Roberts Creek jeweller and metalsmith Erin Dolman has recently won a top honour in a province-wide competition. Dolman was one of five artists from across B.C. who will be recognized at a gala ceremony April 12 as a winner of the inaugural B.C. Creative Achievement Award, given to those working in applied arts and design in the mediums of textile, wood, glass, clay and metal. Dolman creates jewellery in sterling silver, 18-carat gold and copper in her home studio in the Creek. Known professionally as Holy Crow Designs, most of her jewellery sells at galleries in Vancouver, Calgary and Arizona. On the Coast, her work can be found at the Flying Anvil Gallery in Pender Harbour. This award was not so much about her jewellery as about her one-of-a-kind artworks that she refers to as talismans or totems, often custom ordered by clients - tiny works fashioned from metal that incorporate natural elements such as dragonfly wings or feathers.
The award includes a cash prize of $5,000 and the right to tag her work with a seal of excellence.
"When I look at the other people who also won, their work is so contemporary," she says modestly. "Mine seems old fashioned." This is not her first award. Last year, she was the recipient of a visual arts development award sponsored by the Vancouver Foundation that gave her the cash to develop a course of self-guided study. "I spend so much of my time just making things for a living, it was nice to be able to develop my art in other ways," she says. Dolman moved to the Coast almost three years ago from Vancouver; she keeps up her city connections. She's a member of Circle Crafts Co-op and is a regional representative for the Crafts Association of B.C. Right now, she's preparing for a show at The Craft House, a gallery on Granville Island, and one of her brooch designs will appear in a forthcoming how-to guide by Lark Books entitled 500 Brooches. Dolman invites other artists to contact her with regard to the Crafts Association. She can be reached at [email protected]. Artists can find information about the award at www.bcachievement.com.
