Jewelry lovers can view the work of four emerging designers April 30 and May 1 when the 2016 graduates of Vancouver Metal Art School exhibit their wearable creations at The Music Box in West Vancouver.
Clare Briffett, Alex Thibert, Dani Thibert and Michaela Stebbe are finishing up the two-year Jewelry and Object Design program at Vancouver Metal Art School, a West Vancouver educational institution that trains students in the technical and design side of the jewelry industry.
Each of the four grads will be exhibiting about 20 of their pieces, divided into several different collections each bound by a common theme.
“The jewelry looks very different person to person,” notes Dani.
Vancouver Metal Art School was founded in 2001 by Gerold Mueller and has been located on Marine Drive in West Vancouver for more than a decade. Trained in Pforzheim, Germany, Mueller puts an instructional emphasis on European jewelry design and goldsmith techniques. Skills taught include goldsmithing, manufacturing of all kinds of traditional jewelry, free-form settings, developing two- and three-dimensional drawings, production techniques and experimental design, and free-form stone cutting.
Dani says the students stick to “old-school tools” in the studio, such as files and saw blades.
“We don’t do any 3-D printing or any of the CAD (computer-aided design) on the computer. It’s all done by hand,” she says. “Gerold wants us all to learn the basics, how to do it properly, how to do it clean and professional. … Everyone has to learn how to set properly, everyone has to learn how to do the soldering to a level where there isn’t holes everywhere.”
Once the students have the basics down, they’re free to explore the techniques they’re most interested in, Dani says.
After graduating, students are armed with the technical skills necessary to pursue careers in the jewelry industry.
“Some people will choose to work for a jewelry company where you would do whatever their agenda is, but the ultimate goal would be to be an independent worker at the end,” Dani says.
The 2016 Vancouver Metal Art School grad show takes place Saturday, April 30 and Sunday, May 1, from 1 to 5 p.m. at The Music Box, 1564 Argyle Ave., West Vancouver. Admission is free.
