About Siān
From 1991 to 1994 Siān was apprenticed to coppersmith Sam Fanaroff BEM in his forge at Pevensey, where she learned all aspects of this ancient craft.
In 2004 a QEST Scholarship enabled Siān to return to coppersmithing a decade after her apprenticeship, and to consolidate and refresh her skills. After ten years as a full-time parent of four, she enrolled at London Metropolitan University and completed an MA by Project (Metal) in twelve months. In the same year she built her first workshop and began a small business making one-off pieces of bespoke copperwork and undertaking commissions.
In 2011 Siān was awarded a Churchill Fellowship and travelled to France, Greece and India to research the origins of coppersmithing.
In 2019 she represented Great Britain in UNESCOs 1st International Festival of Handicrafters in Uzbekistan.
Siān is currently studying for a PhD in the Department of Archaeology at the University of Sheffield, bringing to light the hidden history of female metalsmiths. Siān is grateful to the Worshipful Company of Tin Plate Workers alias Wire Workers for their kind support and special research award.
