SYDNEY, N.S. — A one-of-a-kind jewelry designer is coming home to Cape Breton, and she’ll be bringing treasures of the world with her.
Kat Cadegan, formerly of Glace Bay and now living in Revelstoke, B.C., travels the world, creating unique pieces from incredible finds.
“I travel in search of adventure and inspiration, collecting stones along the way.”
Cadegan will be home Tuesday of next week; from Thursday, Nov. 22, through to Saturday, Nov. 24, she will be hosting jewelry shows at Flavor 19 at the Lingan Golf Club on Grand Lake Road.
The shows will include pieces made from unique finds including an old coin she found in a little market in Shanghai — when she taught five years ago — a starfish from Point Pleasant Park in Halifax and a tiny shell her niece picked up on the beach in Cheticamp. Pieces were also inspired by moss from the forest floor where she walks her dog in British Columbia, a hemlock cone found in a forest on Vancouver Island and cicada wings from Montreal.
“Everywhere I go I seem to find something.”
Cadegan said she’ll also have a selection of my hand-picked stones people can choose from and she’ll size their finger and make a ring forn them using that stone.
“This is special to Cape Breton. I don’t do this at my other shows but I’m going to do it there.”
This year, Cadegan’s travels included visiting stone-cutting factories in India, where she watched stones being cut and handpicked each one. She said it’s important for her to know that the stones she is buying are coming from workers who were provided healthy work environments.
“I wanted to know they had safe, sanitary working conditions and were respected in their profession as stone cutters.”
In India, Cadegan bought turquoise, rubies, sapphires and chrysoprase.
When not buying stones, Cadegan and her husband Philippe Fleming volunteer at a local animal rescue centre called Animal Aid Unlimited.
“The work they're doing is nothing short of amazing.”
Cadegan said the biggest thing she takes away from India is a deep connection and spirituality from a culture where so many people have so little but live their lives with a happiness that so many people in Western Canada, who are much more materialistic, never feel.
“It’s not giving monetary things but giving your time, your affection, love and laughter.
India is actually where she started her jewelry career 10 years ago.
Everything began when Cadegan decided to take a break from university and had an idea in her head to go to India and buy stones and take a silversmithing course.
“It wasn’t necessarily something I thought I’d do as a career but something I simply wanted to do, as I knew the history of gemstones and silversmithing is firmly rooted in India.”
Cadegan graduated from Dalhousie University in 2002 but worked for years as a tree planter, which provided the funds needed to travel and learn more about her craft. She studied silversmithing in India in 2006 and attended the Sterling Quest School of Jewelry, Design and Creation in Mexico for two years.
While in Mexico she found a little dog that had been severely injured — including broken legs — on a beach in Mexico and rescued him. “Senor” has been with her ever since, including many summers planting trees.
Cadegan attended the Kootenay School of the Arts in British Columbia in 2009 and taught jewelry design to high school students in Shanghai, China.
She now has her own jewelry studio in Revelstoke, B.C.
While in Cape Breton, Cadegan will be giving back. Anyone bringing two items for the food bank will have their name entered to win her compass pendant. There will also be a draw for a pair of earrings, a pendant and a bangle, with all proceeds going to Transition House.
“I am so incredibly excited to bring my work home with me and share it with the community and also use my show and sale as a way of raising money and food for two very important local charities.”
Getting to know Kat Cadegan:
- Kat Cadegan, 38, jewellery designer and metalsmith.
- Born and raised in Glace Bay, now living in Revelstoke, B.C.
- Owner of Kat Cadegan Jewellery in Revelstoke.
- Married to Philippe Fleming of Montreal.
- Nominated as Revelstoke’s entrepreneur of the year in 2018
- Chosen as one of the B.C. Kootenay's top 40 under 40 entrepreneurs
- Hosting a jewelry show at Flavor 19 at the Lingam Golf Club on Grand Lake Road in Sydney: Thursday, Nov. 22, 5 - 9 p.m.; Friday, Nov 23, noon - 9 p.m.; and Saturday, Nov. 24, noon - 5 p.m.
- Anyone bringing two items for the food bank will be entered into a draw for Cadegan’s compass coin pendent.
- Can be reached on Facebook at Kat Cadegan jeweller; Etsy at www.etsy.com/shop/katcadegan or website www.katcadegan.com
