Today we introduce you to Lucia Cojocaru, a particularly talented lady, a mother who inspires and immortalizes in plaster unique and important moments for every family. This transforms the baby's hand and foot prints into memories, making the plaster cast and framing it in a unique way for us. The idea came up with the birth of her baby boy Ștefan, who was born prematurely: "It is for this reason that I wanted to preserve his fragility and tenderness.".

Lucia told us that "the first attempt to make the molds ended in failure, I had bought a kit but it didn't work for me, then another one and the same didn't get the desired result, then I decided to look for the materials myself needed to produce plaster casts." Through many trials, Lucia found the perfect formula and her ideas began to take shape.

The procedure for creating casts consists of several stages: preparing the impression material, measuring the baby's hand or foot, casting the plaster into the obtained form, processing and painting the cast, framing. The most complicated stage is the first, in which "The baby is asked to sit with the hand/leg relatively still for 30 seconds in the liquid solution which during this time turns into a gel, then we remove the hand/leg and in the obtained form turned plaster for sculptures. There are some very active children who are more difficult to keep still, in that case I take the measures during sleep, usually in the first 20 minutes the children's sleep is deep and I succeed. The whole procedure is absolutely harmless and even fun.”

Lucia Cojocaru uses two 2 different techniques of taking measures and respectively different results: 2D and 3D.

2D technique - measurements are taken using a plasticine-like material, it is suitable for super active children. The hand / foot is lightly pressed over the impression material and the ceramic powder mixed with water is poured into the obtained matrix, which after hardening represents our mold. 3D technique - the hand / foot is placed in the magic solution which is similar to a liquid jelly which within 30-60 seconds hardens and becomes our matrix. During all this time the child must stay relatively still, if he moves strongly then we fail. After this we remove the handle / foot from the matrix and pour the ceramic mixed with water. After hardening, the matrix is broken into small pieces to remove the mold from the inside.

Lucia's works are all over the world, with clients from different countries, diaspora from: Canada, Italy, Russia, USA, Germany, Romania, Ireland, England, etc. About her clients, Lucia speaks with so much love: "As I like to say, "my clients are people with rich spiritual values" for them, emotions and memories matter, and I'm glad that together we can create something priceless that in years to come will bring them the avalanche of pleasant emotions." Her works are very varied: "The most requested works are the children's casts framed with the picture. In second place would be the couple casts - the statuette of their hands that can also be framed or fixed on a wooden stand. But as the clients' creativity knows no bounds, and the ArtRame workshop and I accept any challenge, it often happens that we create something original."

For the framing of her artworks, Lucia turned to Art Frames, and we asked her what kind of frames she usually chooses: "I personally like minimalist style frames, but they don't suit every interior and so together with the customers, we choose what fits perfectly in the surroundings of their home, the showroom managers help us with that."

Yes, indeed, the managers in our showrooms are experts in the field of frames and the customers who visit us are always delighted with the offer that is proposed to them.

Lucia Cojocaru took us by surprise with the feedback she gave us and we thank her immensely for it: "I tested all the framing workshops in Chisinau until I arrived at ArtRame and after I discovered you I stayed here , struck by Mrs. Corina's kindness, the professionalism of the production guys, the rich assortment of frames and mats, and in general, the well-developed processes and the company's attitude towards the customer."

We look forward to seeing you in the Art Rame showrooms!