hello from the road! the sequel!

Hi, hello, how are you?
With slightly altered plans, that avoid driving into a tropical storm, I am writing to you from a rainy Madison, Indiana!

Madison happens to have a lot of historical buildings so its been fun to explore here a bit.

I am headed BACK to North Carolina, to attend another jewelry workshop at the same school of craft I attended in the summer, for a 6 week intensive workshop.

The school is nestled in the Blue Ridge Mountains of North Carolina and is a very inspiring and beautiful place to learn.
(The red roofed building is where you can find me for the next 6 weeks!)

I'm excited to dive back in to learning once more, and see what comes from exploring these new to me techniques.

I'll be learning about:
Stone setting (oooh think of all the rings!!) enamelling, etching, printing on metal as well as hollow form techniques.
A lot of these techniques involve pattern and texture, which is what drew me to this particular workshop. Patterns from vintage objects are already a big part of souvenir. I'm excited to explore how I can apply texture and print in new and exciting ways for you!

This time I brought almost every tool from my workbench at home:
jewelers saws, hammers and mallets, pliers, files, tweezers, etc

When I attended the workshop in the summer, I overestimated how much time I would have to play with these new found skills in the class. A lot of time was spent taking the new information in, with nowhere near enough time to work on new ideas. I'm thankful to have learned what I did, but more playing will have to be done once I'm home!!
My hope for this next experience since it is quite a bit longer, is to allow more space to explore, to find inspiring techniques that will translate into new and meaningful pieces I can share with you sweet people.
I know I keep saying it but I have so....many....ideas! Part of me just wants to jump ahead and get to it. Oof what an uncomfortable feeling!! I can't wait to get back into making things and sharing them with you. Good things do truly take time, and more time than I even thought!!
The creative process can't be rushed, which is something we aren't used to these days. I'm doing my best to just be with it anyways and savour this moment even though it feels strange to spend this much time away from "business" and usual stuff. All that being said, I am deeply grateful to be able to take this time. To learn these new skills is truly a dream come true.
Thank you for being here along for the ride with me <3

Inspiring scenes from the road. I love a good shop window!

That's it for now!
Thanks so much for sticking with me and following along and taking any interest in what I get up to. It truly means a lot to me! I am thankful for you!!
I'll be checking back in and giving you a little peek at what I got up to after my workshop is finished after the six weeks. (mid November)
Til then folks! Take care and lots of love to you all.
Rikki
she/her