» TEACHERS

TEACHERS

Soigne is pleased to grow through many guest teachers from around the world.

Their passion, commitment and broad experience makes soigne a unique place to learn.

Beata Kacy

Originally from Poland, Beata Kacy is the creator and founder of Soigne. Beata is a PMC level1 Certified Instructor and She is the only Canadian holding Precious Metal Clay Teachers Certificate and Hadar Jacobson Art in Metal Clay Accreditation Program. She pursues her life’s bliss in the outdoors, finding art, in all its forms, wherever she goes. A bohemian at heart, most of her life was spent studying, experimenting with, and learning the behaviors of different medias. You can often see her expressing her creative passions on the streets of Vancouver with a camera, or in her art studio making and teaching jewelry. She has cultivated her artistic outlook during her travels around the ancient globe. As she grew into a full-fledged artist, Beata began experimenting with other mediums such as clay, concrete, resin, stone and glass. With a Master’s Degree in Marketing Management and a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Computer Science, Beata further honed her artistic sense by attending Vancouver Film School. She is also a graduate from Emily Carr University where she studied Fine Arts in Practice.

On any given day, Beata can be found hard at work in her studio creating masterpiece quality jewelry and accessories. She runs her own studio, called Octopus Studios (www.OctopusStudios.com on the East Side of Vancouver. Beata’s studio is currently home to 17 artists who are cultivating their own crafting expertise at the helm of a true artistic master. Soigne Atelier was born from her passion for metalwork, nature and photography. All 3 aspects combined together allow her to explore different methods of jewelry making using glass, wood, metals, cement, resin, images and found objects. Beata’s designer jewelry has been showcased in Ginger 62, Ayden Gallery, Arts of Main Locally, her designs are available at Maker Faire and East Side Culture Crawl.

Kristal Viñas

With a strong background in Product Design and love for arts in many forms since she was a child, Kristal has always loved to produce wearable art pieces. She took her first steps learning different arts and crafts techniques during her summer breaks since she was 8 years old at her aunt’s crafts academy in her native Venezuela where she also became a jewelry instructor.

After finishing high school, she studied some years of Electronics Engineering but eventually decided to pursue her passion and graduated from Industrial Design in Caracas where she also worked for many years as Furniture Designer for a very prestigious national firm. In 2003 she moved to Valencia, Spain where she completed her Masters in New Products Design, Management and Development and worked as furniture and product designer for different firms during 7 years.

She considers herself fortunate to have been able to learn metalsmithing from great jewellers from Europe and South America and has combined her skills in the trade with her professional experience as Industrial Designer, which she has been bringing to Soigne as one of our instructors shortly after she moved to Vancouver in 2010.

After taking a break from the teaching world to spend more time with her kids, she is very happy to be back with us again and excited to share her knowledge, joy and have fun with her students at her classes!

Andrea Roberts

Andrea, a certified goldsmith, studied at the prestigious College for Goldsmiths in Pforzheim, Germany. After her graduation in 1989 and working in the trade she moved to Vancouver 1996 where she established her own studio.

Since 1999 she is teaching intermediate and advanced Jewelry Techniques to aspiring students at VSB Continuing Education and private study programs for all levels in her studio. The same year she became a Circle Craft Coop member selling her art work at the Granville Island store.

Her love for unusual and rare Brazilian gems are often incorporated in her designs. Andrea addresses her work to people who claim jewelry as a formal idiom of their own and is specialized in one-of-a-kind designs.

To Andrea, art is a reflection of a person’s soul. Her own inspirations are drawn from nature, materials, forms and people. She uses techniques such as roller-printed textures to transform and shape her sculpture like jewelry to give a piece character and depth.

In 2002 her piece “flower of the universe” was given to the Queen of Norway by former Governor General Mrs. Adrienne Clarkson as a present of state representing Canadian Arts and Craft.

I am excited to be invited to Octopus Studios in collaboration with Beata Kacy/Director sharing some 25 years of my professional experience in the jewelry making and designing field and 15 years of mentoring aspiring students exploring their creative potential with fun and never ending curiosity.

Alicia Meek

I began taking jewelry classes in 2008 and quickly became entranced and obsessed with the wide variety of methods that allowed me to create beautiful works of art I never could have imagined! I started with the basics metal smithing course at Soigne, and quickly worked my way through the majority of their classes, while making good friends with the owner, Beata Kacy. My dream of being an instructor at Soigne has come true!

