b'YOUTH PROFILE KathrynCorbiereMChigeeng First Nationwelder building custommetal fabrications BY CHARNEL ANDERSONK athryn Corbieres metal works can be found allused to cut metal. It uses CAD software on the computer, and over Manitoulin Island, from a trio of nearly four- that was way over my head. But he sat down with me, and the first metre-high aluminum and mild steel sculpturesthing I cut out was my name. designed to look like jack pine trees in Kagawong,Corbiere says Menary mainly uses the CNC plasma table for to a custom sign fashioned out of stainless steel and cedar shakedoing repairs to other machinery, like tractors, but she saw it as siding for the Manitoulin Brewing Company in Little Current.a tool to create art. She began using the plasma table to create Corbiere, an Ojibwe woman and a welder by trade, is themetal cutouts for home dcor and furniture, and eventually owner and operator of One KWE Modern Fabrications instarted fabricating business signs and sculptures. When you get MChigeeng First Nation. She designs and manufactures customto learn so many different tools, the possibilities are endless, metal fabrications, including furniture, signage and sculpture.she says.The name One KWE stands for what the business is. Its justIn 2015, while still working at the golf course, Corbiere one woman, says Corbiere. (Kwe means woman in Ojibwe.)decided to get her welding tickets. She made the two-hour trek The 29-year-olds career path has been anything but linear.from Manitoulin Island to the Northern Welding Academy After high school, Corbiere headed to George Brown College inin Hanmer, just outside of Sudbury, five days a week for five Toronto to study fashion management. An avid golfer who has worked at the Brookwood Brae Golf Course in Mindemoya on Manitoulin Island, she also did a stint studying golf manage-ment at the Professional Golfers Career College in South Caro-lina. That fell through, so I came back home, and Im very thankful I landed upon this trade, says Corbiere. Her interest in welding blossomed from a desire to build her own furniture. I wanted what I would see in magazines for my own home, says Corbiere, who is particularly fond of modern furniture. I love steel, and I guess some people would call it cold, but I like the sharp edgesthe sort of stark effects of modern furniture.At the time, Corbiere knew nothing about fabricating metal. She started by trying to recreate the furnishings she saw online and in magazines, really badly, mind you. I didnt know how to weld at day one. I didnt know how to do any wood-working, says Corbiere, who sought advice from local trades-people for guidance on her creations.One day Corbiere walked into Rob Menarys Welding and Machine shop in Mindemoya in search of materials for her proj-ects. While in the shop, she noticed his tools. They were totally space age looking, she says. Menary taught Corbiere how to use his CNC plasma table, a computer-controlled apparatus that is 38l ISSUE 1 2019C hIEfS ofo ntarIoA dvocAte magazInE'