Megan Hazel has struck a balance with Regina goldsmithing business
"I feel like with the custom work and the connections with people ... this is feels like what (I’m) really meant to do,” said Megan Hazel.
by Ashley MartinAbove a workbench in Megan Hazel’s east Regina studio, there is a corkboard full of photos of two smiling little boys.
On an opposite wall, there’s a series of photos of custom rings, “old made new” — one of her priorities as a jewelry artist.
After 16 years in business, Hazel says she has found her groove.
“I’m a goldsmith, I love my work, but I’m also doing the mom job too,” said Hazel, wearing an apron and decked out in her own jewelry designs.
“A lot of times the door (to the studio) is closed to try to either get work done, or it’s by appointment … and that’s also to have a successful work-life balance.”
Sometimes the balance is hard to find.
The first year of two-year-old Harrison’s life, “he was at every single meeting with me at work.”
Hazel said her customers embraced it. Likewise, she has embraced them.
“I feel like with the custom work and the connections with people … this is feels like what (I’m) really meant to do,” said Hazel.
In summer 2013, Hazel taught silversmithing in Shanghai, China, husband and first-born son Oliver in tow.
“I think from there on is sort of where things shifted. It was time to change, like interest wise and with having a family, I think custom (jewelry) just started to be where the demand was,” she said.
“I think also doing that was facing fears … and tackling goals and dreams. And so then I think I really looked at ‘what do I really want my career to look like?’ … And then from there on had the goal of opening my shop.”
Now eight, Oliver is sometimes the guest creator in his mom’s studio.
“He’s enthusiastic about all the tools and learning about the process,” said Hazel. “I might help do the torch patina on his piece, so we’re a good team at making the finished product, but he pretty much can do most of the steps.
“It’s pretty neat and exciting to think of them learning the craft as well,” she added, “because … a lot of times you don’t hear of people taking it on and continuing it and passing the techniques on.”
Since even before studying at the Kootenay School of the Arts in Nelson, B.C. in 2003, Hazel has valued handmade, quality craftsmanship.
“I think a lot of times, people don’t value something that takes time. And that’s also why I love my customers, because in this instant world, this isn’t an instant project that they’re going into,” said Hazel, who taught jewelry making for eight years at the Neil Balkwill Centre.
It can take a month or more to complete a custom piece, and Hazel keeps her clients involved in the process.
It begins with consultations and quotes on the project materials. Then there’s acquiring the materials, casting the ring blank in metal, then rounding, soldering, hammering, sanding, filing, sculpting and shaping the piece. Texturing, detailing and setting stones follows, then sanding and polishing.
“I go to sleep thinking about the piece that I’m working on either that day or the next day, but I’m constantly working through the different steps that are going to be needed for pieces,” said Hazel. “I live and breathe these pieces.”
Hazel revels in the artistic challenges: “Every piece is different so it keeps it fresh and exciting and always changing.”
Some pieces are brand new, while others are “old made new” — creating new jewelry from customers’ once-loved (or still-loved) old jewelry pieces.
They’re often heirlooms from aunts, mothers or grandmothers, sometimes broken and sometimes intact.
Sometimes, bereaved customers find Hazel after the death of a partner, to repurpose jewelry their loved one wore. Other times, newly single customers find her to celebrate a breakup.
In every case, Hazel hears the stories relating to these new heirlooms.
“I feel like a lot of times I connect with my customers; they feel comfortable,” added Hazel. “In the end, oftentimes we’re giving each other hugs on the way out and that’s the kind of place I like to have.”
History and stories inspire Hazel in other facets of her design work.
Three years ago, she created jewelry from repurposed copper from the Saskatchewan Legislative Building’s old dome.
Now, Hazel has designed “pillars of strength” pendants inspired by the colours and shapes of the Albert Street Memorial Bridge, which was built in 1930 in honour of soldiers who died during the First World War.
Given the bridge’s origin, Hazel is donating a portion of the necklaces’ proceeds to the Royal Canadian Legion.
Hazel said she appreciates reusing metals and stones as much as her customers do.
“I think there’s still so much value in what they have,” said Hazel, who endeavours to “go as sustainable and green as possible with what we’re doing.”
Hazel’s studio at 3207 Quance St. is open Saturdays, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Her online shop is at meganhazel.com.
