BEANS

So this workshop runs on coffee and im not ashamed to admit i am a coffee snob

we tend to drink only freshly ground locally roasted in this household  - otherwise ill just have water

when we lived in the city we were walking distance from the coffee roasters and  it was part of the weekly routine to walk down and get our beans. i was a bit worried when we were about to move that would become much less convenient to get hold of good coffee. when i asked the guys if they would be opening a branch in Bellville all i got was a smirk and a grunt. 

thankfully, i was happy to discover we have not one, but two artisan coffee roasters where we are now, one walking distance and the other just a 2 min drive away - phew, crisis averted

When you work alone, the service providers, the couriers, the gas people, the printers, who become part of your routine, is the closest you get to having colleagues. I value these interactions, so I'm happy to slowly be getting to know my new people. Now, I don't like asking people what they do for a living when I meet them, I don't want to put them into boxes that way. So I also don't broadcast what I do, out in daily life. I guess that's why it took almost 2 years for the guys at the coffee place to learn that I'm a jeweller. And now it has lead to an exciting project:

One of the guys is expecting a baby and wants to make a solid coffee bean pendant for her. It's beautifully logical to share one of his life passions with his first born.

for this i will be venturing into casting for the first time since my student days, and I'm happy for it because it had been on the to do list. It's a complete change form my regular modus opperandi because I'm a bit obsessed with getting things done immediately, if I do it myself I can do it NOW, and I tend to. But for this project I have to get the casters involved. Ive started a conversation and we are all systems go. The next step is to get the soon-to-be-dad to choose his perfect coffee been and then we will get the mold made to get it cast

I'm very excited to see how it turns out and hoping it will lead to more of my own cast pieces