Three jewellery arts grads unite in flux + form
NOW Magazine nominated flux + form as best jewellery store in Toronto. BlogTO echoes that recognition and also lists it as a destination for "best engagement rings." Toronto Life magazine’s shopping guide has listed the business as a top shop several times. Where.ca names it in their "top ten classy custom jewellers".
What do the co-owners of this handmade jewellery design shop have in common, besides this acclaim? They are all George Brown College Jewellery graduates.
A business launches
In 2007, Kim Drosdick (Jewellery Arts 2001), already an experienced designer, and Suzanne Crudden (Jewellery Methods 2006), a new graduate, launched flux + form (www.fluxandformcustomjewellery.com) with the goal to create one of the best jewellery stores in Toronto. Setting up in a Queen Anne Victorian storefront at Sherbourne and Richmond, they named the business flux + form based on an essential tool of their trade: flux is a liquid that helps clean metal surfaces and bond metals, that the designers say helps them develop the form of their designs.
Three years ago, Carey Pearson (Jewellery Arts 2012) came on board as a third partner after working for the founding partners after graduation. Like the other two, she has her own website and design identity in addition to the shared business.
Different entry points, a similar love of craft
Even though they attended the program at different times, all three designers have strong memories of their classes and professors and consider the program essential to their success. Drosdick recalls the fun of buying loose gemstones for the first time. Pearson says she appreciated the practical, hands-on training and professors’ industry experience. Crudden says she chose the two-year Jewellery Methods program to focus on her technical skills. “I literally could not be a goldsmith without the skills that I learned at George Brown,” says Crudden.
For both Crudden and Pearson, the program represented a switch to a second career, a leap to pursue a lifelong dream. For Pearson, the program confirmed she had made the right move. “My first day of class I had a moment where I knew this was the right place for me to be,” she says, adding that she felt the support from the program even more profoundly when she was diagnosed with stage one kidney cancer within three months and her professors helped her to make a plan to stay in the program.
Maintaining the connection
Today, the flux + form owners are still very connected with their program at George Brown. Drosdick goes to the grad show when she can and is also a guest speaker in classes. Pearson notes that the company participates in the internship program and even in class assignments to evaluate presentations.
Crudden adds that giving back through the internship is definitely a highlight for her. “The most rewarding aspect is getting to meet amazing young people, full of energy, and having the opportunity to mentor while getting great help at the same time.”
Suzanne Crudden
Graduate, 2006
Jewellery Methods
Kim Drosdick
Graduate, 2001
Jewellery Arts
Carey Pearson
Graduate, 2012
Jewellery Methods
