The Spring 2023 Eastern Federation of Mineralogical & Lapidary Societies (EFMLS) Wildacres Workshop will be held May 15-21, 2023. This year will be a special event celebrating the 50th Anniversary since the first EFMLS Wildacres workshop was held in 1973, 50 years of continuous excellent education.
The Wildacres lodges blend into the
natural background; walking paths offer serene moments, Photo by Andrew Herman
The EFMLS Wildacres Workshop takes place
at a wonderful and very unique gathering place called Wildacres Retreat in North
Carolina, near Spruce Pine and Little Switzerland, about an hour north of
Ashville. It is a sanctuary for wildlife and artistic
endeavors .The Wildacres Retreat sits hidden away amongst tall trees on top of
Pompey’s Knob at the beautiful Blue Ridge Mountains at 3,300 feet elevation. A
favorite zen moment is to sit in the rocking chairs at the beautiful, large
flagstone porch and gaze at the layers of blue ridges, and far away, the
observatory on top of Mount Mitchell. Rain and thick fog often add an eerie atmosphere
and deepens the mystery of the place.
A favorite Zen
moment is to sit in the rocking chairs and gaze at the layers of blue ridges,
often covered by thick fog, which adds an eerie atmosphere. Photo Helen
Serras-Herman
Lodging, three
meals a day, and classes (except lab fees paid to the instructors) are included
in the registration fee. The week starts Monday afternoon with dinner and
finishes Sunday morning after breakfast.
Three delicious meals a day are
served in the dining room hall. Photo Helen Serras-Herman
The Workshops
This year the workshop list includes
faceting, intarsia, chainmaille, gem tree art, mineral ID, silversmithing,
soapstone carving, and wire-wrapping. Classes are broken into two semesters,
lasting two days each. Thursday is considered a “free day” when fieldtrips and
nearby museum visits take place, or students simply rest. A tailgate
with the opportunity to buy or sell hobby related items, an auction where
everyone has fun, and a show-and-tell of the week’s creations also take place,
all forging lasting friendships and memories.
The lapidary class
is a favorite workshop. Photo Helen Serras-Herman
The EFMLS Wildacres
Workshop’s objective is to introduce participants to new and different lapidary
and jewelry making art forms that they may not have encountered before or may
have not ever thought to take on. Even if the class may not be something you
want to further pursue, you can now at least appreciate the time, effort and
skill that each of these art forms require.
Speaker-in-Residence
Besides the hands-on workshops,
unique only to the EFMLS session an invited Speaker-in-Residence gives six
lecture presentations during the week. I am thrilled to share that I will be
returning to Wildacres for the 4th time as the 50th
Anniversary Spring 2023 Speaker-in-Residence. I will be presenting six
different presentations, five of them completely new to the Wildacres
participants, including two will be premiering there:
-
Carved Gems
– Inspirations & Expertise, lecture & book signing
-
Must See Us
Gemstone Mines, P1 (North Carolina, Montana, South Dakota, Nevada and
Oregon)
-
Must See US
Gemstone Mines, P2 (Colorado, California, and Arizona)
-
The
Mitchell & Merrick Silver Mine & 10 Canyons on or near Navajo Land
-
Two Museums
in Tucson: Alfie Norville Gem & Mineral Museum, and the Arizona
History Museum
-
Violet to
Magenta Palette — Top 10 Lapidary Materials
A wonderful collection of minerals and gem sculptures offer a
glimpse of the local mineral wealth, Photo Helen Serras-Herman
Studying Vacation
The Wildacres experience is a
fabulous one. The setting is incredible, the views are breathtaking, the
serenity of the place is inspiring, classes and instructors are great, and the
camaraderie is mind-blowing. Several special activities are being planned for
this 50th Anniversary EFMLS session. I hope you will be able to join
us. Registration is now open at www.efmls.org/wildacres/.
The EFMLS logo & The EFMLS Wildacres logo, courtesy EFMLS
You may also want to explore the beautiful attractions that surround Wildacres, either before or after your workshop week. Plan ahead your “studying vacation” and it will be an unforgettable one!
Here are my
favorite attractions within a couple hours of drive from Wildacres:
• The Mines and Rock Shops in Spruce Pine
(Gem Mountain, Rio Dòce) offer a variety of local mineral specimens, finished
jewelry, lapidary supplies, gold-panning supplies, sluice mining, and mining tours.
• The Museum of North Carolina Minerals.
Wonderful exhibits interpret the mineral wealth of the state of North
Carolina and highlight the rich mining heritage and plentiful mineral
resources.
• Linville Falls is the most
popular waterfall in the Blue Ridge Mountains
• Linville Caverns has beautiful
subterranean rock formations.
• Little Switzerland, a quaint community
with lodging, music and attractions
• The Emerald Village, wonderful history and minerals displayed in the museum, the historic Bon Ami Mine, sluice mining, and mining tours.
• The Crabtree Emerald Mine, rockhounding opportunity
• The swinging bridge at Grandfather Mountain
and Nature Museum educates visitors
about the natural history of the surrounding region.
• The Ashville Museum of Science (ex Colburn Earth Science Museum) in Ashville is a growing local science museum with interactive, hands-on exhibits for science lovers of all ages, and a great gemstone collection including the “Star of the Carolinas”, a natural purple star sapphire mined at the Old Pressley Mine in Hayward County, near Canton, NC.
• The Biltmore Estate in Asheville is an architecturally
impressive house reminiscent of a chateau and surrounded by fabulous gardens.
The Biltmore House was built as a retreat by George Vanderbilt III in 1895.
• The Mineral & Lapidary Museum of
Henderson County in Hendersonville with minerals, fossils, a great
fluorescent exhibit, cases full of North Carolina minerals, a fabulous exhibit with
faceted diamond replicas, and a polished slab of the Hendersonville meteorite, found in 1901.
• Chimney Rock is a spectacular natural 535-million-years-old rock formation that
stands out from a wall of cliffs.
• The Emerald Hollow Mine, in Hiddenite, near
Charlotte, where you can dig for emeralds (extremely rare),
hiddenite (green spodumene) crystals, aquamarine, quartz, garnet, topaz,
citrine, and tourmaline. The mine offers three options: Sluicing native or
enriched buckets at the flume line, Creeking (prospecting in the creek), and Digging
at a designated area.
• The Cowee Valley Ruby & Sapphire Mines
near Franklin, the town known as the “Gem Mining Capital of the World”, has a
number of mines producing corundum - sapphires and rubies, including the Mason Mountain Mine, where we found rubies and rhodolite garnets,
and the Sheffield Mine, “Home of
the honkers”, with two covered flume lines.
• The Franklin Gem & Mineral Museum, located in
the old jail, has eight rooms filled with thousands of specimens of gems,
minerals, fossils, Indian artifacts, fluorescent minerals, and sea-shells.
• The Cherokee Indian Reservation at the foothills
of the Great Smoky Mountains has historic and cultural exhibits and
18th century craft demonstrations – including flint knapping- and
outdoor drama theater.
• The Great Smoky Mountains National Park is
renowned for its diversity of plant and animal life, and the beauty of its
ancient mountains.
Helen
Serras-Herman, a 2003 National Lapidary Hall of Fame inductee, is an acclaimed gem
sculptor with 40 years of experience
in unique gem sculpture and jewelry art. See her work at www.gemartcenter.com and her business
Facebook page at Gem Art Center/Helen Serras-Herman
Cover Photo:
The Wildacres Retreat is located at the Blue Ridge Mountains of North Carolina, Photo Helen Serras-Herman
