Hometown: Bude
Course: BA (Hons) Silversmithing and Jewellery
Next Steps: Continue running jewellery workshops in Bude, as well as designing new collections.
Balancing a growing business alongside her academic responsibilities, Millie has achieved several milestones during her time at the University Centre Truro and Penwith, from running independent jewellery workshops alongside her studies to winning an award for her talents during her final year.
Bude local Millie originally attended Bude Sixth Form and later enrolled on the FdA Silversmithing and Jewellery course at the University Centre Truro and Penwith. Millie found the course was perfect for her as a budding jewellery maker, and she is now due to graduate in October from her third year of studies, the BA (Hons) Silversmithing and Jewellery top-up degree.
Millie said: “This third year has been amazing for me as a maker; it has taught me my style and I have developed massively in skill and confidence”.
In 2022, Millie founded her own jewellery workshop, MiMo Jewellery, based in Bude, where she runs bespoke jewellery making classes designed to cater for a wide range of people, from beginners to seasoned jewellery creators.
As Millie progressed through her studies, she found she could apply and teach the new skills she learned during her degree in her own time.
“Having studied at Truro for three years, learning Jewellery and Silversmithing, I realised that my true passion for the craft is in teaching others to make jewellery that is timeless and truly unique to them”, Millie explained.
The flexibility of the timetable at the University Centre allowed Millie time to work on her own projects and maintain the running of her workshops alongside studying for her degree.
“The course is only two days a week and I am lucky enough to have a workshop I can work from to do more studying at home.
“The class sizes have ranged between the three years. There were three of us in the third year which works really well as you have a lot of time to spend with the lecturers. They are constantly giving feedback about our work and showing us new skills.”
The work Millie completed as part of her final year at the University Centre was showcased at a week-long college-wide exhibition in Truro, where she was awarded ‘Emerging Maker’ by Guild of Ten, a Cornish craft company, at the exhibition’s private viewing and awards evening. The award was not just in recognition of her achievements during her degree, but also showcases the promising future ahead of her.
Millie’s advice for students looking to stay and study locally is: “Go for it; this has been the best three years of learning. It is hard throughout the years but if there is something you want to pursue as a career, I would highly recommend”.
Now she has completed her final year at the University Centre, Millie plans to continue running her jewellery workshops, as well as working on designing and developing different jewellery collections.
