow along with her husband and two of her daughters, in charge of marketing and social network communication. “Generally, we work after midnight. My husband loves crafts and its very talented, he likes to draw and carve on wood,” explained Escalante.

Erica’s love for resin was born in Peru, where more than twenty years ago she used to sell her crafts. Migrating to the US renewed that love for the arts, and nostalgia made her forge a different kind of business, one made with her own hands.

“We are just starting, now I want to get people to know me and what I do and learn how to work with the different materials available in the US, expanding my ways with resin,” she said.