Designers

I’ve always liked building things. I’ve worked with clay since I was a kid. I learned mould-making at OCAD and now design housewares.

I took the new materials course thinking, “Great, show me some new materials!’ When I got there, it was all PVC, vinyl…. I was so disappointed. I think plastic can be beautiful, but I would never use it. When I use fabric, I use recycled or unused material that people send to me.

My studio partner, Erin [McCutcheon], and I also run Capacity, an exhibition of work by women designers. At first, we weren’t going to make a big deal about featuring just women, but that seems to be what people are interested in. Last year, older women from the suburbs who would never normally come downtown to a design show came. They wanted to see what women were doing.

I work a lot with acrylic, do laser-cutting and make jewellery that’s linear and graphic. I’m also working a bit more with gems, because I did study gemology.

At OCAD they encourage jewellery students to use alternative materials, which is how I got into plastics. Plastic mouldis very bold, and you can create a very graphic look with it.

Because I like crafts, I knew I wanted to go into material arts and design. Within that, you choose between ceramics, jewellery or fibre. I connected most with jewellery. OCAD is an art school, so the focus is more on ideas and concepts. There are more technical jewellery programs at other schools. I’ve taken a few continuing education courses at George Brown to learn more technique.

I run my own design company and also work for Anne Sportun Experimetal. They hired me because of my gemology background, though I also occasionally create custom pieces for customers.

I rent a studio space with former classmates. It’s small; it’s still early in my career.

If you want to get into jewellery, don’t get too influenced by other designers. Lots jewellery looks the same, so you have to do something that stands out.

I went to OCAD for advertising – I was looking for a lucrative art-related career – and hated it, so I took a summer program in jewellery and fell in love with it. I enrolled in jewellery and metalsmithing full-time. I’d always been really creative and making things. That’s what led me to art school. As soon as I started with jewellery, I saw myself running my own business, which was enticing.

School encouraged me to think outside the box. I use plastic, wood and concrete – materials that aren’t typically seen in jewellery. A diamond ring with concrete, for example. OCAD gave me the confidence to push the boundaries.

I use a lot of recycled gold and off-cut acrylic and wood. Things that would be thrown away end up in my jewellery, which is better for the environment.