With permission we're publishing this excerpt from Carol Bastable's article in the Fall 2021 issue of Bo Tales from the Original Hobo Nickel Society, Inc. Thanks! It's a profile of carver Blanca de la Hoz of Spain.
-Editor
In 2012 Blanca de la Hoz found her way to hobo
nickels through her husband, Pedro Villarrubia.
Some members may remember meeting Pedro at the
2013 FUN show or reading about him in the
following Spring issue. Blanca and Pedro reside in
Spain, not too far from the capitol city of Madrid but
far enough away that it would be termed country
living. Seeing Pedro make his hobo nickels piqued
Blanca’s curiosity and within a few months she was
behind the graver herself. Pedro has been her sole instructor in
learning how to carve and engrave.
The couple has two daughters that also have some
interest in the art form. The daughters have on
occasion tried to engrave hobo nickels and enjoyed it.
At the moment they are busy with studies and
focused on their schooling. Blanca said that in the
future they will probably want to get more involved
with hobo nickels. It is truly a family affair.
Art has always been of interest to Blanca. Since
she was little she has always liked drawing and
painting. She has worked with watercolor, acrylic,
and pastel painting and enjoyed learning the
techniques specific to each medium. Blanca has also
enjoyed working within different craft mediums such
as ceramic and embossed tin. Now her work with coin carving has taken center stage.
One of the things Blanca likes about hobo nickels
is that she can work from home and help provide for
her family while still being there to take care of them.
It also gives her a good deal of flexibility with work
hours. Working side by side with her husband, Pedro,
has also been a perk. A year after Pedro’s trip to the
United States in 2013, he returned again to buy a
Lindsay graver system for his wife Blanca. For over
a year they were sharing one system and scheduled
work hours around each other. Now they do not have
to rotate their studio time. They also each have their
own microscopes to work under.
Blanca engraves a variety of subjects but likes
mythological entities best. Fairies, mermaids, and
undersea worlds are favorites. She also likes subjects
from fanciful stories and draws subjects from Disney
and Star Wars. Blanca’s work has gotten very
elaborate through the years with current work often
using many metal inlays. The different colors seem
to add a fantasy or storybook world to the engravings
much like the colored cells used in Disney movies.
For more information on the Original Hobo Nickel Society, see:
http://www.hobonickels.org/
Wayne Homren, Editor
The Numismatic Bibliomania Society is a non-profit organization
promoting numismatic literature. See our web site at coinbooks.org.
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