Reprise of an Artisan

Seven years after Vicki Blake carved a reputation - as well as earned a living - as a multi-faceted artisan, the Bonners Ferry choir conductor and former dance choreographer has suddenly reprised her career.

For the former Iowa farm girl who danced professionally with the Minnesota Opera, it couldn't come at a more perfect time.

Now retired after teaching choir for the last six years at Bonners Ferry High School, Blake has revived a budding cottage industry named "Heartrest" she launched in 1992. Blake's work - semi-precious stone necklaces, pendants and earrings along with greeting cards displaying her jewelry - has not gone unnoticed.

Volume-wise, Blake's creations have become the largest-selling items at the Groove Studio in Bonners Ferry.

"It's nice to see this happen, how people are captured by my designs and are gravitating to the shapes and colors of natural elements like jasper and agate," says Blake, who choreographed dance for the Kentucky and Minnesota Opera as well as the 5th Avenue Theater in Seattle before moving to Bonners Ferry. "I'm glad I finally have time to pour into this again."

For Blake - who holds a Master's degree from the University of Idaho in theater with an emphasis in dance-time has always been a balancing act. Though she still juggles a tight schedule conducting three choirs that include Wild Mountain Thyme, the Bonners Ferry Choir and the Bonners Ferry Children's Choir, she has now managed to devout a chunk of time for the craft she calls "jewelry-building" that for years was the sole income of her family.

"I created a unique collection of jewelry and greeting cards that found a niche," says Blake, who worked craft shows across the Northwest for years. "I kept my prices low enough to make my work affordable, and I did well. Sometimes I took in $3,000 a show."

But before Blake began designing geometric shapes and animal figurines out of jade, her passion was dance. In love with movement and performance, she taught dance choreography for seven years at Luther College in Decorah, Iowa, where she received her B.A. in theater and German.

"After awhile I started becoming jealous of my students who went on to dance and perform," recalls Blake. "I wanted to be doing what I was teaching."

She moved with her husband to Seattle and was hired by the Minnesota Opera, where she danced in several musicals, including "Oklahoma." She was soon doing their choreography, as well as for opera companies in Houston, Kentucky and Seattle.
But after she turned 40, the years of dancing began taking its toll on her body.

"My knee was falling apart, and I knew it was time to switch gears," recalls Blake. "If I kept dancing eight hours a day, I wasn't going to have an active older life."

The couple moved to Bonners 16 years ago, and Blake began her "Heartrest." Still as devoted as she has always been about conducting music, Blake will be taking the Bonners Ferry Children's Choir to perform at Gonzaga University's Cathedral with the Spokane and Cheney Children's Choir in April.

"I love this passion I have for shaping music," she says. "Maybe that's partly where shaping stones into jewelry comes from. I have found that the more you wear them, the more beautiful they seem to become. It's sort of like listening to music, isn't it?"