Angels Supporting the Haiti Youth Education Fund
About the Artist
Our angels are designed and produced by Charles Eneld and his workshop team in the village artisanal of Noailles, a suburb of Port-au-Prince, Haiti. Eneld’s work was featured at Thayer Academy’s Art of Ayiti exhibit in November 2016, and again at Thayer’s Portal to Ayiti symposium in May 2017.
Our angels are purchased directly from Charles at fair trade cost. In addition to the support you are giving to education, you are supporting the artistic and entrepreneurial spirit of sculptors in Charles’ workshop, and contributing to sustainable economic development in the village of Noailles, Haiti.
Each angel measures 5 inches high by 3 inches across. Angels come in eight different patterns and can be shipped as a gift to anywhere in the continental U.S.
How they are made
The angels are fashioned, by chisel and hammer, from oil drums discarded from the nearby capital’s refineries. All of it, start to finish, is done by hand. The drums are incinerated to remove paint and residue, the cap and bottom are removed, and the cylinder is unfurled and beaten flat.
The artist draws templates an apprentice takes a chisel to, and the work advances painstakingly to the final stage of embellishment. The predominant technique, known as repoussé, is to strike patterns into the metal using nails and other implements appropriate for the desired effect. Finally, the frocks are turned so that the angel is free-standing.
