Community Studios and Working from the Road

An alluring part of working for myself was being able to switch up my location at will. I love Richmond as a home base but want to be able to explore other places. Over the years I’ve structured my life so that I have the freedom to do so. I’ve dialed back my desires for material things, bought a camper van, and downsized immensely. When I’m at home, I work in a collaborative studio space.

The perfect light in a Jacksonville campground

Community studios have been a big part of that adventure. I’ve spent months at a time away from home thanks to the ability to work at surprisingly affordable jewelry studios. The ones I’ve been to offered monthly memberships or hourly/daily rates. If you’re a jeweler who wants to work from the road, you can check the Metalsmith Society’s website on where to take classes. Many of those places offer studio facilities to rent.

Smoking Collection

Smoking has evolved in popular culture far beyond Cheech + Chong or the Marlboro man. There are as many plants to smoke as there are reasons to smoke them—from relaxation or pain relief to the spiritual. Having many pipemaker friends, I’ve always been interested in smoking accessories. I regularly make lighter cases and joint tubes and have made ashtrays, incense burners, and the like. They make great canvases to showcase my engraving and drawing work. They’re available to be customized with images of your choice. Hit me up with your ideas! BROWSE ACCESSORIES HERE.

A Little About Mood Rings

One of my most cherished items is the collection of vintage overstock [real deal old school 1970s!] mood stones that I acquired a few years back from a vendor who seemed to have bought up someone’s huge stock of jewelry findings. The first piece of jewelry I ever fell in love with belonged to my mom’s best friend when I was a kid. She had a mood ring stashed in her cabinet, next to her red lava lamp other things from her childhood. I asked to see it every time we visited; I was mystified.

Back when I purchased these, I bought everything the buyer had left. I still have quite a few and I usually release them in batches of 15-25ish a handful of times per year. However, when they’re gone, they’re gone forever. If the vintage stone is what calls you to them, then don’t sleep on your chance to get one. I usually create a simple, throwback style ring to bring focus to the stone. Sometimes I’ll make more elaborate limited edition pieces that are more visually similar to the other jewelry you love from Feral Blue. Like all of my work, they are made with sterling silver and with proper care are built to last well past the days when your best friend’s kid will come fish it out of your memory box.

Spoiler alert: If you’re curious, mood rings work by using thermotropic liquid crystals that react to your body temperature. The “stone” itself is a cabochon-shaped piece of glass. A very thin layer of black plastic-like material containing the crystals was sprayed across the back of the glass. For that reason, handling them when creating the rings is sometimes precarious. The tiniest scratch against something will cause a hole in the material. Once I’ve set the stone, they’re safe from scratches. HOWEVER, they’re not safe from water damage. This is why I warn every customer to take it off before swimming, showering, washing hands, etc. (I swam in my first one and it was toast!) Once they have water damage, the stone will be permanently black. Note that at this point I’m not able to replace it for you on the house. So please take care! I believe the modern stones are less touchy when it comes to water, but I think the color of these older stones is much closer to commonly sought after gemstones.

PURCHASE YOURS HERE.