"I have distinct creative phases. It can be through design, or drawing, and then suddenly it’s an unusual object that I found somewhere. Or I decide to cast metal—so I cast metal. The other side of me that is methodical and meditative wants to make a bowl, fashion it and hammer, hammer, hammer it until I have the shape I want. Or I can make some sort of painting or watercolour that can start to inspire me—and these things go together. And I like creating pieces that you could use as a table centrepiece."
– Brigitte Clavette
Brigitte Clavette is a jeweller and metalsmith who was born in Edmunston, New Brunswick. The head of Jewellery/Metal Arts at the New Brunswick College of Craft & Design from 1985 to 2017, she currently teaches part-time and works on her own artistic practice. She is a member of Royal Canadian Academy of Arts and has received the Excellence Award from the province of New Brunswick and the Strathbutler Award from the Sheila Hugh Mackay Foundation. Her work is held in the Royal Ontario Museum, the Victoria and Albert Museum, the New Brunswick Museum and the Art Gallery of Guelph’s contemporary silversmithing collection. Brigitte Clavette now lives in Fredericton, New Brunswick.
Selected works
Brigitte Clavette, Coq, Unity and Diversity, 2009, sterling silver, 14k gold, sumac wood, 25 x 15 x 12 cm. Collection of the Royal Ontario Museum.
Photo credit: Karen Ruet
Brigitte Clavette, Wasted—1,861 Grams Sterling, 2017, sterling silver, ink on paper on wood, 67 x 28 x 18 cm. Artist’s collection.
Photo credit: Drew Gilbert
Brigitte Clavette, Untitled Knives, Unsheathed, 2013, sterling silver, steel, found object, watercolour on paper on wood, 15 cm (each). Private collection.
Photo credit: Drew Gilbert
