The guest on The Fine Line on Tuesday 13 May was Shaun Leyland, local crafts and arts tutor. Shaun who hails from New Zealand, grew up on the shores of Lake Taupo, New Zealand’s largest lake where he spent his childhood and teenage exploring the wilderness. Shaun was on a kayak trip in the Top End in the early 1980’s when he ran out of money and in looking for a job, moved to Central Australia and has made the desert his home ever since.
In his early days in Alice Springs, Shaun joined the then, Crafts Council, now known as Central Craft and after many attempts to persuade them to bring in a jewellery tutor, Shaun was given the task himself. Shaun found a tutor from Darwin and there began his inspiring journey into jewellery fabrication. Fascinated by how metal could be manipulated into a piece of beauty, this led to his interest in many other forms of creative fabrication, from pewter casting to ceramics and the intricacies of bronze casting.
Over the year’s Shaun has developed his extensive range of creative skills, generously disseminating these skills to many in the local community as a tutor with organisations such as Central Craft. Shaun spoke of his upcoming Silversmith/Jewellery Workshop in June 2014 at Central Craft and reassured listeners that even though a day spent entirely making jump rings was an essential component of learning the skills of jewellery fabrication he had structured the course to make the learning enjoyable, affordable and suitable for the aspiring jewellery maker.
Shaun is now tinkering in bronze casting with the view to introducing this ancient craft through workshops at Central Craft later this year.
Jen Standish-White talks with Shaun Leyland, local crafts and arts tutor.
Broadcast: Tuesday 13 May 2014 at 12 noon on 8CCC Community Radio 102.1FM
Producer: Jen Standish-White