Class Character

Class Character is a platform for faculty of Canadian Jewellery programs to share the victories of their graduating students and open the doors of their respective departments to the MetalAid community.  This is an ongoing, annual project.  If you would like to see your school featured in future editions of Class Character, please contact us for submission guidelines and details.

Compiled by: The MetalAid Team
Published: 2018/07/15

nBCCD
New Brunswick College of Craft and Design
fredericton, new brunswick

The 2018 graduating class of the New Brunswick College of Craft and Design had to do like the river this year, and go with the flow in order to finish off the semester’s work during the province’s major flood. While some classes were able to move to higher ground, the Jewellery/Metal Arts students were relocated to my home studio on the North Side of Fredericton.

While my studio is large enough for me, we somehow managed to squeeze 7 students for 3 weeks of intense work, finishing sterling silver teapots and steel knives for year-end exhibitions. The students had an opportunity to get a front line perspective on how to work with limited space, and on someone else’s turf. We had to improvise a lot, and although we had a brand new knife grinder at the college, all our knives ended up being completely hand made. The old belt driven polishing motor in my shop turned out to be the best at polishing teapots.

Great conversations were had around the picnic table during our shared meals. Few distraction proved how hard one works in a professional studio setting. I was happy that I was able to accommodate the students in this rather unusual way. I know they greatly appreciated the opportunity to finish the semester and get ready for graduation, and for our annual exhibition Sterling, hosted by Government House (Fredericton, NB) and opened by the Lieutenant Governor of New Brunswick.

Brigitte Clavette, Instructor and former Studio Head, Jewellery and Metal Arts