Goss Design: More Details

Andrew Goss and Sandra Noble Goss have been working together as artist-jewellers and metal workers in Canada since 1973, when we graduated from George Brown College's Jewellery Arts program in Toronto. We also studied jewelry for a year at Hornsey College of Art in London, England. We moved to the Owen Sound region (160 km northwest of Toronto) in 1976.

Treasure Pin: Brass, Sterling Silver. 5.5cm. ©Sandra Noble Goss

Rocketfish Pin: Brass, Patina, Gold Leaf. 8 cm. ©Andrew Goss

Andrew and Sandra share a studio and work in similar materials, but we design and work on our own separate pieces of jewellery. Materials include: brass, copper, bronze, sterling silver, copper nitrate patina (a chemical heated onto the surface, also called 'verdigris'), 24k gold leaf and more unusual materials such as concrete and cellulose acetate. Our jewellery is made with traditional techniques such as sawing, filing, forging (with a hammer and anvil), fusing (joining silver together almost at its melting temperature), etching, soldering and casting.

But we also use newer techniques such as roller-printing (where a paper texture is impressed in the surface of the metal), fold-forming, etching and multiple-metal laminations (where several different metals are soldered together). Sandra teaches some of these advanced techniques at Georgian College's jewellery program in Barrie.

In her work she looks for richness of texture combined with common symbols: spirals, circles, moon-shapes, hands. Her recent work involves fossils found in the area, and their references to memory and family. Some of the ideas are incorporated into wall pieces, etched bronze interpretations of fossils. (See the Roxy exhibition page.)

Andrew's jewellery work tends to be more geometric and simple, aiming to develop a pure form, where the parts form an integrated whole. A series of roof-top pins, and a series of wall-mounted rocket/fish pins, reflect these concerns. Like Sandra, he has also worked in a larger scale: his cast concrete and bronze drinking fountain can be seen in the Cycle Centre park across from the market building in Owen Sound. Andrew's recent work is in cellulose acetate and concrete; see his separate concrete web site.

Our work is sold across Canada: Ottawa, Montreal, Toronto, Waterloo, Calgary, Vancouver, and also in several cities in the United States. Our work has been shown in Canadian collections in London, Paris and Germany. We are recipients of several Ontario Arts Council Awards, as well as awards from the Metal Arts Guild and the Canada Council for the Arts. We are also founding members of the Art Town Collective.

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