Artist Profile: Riki Shumacher, San Juan Island

by Claudia Bradley

Riki Shumacher of San Juan Island says, “I’ve always done some kind of art since I was a teenager.” Shumacher started out painting and drawing as an art major in high school. Later she worked with stained glass and pottery. She attended Western Washington State College (now Western Washington University), majoring in graphic arts and communications. After careers as radio advertising executives in Seattle, Shumacher and her husband Fred retired to San Juan Island 10 years ago.

“I wanted to rekindle an old passion in my retirement,” said Shumacher. “I’ve always loved wearing jewelry, so creating wearable art became my passion.” Initially she took some classes in wax carving and lost wax casting.

Schumacher’s first line of jewelry was art pins called Pooches and Naturewear, which feature dogs, plants and wildlife. She said, “Our Yorkshire Terrier Chuck was my inspiration for the pins.”

Schumacher wanted to expand her creativity to include additional media and took some additional courses in the use of precious metal clay (PMC), metal smithing, resin and wire work.

“Working with PMC, which is a type of fine silver in a soft clay-like form, allows me to sculpt with silver,” said Schumacher. “It allows me as the designer to work with silver in three dimensions and allows remarkable freedom and flexibility in my designs.” After firing, the pieces can be soldered, pounded or drilled like any other type of sheet metal.

After hand forming and shaping, the PMC pieces are fired in a kiln at high temperatures. Then the 24 karat gold is fused on and the piece is hand finished with a warm patina wash, giving it an ancient look.

Schumacher also uses resin, sterling silver and “found objects” in her work, sometimes combining techniques and treatment in a specific piece and in other instances using resin or other precious metals alone to create or highlight relic jewelry pieces.

“The biggest challenge is taking a two-dimesional drawing of an idea and constructing a three-dimesional object,” says Schumacher. “The more I learn, the more intricate designs I imagine, and that translates into more involved and time-consuming construction.”

Seeking to expand her knowledge and experience, Shumacher will be traveling to France in September to hone her skills and gain inspiration for new designs. “I hope to continue to improve my techniques to add more interest to my pieces,” she said.

Shumacher’s designs called Ricarda Art Jewelry can be found at Island Studios and Dominique’s Boutique in downtown Friday Harbor and at Roche Harbor Sportswear on San Juan Island. Many of her past and present designs can be viewed at www.rikijewelry.com

She also welcomes custom work. Riki Schumacher can be reached at rikis@rockisland.com or (805) 459-7454.