Bonjour!

Hello everyone! It's me, Emily!

I can't believe how fast this past six months have flown bye! I moved to Toronto in May, shortly after graduating from the Nova Scotia College of Art and Design in Halifax. Before I attended NSCAD I lived in Montreal and went to Concordia for two years. I am from Montreal and love big cities! Here in Toronto it didn't take me long to find Jewel Envy; it was really important for me to find a studio with a) a cooperative setting with mutliple jewellers, b) enamelling kiln and c) a hydraulic press :) I found that and so much more! (but really I could not live without a kiln....really;)

Since moving to Toronto I have been really fortunate to have participated in a few shows. The Toronto Outdoor Art Exhibition was one of the highlights of my summer, winning Best Jewellery of the show was incredibly wonderful. In early June I learned I had won the National Student Jewellery competition at Lafreniere and Pai Gallery in Ottawa, my friend and jeweller Ann Pocket was also a finalist. Lafreniere and Pai Gallery has since taken my work to SOFA Chicago, very exciting!

I am gearing up for my enamelling class which is scheduled to start Tuesday, January 19th of next year. It will be an eight week class and I am really looking forward to teaching you all how fun it is to enamel!!    Lillian Yuen instructed a fantastic course at NSCAD and I have not been able to stop since. For those of you who are not familiar, enamelling is the process of fusing powdered glass to metal in a kiln at very high temperatures (usually around 1500 degrees ferenheit). The result is a beautiful glossy surface of colour on your metal, but the possibilities for designs, colour combinations, and subtle variations in the texture of the enamel are really endless. This is why I love it so much. And in my class you will see why!

I have been trying to keep on top of all my online networking tools over the last few months......My website launched in October and this past month I finally opened up my etsy shop (I love etsy). I started Emily Gill Jewellery Design facebook group as well, you are more than welcome to join for updates on what's going on! I invite you to take a look at both; you can follow the link from my website to my etsy page. www.emilygill.ca.

Our holiday party at Jewel Envy is coming up very soon! I have some new designs ready (I better get to work now!) and really look forward to meeting everyone's friends, families, clients, students. It is going to be great. I hear Quincy has made up a great playlist of music, we are all bringing delicious food!

Have a very happy weekend, and see you all at our holiday party this thursday. I cannot wait!

Bye!    - Emily