By Aurora Sutherland

By Aurora Sutherland

When you’ve been successfully self-employed for 16 years doing what you love, and you’ve made a name for yourself, it might be time to relax and slow down.  Leanne Helin is taking a different approach.  She decided she wanted to advance her studio and develop her web site into a more polished e-commerce business tool.  Like her jewellery, the results are stunning.

Since 1991, Leanne has been designing, finishing and promoting her own line of jewellery from her  studio in Nanoose Bay on Vancouver Island, BC.  She creates unique pieces depicting the legends and crest of her Tsimshian Native heritage.  Her designs are hand-carved in gold and sterling silver with great depth and detail to provide generations of wear and enjoyment.  Leanne has become one of the foremost native women jewellery-artists of the Northwest coast.

The Tsimshian, pronounced SIM-shee-an and meaning "People Inside the Skeena River," are a Native American and First Nation people who live around Terrace and Prince Rupert, on the north coast of BC and the southernmost corner of Alaska on Annette Island.

Leanne found her future career helping out her brother, when she discovered she had the knack with her hands.  “I go a little crazy now after awhile when I don’t do it.  It’s a part of me now,” she laughed.  So she apprenticed with her brother Bill Helin, world-renowned Native Tsimshian artist, learning engraving techniques in Tsimshian Native designs.  In 1989, she attended the celebrated Gemological Institute of America studying jewellery repair.

She is best known for her gold Nail Art, custom finger nails engraved with detailed native imagery.  She jokes that, “people often remember me as the one with ‘the golden fingers’ or ‘the nail lady’.”  What began as a custom order 14 years ago has evolved into the most memorable and recognizable part of her artistry. 

Her nail art has helped her work become easily recognizable, but she also does a wide variety of other pieces, from sterling silver bracelets to white gold earrings.  Frequently she gets requests for custom matching wedding bands.  Overall she averages about four custom commissions a month.  The time for each custom piece varies considerably.  “One hour if inspired, one week if it’s a difficult client,” she joked.  Usually she will work six to eight hours a day, or more than 10 when she gets inspired.

She is well established in her field, but has a desire to progress and keep growing.  This led her to TACC for a business loan.  She used the funds to advance her studio and develop her web site, which now allows online orders.  Her first online order was in May of this year and came from England.

Her only frustration is a lack of progress with marketing, such as knowing the right market to target and the appropriate prices to charge.  Her dissatisfaction with marketing, however, is easily offset by a fair amount of repeat business, and quite a few referrals within families, such as a woman recommending to her sister.

Her next step is to do a new business plan.  Persevering with it has presented its own challenges.  “It was tough doing all the paperwork for funding and loans,” she said, “when you just want to be an artist.”

For the future, she wants to expand her business further around the world.  Initially she is considering borrowing money to go to Germany, since there has been a lot of interest in her art there.  After that she wants to travel overseas to open new markets, possibly New Zealand.

For many indigenous groups, handcrafted gold and sterling silver jewellery has been an art form passed from generation to generation.  Beautiful, well crafted jewellery is an important symbol in celebrating life's rites of passage; a precious, and lasting possession that can be handed down to future generations to maintain the special memories that we all cherish. Leanne relates, “My intention is to create jewellery that empowers the wearer with a strong sense of self; it is my pleasure to create beautiful designs that will become a part of people's lives.”

Fine jewellery is a precious possession that is designed and crafted to last a lifetime.  Leanne’s goal is for her hand carved jewellery to one day become an heirloom, providing a bond through the generations.



 
Leanne Helin
Tsimshian Native Jewellery Artist
Tel: 250-468-9299
Fax: 250-468-1669
Email: This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it
www.leannehelin.com

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Retail Outlets that carry Leanne Helin Jewellery:

Vancouver – Silver Gallery, 1226 Robson Street, Vancouver, BC, Canada.
Kelowna – Turtle Island Gallery, 115 - 1295 Cannary Lane, Kelowna, BC, V1Y 9V8
Parksville – Parksville Jewellers, Parksville, BC, Canada