Faith Lamoureux
A blissful love of metal
“Someone once said to me ‘Can you just make up a word?’ to which I replied, ‘yeah, why not!’. The name ‘Delah’ comes from my own personal definition and is the meaning of where you are now; where you truly feel you have your roots and what you feel most connected to in nature, and how you get there.”
From studying in Hawaii to a six month placement in Guangzhou, China, Faith Lamoureux seems to have found her roots in Halifax where in August 2020, she started her jewellery line, Delah + Fern. “I just love the feeling of being around the ocean, around something that is just soft and delicate, both soft and powerful at the same time.” This is the essence of Delah + Fern – soft, delicate, yet powerful creations, all handmade in brass which add an organic appeal.
Faith grew up in Lakefield, Ontario. When she was 18 years old, she attended school in Maui, Hawaii. It was during her time there that she had a placement in Guangzhou, China for six months. “We were taught the foundations of various skills. Once you complete the course, the school sends you to a different country to help you understand and learn their world views and beliefs, and to fully immerse in their culture through experiences.” Noting her love of the Chinese culture, Faith acknowledges the differences of how people engage with each other, “Something I experienced a lot was more vulnerability in friendships. Rather than building up a conversation, there was a comfort in just starting with the bigger stuff. They showed me that you don’t have to meet someone and make small talk–no need for the small chatter to open into a more in-depth conversation which was really cool to experience.”
Once she graduated, Faith was set to move back to Ontario but a stopover in Vancouver ended up resulting in her staying on the West Coast to help out with her sibling’s business. After six years, Faith decided it was time for a big change. “I thought about going back to school but that didn’t work out, so I thought about a second option which was moving to Halifax. I didn’t have any contacts or anything, and never visited, but I decided I was going to move here.” Flying back to Ontario, Faith drove to Halifax with her dad and quickly found a place to live. “For the first time I didn’t think ‘oh, this will be cool for a bit’. Instead, I had a really nice feeling that Halifax was home; it’s where I feel my most comfortable and I don’t feel pressure to be someone else. Halifax had the large effect of wanting to grow roots here, even if [my husband and I] move somewhere else along the way, Halifax will be the place we stay long-term.”
Being a creative person in Halifax has its ups and downs, but it’s the sense of support and community within the city that can make or break you. “There are a lot of people I have met through the locally owned business and local makers community who genuinely encourage what you do. I feel like the biggest thing for me, is it doesn’t feel like it’s a competition and that is really nice. Just having people be like, you’re great, that’s awesome, I support that, can we carry your stuff, etc… that feels really good.”
In the summer of 2020, Faith Lamoureux launched her jewellery line ‘Delah + Fern’ thanks to the help of a friend. When Lindy, her roommate in China, decided to drive across the country to Halifax, Faith reached out to reconnect. “I offered for her to come stay at my place until she found a spot to live. During her stay, I would come home from work to find her creating random things that she learned to make that day. After a trip to the market and seeing all these amazing pieces there, Lindy completely immersed herself into learning how to make the perfect clay earrings. She spent three days figuring out how to create a pair of earrings you could bend that wouldn’t snap in half and then, we started making clay jewellery. Eventually she moved away but I continued making and selling these pieces. This was all due to her teaching me the techniques she learned.”
However, it was her love of metal that took her jewellery another direction. “I am more attached to solid metals but it was scary for me to approach. Lindy wasn’t around to teach me [laughs], so, I decided to take a course in how to make metal and brass jewellery. The course was cancelled, so I began to watch as many tutorials as I possibly could to teach myself how to use metal. I made my first pair of snake earrings five days after watching videos. I love clay jewellery but now I have grown into a blissful love creating metal jewellery. Sometimes I space out when making my pieces–my husband actually bought me safety gear for this reason–but making metal jewellery feels so good. I don’t think I would be doing any of this if Lindy hadn’t given me the push.”
When it comes to inspiration, it’s not a specific thing but a feeling which brings on a creative idea. “I will go on various hikes to feel inspired by the space, the feeling, or others in that space; or I will just paint all day to later see if there are shapes that stand out to me that I can create into jewellery.” With all the extra time that was brought on by the Covid-19 outbreak, this allowed Lamoureux to experiment with different levels of creativity: “It came from a place of just wanting to create and then I started getting great feedback from people’s comments. I am the type of person who really likes to nurture others, so making things that make people feel good is definitely the base of my inspiration. I always want to make sure I fully connect with each piece before I share it with everyone, rather than release super popular ones for the sole purpose of selling them.”
Choosing the materials to produce her pieces, Faith considers how her brass embraces her brand's concept. “I feel like I am very much a neutral tone person and brass is like the glittery side of neutral tones. Gold and brass tarnish easily but inconsistently. It won’t tarnish right away so you have this perfect gold plated piece and eventually some random spots will appear. I feel it’s a reflection of how we aren’t ever going to stay the same; we are going to change and our ‘imperfections’ are not imperfections. I know already that it will tarnish and things will change. I could change to pure gold but I just feel more attached to brass. You can get some of the tarnishes out but for the most part, but it wears as you wear it, in a beautiful way.”
When you order from Delah + Fern, you are getting a one-of-a-kind piece. Each design is handcrafted, so slightly different than the other. “When I see someone hand making things, I don’t want the exact replica, I really want something specific that is unique to me.” Faith understands that not everyone will like her style, “Not everyone is the person I should be marketing to which makes the people who connect to my pieces feel so much more connected to me, as well. I feel like, when someone buys my pieces, I could be friends with them.”
As with most businesses, Faith is looking to expand her line further, adding in new pieces. “I am currently learning how to do rings and that is a big thing for me. I don’t know what the future holds but whatever the next step is, it’s extremely important for me to keep the wholesome feeling I have now. I don’t want to get to the point where I hate making things. I love it so much and keeping the core of what Delah + Fern means is my biggest goal. So whatever comes along, I can approach it that way, and I have made my goal happen.”
By Aleyah Solomon
