Silversmith Lynsey Richelle Decides to Get Ready through Studio Safety

Receiving a CERF+ Get Ready Grant gave silversmith Lynsey Richelle the opportunity to make her shop safer and inspired her to act. In anticipation of the arrival of her new Hakko Fume Extractor to her studio, Lynsey reviewed her workspace looking for ways to make it cleaner, safer and more efficient. Here’s her story:

“The grant inspired me to revisit my practices, and thanks to that, my shop is the most beautiful and organized that it has ever been. I no longer have any residual chemical smells that my previous filter/fan system left behind. I have more room to work and I am completing projects faster. I added more lighting and made changes to my workflow that are easier on my body. All of these are ripple effects of the grant.

To share what I learned with my artist community, I created a video that deals with some basics of studio air quality safety. One fellow metal artist responded to my video on Facebook, “This is so awesome, you did such a great job! Also totally helped me come up with some ideas for our work space. The amount of metal dust and fumes is ridiculous, and in the shop-planning stages we’re coming up with ways to make it healthier for us.”