Artist Spotlight - Jewellery Artists Emily Ferris and Alexander Carey
Theirs is a story of art three generations long. And with roots from Massachusetts to Lasqueti Island, Coombs and Victoria, it is also a Vancouver Island success story.
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Emily Ferris and Alexander Carey are the grand children of John Carey, a jeweler and artist who came up with the renowned and popular bracelet called the Cape Cod Screwball. No, it’s not a negative thing. The Cape Cod Screwball is a beautiful work of art which happens to use a threaded screwball clasp, allowing for a smooth and invisible fastening. Carey is long considered one of America’s premier jewellery designers and was founder of Eden Hand Arts in Dennis, MA. Carey still works supplying his Massachusetts jewellery shop, which is now owned by his daughter Rachel Carey-Harper, the family says people would line up for hours to get these magnificent sterling silver or 14K gold pieces bracelets. Carey passed the honorable and gifted tradition down to his son Trey, and his grandchildren Emily Ferris and Alexander Carey, who were raised on Lasqueti Island off the coast of Parksville.
“After our father passed away in 2002, Alexander moved back from Cape Cod where he was working with our grandfather, and we inherited his tools and have worked together carrying on our traditional family jewellery designs and creating fresh new designs,” says Ferris. “We are grateful to be still working with our grandfather sharing designs, ideas and work techniques.” Today, Vancouver Islanders can access the Cape Cod Screwball and other brilliant examples of the Carey tradition done by the original family members merely by visiting one of two locations — Alex in Victoria at Adore Jewellery at 539 Pandora St., or Emily in Coombs, at her Creekside gallery behind the Coombs Market. Their designs are a fusion of East Coast classic tradition inspired by their grandfather coupled with the elemental freshness of the Pacific Coast. “Each piece of jewellery is hand crafted so no two pieces are exactly alike. And we’ve just started to add semi-precious stones to our work to add little bit of extra sparkle,” she adds. |
“Making jewellery is our passion and we are lucky enough to have had the talent passed down to us,” says Alex, who also studied at the American Jewellers Institute. Ferris invites everyone to visit her gallery in Coombs to see a long family tradition come to life in jewellery Emily Ferris at Creekside Gallery 250 248 6062 |
