The Britannia Mine Museum’s annual Copper & Fire Arts community event is returning Saturday, September 18 from 10 am to 3 pm featuring talented local BC artists and their unique metal and earthen crafts.
Copper & Fire is the museum’s premiere community event showcasing crafts derived from mined materials “of the earth.”
The family-friendly Copper & Fire Arts Event features earth-inspired jewellery, sculpture, copper work, gemstone art, pottery and painting, all inspired by the landscape, plant life and forests of the Pacific Northwest.
“The Copper & Fire Arts Event is our annual community event where we celebrate the arts and where visitors can come experience and see for themselves the unique and creative ways minerals from the Earth can be showcased through art,” says Elena Whitman, Manager of Guest Services at the Britannia Mine Museum.
“It is inspiring to see how these gifted artists can transform and create such beautiful and compelling art pieces, and it’s a special way to see how we are all connected to mining.”
Some of the BC artists who will be showcasing their creations include:
Ailsa Brown | Canvas & Clay – Delta-based artist Ailsa Brown is known for her mixed media paintings and wheel thrown “clay art” that are expressions of our intimate relationship with nature and the oneness of all living things. www.ailsajbrown.com
Angela Muellers | Paint – Brackendale-based painter Angela Muellers is a classically trained portrait and landscape artist, who is best known for painting natural forms and the effects of light like mountain landscapes, nature, animals on copper. www.angelamuellers.com
Hazel Cruse | Copper – Hazel Cruse is a local jewellery artist who combines textures, shapes, shiny, rough, ancient, organic and sometimes not-so-perfect materials to create pieces that are “perfection in imperfections”. Her custom handmade pieces showcase her passion for South Coast jewellery, North Coast carvings and engraved silver, and ancient Tibertan Turquoise and coral adornment pieces.
Jim Unger | Copper – Abbotsford-based metal artist and former cabinet maker, Jim Unger operates Clayburn Copperworks where his custom hand-hammered metal works have evolved over the years from simple garden objects to large sculptures and contemporary works of art. www.clayburncopperworksdesign.com
Martin Vseticka | Silver & Gold – Sea-to-Sky-based Martin Vseticka is an award-winning jewellery designer who brings his love of nature into goldsmithing through unique design and environmental ethics. He specializes in the form and forge method for gold and silver work and is best known for his trademark halibut hook design. www.vseticka.ca
The Britannia Mine Museum provides unique and memorable experiences that engage visitors of all ages. Visitors can enjoy fun exhibits and crowd favourites like the underground mine train, gold panning, the historic 20-storey concentrator Mill building and its BOOM! special effects show, the Terralab STEAM learning space, the minerals and gem gallery, and the Beatty Lundin Visitor Centre.
The Museum is encouraging everyone to practice safe COVID-19 protocols including frequent hand washing, physical distancing and staying at home if you are sick.
For visitors who only want to check out the Copper & Fire Arts event, discounted tickets are available online under “Special Events” in the online booking system.
