behind the scenes

We're just back from a 2-week trip to France (more about that in upcoming posts) and still figuring out which time zone we're in. After looking at Orbitz, Expedia, airline sites, etc., we consulted our travel agent and learned about a good deal on Air Transat out of Toronto. It's about a 3.5-4 hour drive to Toronto from our house. Weather and border crossings permitting, that would end up being a shorter haul than flying from Rochester to JFK or Boston, and risking lost luggage and missed flights. I called Lisa Ridout, our favorite Toronto artist, for advice on where to park our car for two weeks. Lisa very kindly offered her studio parking spot (she said she usually rides her bike or hoofs it to work) and also invited us to tour her studio. We readily agreed, but only if she would let us take her and her husband, Ben, to dinner before we headed off to the airport for an 11pm flight to Paris.

The border crossing was as speedy as it's ever been, but traffic closer to Toronto was wall-to-wall. We soon discovered that it was Thanksgiving weekend in Canada and every single person was leaving Friday afternoon for the country, ready to enjoy the last 3-day weekend of the year. We arrived after a 4-hour drive and Lisa was ready and waiting to tour us through her studio.

Making sterling silver chain jewelry for over 15 years, Lisa is a master of her craft. Collaborating with a mechanical engineer, she has retrofitted ordinary machines to do extraordinary work.

First she flattens the end of a coil of sterling silver wire:

Next she pulls the wire through a sizing plate, stretching it to just the right diameter for her intended project:

The perfectly-sized wire is then coiled and finally cut, creating a cascade of silver rings that sounds like a winning Vegas jackpot when Lisa directs the rings into a metal storage container:

Then it's over to her bench, where Lisa works her magic with pliers in both hands, twisting the ends to a seamless connection - no soldering needed. She says she can tell "just by the feel and the light on the metal" when the link is perfectly round.

Lisa creates traditional designs and other, more unusual chain designs of her own creation and puts them together with sparkling Swarovski crystals. Into the tumbler they go to be brightened up and the result is her highly reflective, intricate, gorgeous Lisa Ridout jewelry. We love it...and so do our customers.

Here are studio shots of her Shift bracelets and necklaces, some of which we brought home with us on Friday:

We are so pleased to have Lisa as one of our JOOLZ artists. She's also become a good friend - and that's a big part of what makes my job so much fun. Find great joolz and meet nice people...and get to go behind the scenes and see how it all comes together. Doesn't get much better than that! Thanks for everything, Lisa.