About Urban Alchemy Jewelry
Briana Mercier
Jewelry is an incredible art form that speaks to Briana as a designer. She loves pulling ideas and inspiration from her northern surroundings and playing with design to fit, form and flirt within the perimeters of the human shape. It is these perimeters that challenge, intrigue, and inspire her to build and form highly textured, multidimensional pieces that accentuate the body, evoke curiosity and feel good when wearing.
This love of making stems back to childhood building and selling hemp and fimo necklaces, mixing up lip balms and bath bombs, making paper maché mobiles, doodling and drawing for hours, and creating handmade napkins, cards and placemats with the gocco machine. She was fascinated by the way her thoughts and imagination could transform from idea into object. From those early roots, she moved on to make beaded and chain jewelry with her sister to sell at local craft fairs and farmers markets. It was those years creating with her sister that sparked her soul to pursue jewelry design as her career. This spark led Briana to evolve and grow her craft, adding more skills to her repertoire by attending Kootenay Studio Arts in Nelson, BC. At jewelry design school, she fully immersed herself in the program, as an honour student, and found inspiration in the profound beauty of the surrounding lakes, forest, mountain range and quaint charm of the town. After school, Briana returned to her hometown, Prince George to set up her studio. Today, she fuses her love of craft, interest in unique contrasting textures, and admiration for nature with a touch playfulness and contemporary flair in her brand, Urban Alchemy.
“I love jewelry. I love that I can sit at my bench, my happy place, and create pieces of art that will one day adorn a beautiful body. I love that through my craft, I share a small piece of my heart and my vision with my clients and fellow jewelry lovers.”