For blacksmith and NMIT graduate, Mary Hackett, work and family life are intertwined. The business she runs with husband Nick, NMH Metalworks, specialises in creative blacksmithing, producing metalwork ranging from jewellery to furniture and large scale architectural works. "We'll talk constantly about how to make something," she says.

Courses: Advanced Diploma of Engineering Technology (Jewellery)

 

Mary, who graduated from NMIT’s Advanced Diploma of Engineering Technology (Jewellery) last year, has been a jeweller and metalsmith for 20 years. But after taking time out to raise the couple’s three children, Mary felt she needed to update her skills. She decided NMIT offered the best pathway towards her goal. “Without NMIT I believe it would have been a lot harder to catch up,” she says. "It's a lovely place to be and a beautiful school. The course helped me focus on where I wanted to push my work and which part of jewellery and silversmithing I wanted to pursue."

During her time at NMIT, Mary developed a passion for the hammer room in the silversmithing department which she describes as "inspiring". "It was my home. I'd be making an awful racket. The teacher would be trying to teach the first years and he’d have to tell me to get out."

Women blacksmiths are a rarity in Victoria, but Mary is hoping to change that. She recently started a women’s blacksmithing group and 20 women attended the first workshop. Many were artists and jewellers who’d had little exposure to the blacksmithing process. "I met two women blacksmiths from South Australia who run the association there. Here in Victoria the Blacksmithing Association is very blokey. We decided we'd get together and have a women's day."

The women who attended loved the empowerment of using the hammer, Mary says. "It's physical and demanding. When you're hitting with a hammer you get really dirty. It's hot and it's like being in the elements. They enjoyed that the most."

After specialising in silversmithing at NMIT, Mary concentrated on making vessels, particularly bottles. "A bottle is a very secret shape. I like the idea that on the surface that’s what people see but inside there’s a secret space kind of like humanity. There’s something inside us we keep that's our own."

Last year, Mary’s work was displayed in the Fresh! Exhibition of graduating craft and design students at Craft Victoria. Her series of bottles made from copper, steel and titanium was a finalist for the award. Mary describes her work as raw and earthy. “I let the natural patina of the working process come through.” Plans for the future include completing a PhD and exhibiting her work both in Australia and overseas.

For more information on Mary’s work visit www.nmhmetalworks.com.au.