Craft students win prestigious Goldsmiths' bursary

Two Craft students are celebrating winning £250 of silver through The Goldsmiths’ Precious Metal Bursary.

Third year students, Claire Bird and Imogen Peacock, who entered the national competition along with 121 other students from 19 institutions, will use their prize to make a piece of work for their final degree exhibition.

Claire is using her silver to make a contemporary serving tray with interlocking silver vessels, while Imogen is going to create a pair of vessels combining silver and exotic woods where the materials are reversed.

“I am immensely proud to be awarded the bursary – it has given me more confidence in my designs and is pushing me to enter more competitions,” said Claire, who was “unbelievably surprised” to discover she had won. “Without the bursary money it would have been impossible for me to fund the making of my serving tray using just precious metal, so it’s going to help me a huge amount.”

Imogen is also looking forward to making her work: “It’s a fantastic opportunity. I’ve worked with precious metals before but it’s going to allow me to work on a much larger scale, which should prove both challenging and enjoyable.”

Following four successive years of success for Staffordshire University students in the competition, Award Leader John Grayson is thrilled: “The Goldsmiths’ Precious Metal Bursary is a highly-prestigious national competition which supports undergraduate jewellers and silversmiths by providing financial assistance to purchase silver to make work for their final degree exhibition. I am particularly proud of Claire and Imogen’s achievement which continues to reflect the growing reputation nationally of Staffordshire University for 3D design.”

3D Design Crafts