Native Artist Jewelry Designer

by Bill Helin
(Parksville B.C. Can.)

It was in 1979 after I was electrocuted on my fish boat that I went to a native art school in northern B.C.

I was there as a recovery program and learned the traditional native arts of my fathers ancestors, which consisted of design, woodcarving tool making and two dimensional wood carving.

During the last month of the 6 month course I was fortunate enough to spend time learning hand engraving in precious metal with one of the master carver teachers there.

Since then I was so into the fine detail drawing that I could translate it all into fine gold and silver wearable art pieces, and now a lot of high end platinum wedding rings and love jewelry.

This fine art craft fits into my style of creativity - and lifestyle as an impatient artist.

I have taught many young artists including my younger sister and my son, who has taken on a number of my old wholesale accounts and is making a great living at it.

This is truly a blessing to not only pass on my trade but to be able to keep my father's west coast tribal art form alive and share our old stories and new ones in precious metals.

I am currently working on my new wedding and love ring website.

Here I will show and share what I do and what I have learned and take people on a cultural love journey, demonstrate the creation process and teach how you can adopt a native Life Crest, or as Hollywood calls them, totem crests.

I am proud to say that I am the only artist to have three designs made for NASA and the Canadian Space Agency for their astronauts on the STS-78 Shuttle Columbia, and recently for a six month mission to the Int. Space Station.

I also had three pieces of my jewelry go up on the first mission in 1993, and then in May of 2010 one of my gold rings went up with Bob Thirsk, a Canadian Astronaut.

Thank you for reading and happy creative journeys.

Bill Helin
Bill Helin, Tsimshian Artist