Beata Czerwisnka

Beata Czerwinska graduated from Academy of Fine Arts in Lodz at the Faculty of Design, specializing in Fashion Design. She was also a student of Art&Design at Galway-Mayo Technical Institute in Ireland. This was a general undergraduate degree in art, design and new media incorporating the opportunity to specialise in the areas of ceramics, painting, printmaking, sculpture or textiles. The programme combined traditional and contemporary approaches to visual research and art and design practices, including research methodologies, drawing, photography, digital media, art history, critical theory and professional practice taught by specialist practitioners and academics. She obtained Bachelor Degree of Business Management and Marketing in Ireland at Galway Business School. As a professional she has been associated with the fashion industry. She gained experience as an art director assistant and designer assistant in different fashion apparels. She also worked as a fashion/graphic designer and managed interdisciplinary projects: assisting fashion shows for Maciej Zie?, creating costumes to independent arthouse movies and theatre play.

Natasha Dash

Natasha Dash is a Certified Zentangle Teacher. She began her Zentangle journey in 2016 and has enjoyed many benefits of “tangling”. Natasha uses tangling as a healthy and creative way to deal with stress and access a state of relaxed focus. She is always amazed by the beautiful art she is able to create using the method of Zentangle which has really built her confidence as an artist. Natasha’s favourite part of teaching the method of Zentangle is that each student is given the same instructions, but every tile produced looks so different and unique, just like each person.

Natasha is a passionate lifelong learner and when she is not teaching tangling or creating her own Zentangle art, she is teaching Kindergarten in the North Vancouver School District. Natasha also loves attending live music events, travelling with her husband, participating in art and craft classes, and hosting game nights with friends and family.

It has been said that Zentangle brings fantastic people together, and Natasha has so much gratitude and appreciation for all the amazing people she has met while on her Zentangle journey. She looks forward to sharing her knowledge and passion of the method of Zentangle with you!

Aiko Uda

There are few art forms that Aiko isn’t familiar with. Whether it’s painting, fluid art, jewelry making, sewing, crocheting, knitting, origami, paper crafts, Japanese and western calligraphy, embroidery, fabric dying, stencils or pottery, Aiko has tried them all. She is a Brilliance Colour Dew certified colour therapist, through which she uses art as a form of therapy and incorporates the rich artistic history and philosophy she’s learned from her native Japan.

But Aiko’s creativity spans beyond art. She loves to cook, create natural skin and hair care products and tend to her plants in her garden. She is also a Japanese Naogmi Yoga instructor and a certified Japanese Reiki practitioner. For her, everything she does is a way of connecting with the natural world and incorporating everything it offers us as a means of cherishing the gift of life.

Mina Saneei

Mina is a goldsmith based in Vancouver, she has a Bachelor of Architecture from Iran and Jewellery Arts Advanced Diploma from George Brown College in Toronto.
She started her silversmithing path in her home country, Iran, couple of years before moving to Canada in pursuit of more knowledge and experience. She has been awarded an excellence award for her thesis collection called “Dynamic Architecture”. Currently she produces her own designs and does custom work from her studio whilehaving a full-time job as a bench jeweler for a local brand. Mina is a member of Vancouver Metal Arts Association where she serves as board member and is an active part of exhibition committee. In her search for the right medium, Mina has gained extensive experience in working with different materials and learning techniques such as Carpentry, blacksmithing, Resin, Metal Clay and Traditional Leather Sewing. In the Leather medium she has established her own brand. In addition to teaching, for more than 3 years, she has had international awards and exhibitions.

Katie Mott

Katie is an innovative and passionate silversmith, maille artisan, and craftsperson hailing from Nova Scotia. She has a diploma in environmental science and has been making art from a young age. Originally a painter, she has dived into many other mediums including screen printing and digital art. From delicate silver wire-weaving to intricate pieces of chainmail, her attention to detail and use of a variety mediums has resulted in creations that are both beautiful and durable. She continually strives to improve on technique and incorporates traditional design concepts to produce new ideas and individuality. She draws her inspiration from nature, fantasy, geometrics, and simplicity. You can find her work on her website www.thenoldor.ca. When she’s not tinkering away in her home studio she is usually skateboarding, in the mountains, alongside the ocean, or traveling in her van.

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