Loulé Criativos Artist of the Month
Nestled within the stone walls of the Palácio Gama Lobo, Loulé Criativo’s Design Lab hums with creativity, hosting resident artists who each bring their own unique crafts to life.
This month, I interviewed Paula Ramos e Ramos about her Crioula project. Paula has been part of Loulé Criativo for over a year now, and, with her bright smile and joyful energy, it’s safe to say she lights up the lab in more ways than one. Paula is a jeweller, goldsmith and artist whose elaborate desk positively brims (and even overflows) with the tools of her trade. And, just to keep the other criativos on their toes, she occasionally pulls out a flamethrower.
Shaping the unshapable
Working with metal, Paula showed me, involves plenty of patience, followed by the occasional moment of intensity – melting and shaping metal with high heat before cooling it in a special acid bath. “It’s scary at first,” she admits, “but you get used to it.”
Spending time with Paula, I came to understand that her passion for her craft is as durable – and yet open to change and experimentation – as the material itself. Paula is fascinated by how metal is both these things: seemingly so solid and permanent, yet infinitely malleable under the right conditions. “You can melt and reshape it over and over again,” she explained.
More proof that Paula has truly found her permanent passion is her fresh tattoo – a saw, one of her most-used tools – etched on her skin as a symbol of her love for jewellery-making.
But Paula’s path to becoming a jeweller wasn’t always set in stone. Let’s rewind and explore how she got here.
Fabrics to fire
Born in Faro to Cape Verdean parents, Paula grew up in the Algarve. She always loved drawing and dreamed of becoming a fashion designer. She studied visual arts in high school, where she honed her skills in painting and sculpture. Later, while living in Lisbon and Porto, she attended fashion design courses. However, it was only by chance, while babysitting for a visual artist, that Paula found herself surrounded by jewellery-making supplies. That’s when her true calling was forged.
Whenever she had downtime, she lent a hand with the artist’s projects – and she hasn’t been able to stop taking courses and exploring this world ever since.
Passion and pen-dentes
A resident of Loulé Criativo since September 2023, Paula now thrives in a community where experimentation is encouraged.
One memorable project began with scraps of metal – oval or leaf-shaped cutouts left behind after some trophies were laser-cut. Where others saw leftovers, Paula saw potential: the opportunity to give these discarded pieces of metal a new life. She soldered them together into stunning earrings and even turned the larger Y-shaped cutouts into earring hangers to display them.
Paula also visited Loulé Criativo’s Oficina de Caldeireiros, where she worked with master coppersmith Senhor Analide. This downtown workshop is the only one in the country that still makes cataplanas (traditional cooking pots). Paula was fascinated to learn these larger-scale metalworking techniques, and, together, they crafted two showstopping necklaces. One featured beads emerging from the middle – a nod to Paula’s Cape Verdean roots, as these beads are traditionally used to protect newborns from evil spirits.
Speaking of traditional techniques, Paula also showed me how she uses chocos – the white cuttlefish bones found on beaches. Paula explained how she carves designs into the soft material before pouring molten metal inside to create intricate shapes. She showed me a pair of earrings she had created this way and how this technique leaves a natural fibrous texture on the metal.
She also showed me a ring in which she used a piece of Portuguese calçada as its gemstone, as well as a necklace featuring her own wisdom tooth – a whimsical piece she calls her ‘pen-dente’.
Curiosity meets culture
It was clear that Paula enjoys creating all kinds of different things. She told me that there are almost infinite techniques in the jewellery world, and most people tend to specialise. But Paula is curious and loves learning a bit of everything. She brings these techniques back to her work and experiments, blending different metals and methods.
I feel like this is only appropriate as Paula explained the concept behind the project’s name to me. Born in Portugal to Cape Verdean parents, Paula is herself a blend of cultures. The name Crioula is all about celebrating that rich diversity.
Follow the flame
For Paula Ramos e Ramos, metalwork isn’t just a craft – it’s a lifelong passion. The possibilities are endless, and her art evolves with her, showing just how transformative it can be to follow what you love.
If you ever visit the Palácio Gama Lobo, you might just catch her wielding a flamethrower – or turning a forgotten scrap of metal into something extraordinary.
To find out more, please follow her on Instagram. She may also have some upcoming workshops at the Palácio Gama Lobo so keep your eyes out for those.
