“Oftentimes I will simply work with an idea and let the creativity come to me as I make the piece. For me this part of what I do isn’t work. This is absolute joy! I love being in the studio working on new pieces.” One of the things we love about the jewellery of Sonia Thérèse is the stories she tells. This beautiful, simple, wide-band unisex ring is part of her series “The Journey” – inspired by that road that everyone travels in life on their way to their chosen destination.
Motueka-based sculptor Nicholas Duval-Smith makes eye-catching bronze sculptures from Oamaru stone originals. He has also recently returned working with ceramics, producing a range of unique, personality-filled porcelain portrait brooches. Nick says he like clean lines, textural contrasts, and art that can be played with – and reckons that jewellery, like sculpture, can carry narrative content, through symbols and pictures.
Sally Herbert of HerbertandWilks Jewellery is a designer and maker of contemporary mixed metal jewellery. While first being captivated by the sculptural properties of cast glass and the lost wax process, she fell in love with jewellery making early on. She considers the medium similar – only on a smaller scale. Her pieces are modern and sculptural, with an emphasis on surface and texture.
This stunningly delicate flower implosion pendant is the work of Waikato glass lampworker Bobbie Pene, and it takes our breath away.
We love this sweet hand engraved peach sapphire and rhodolite garnet rosebud ring by Canterbury jeweller Adele Stewart. Says Adele: “They are all different as I engrave each one by eye. I love engraving with a graver – the process, the simplicity, the skill and the result. You just can’t get that bright sparkle and hand crafted feel with laser cut or cast or roll printing techniques.”
Jewellery maker Anna Quartly of Pigeon Thomas says that the inspiration for her work comes from living off-grid and self sufficiently. With the beautiful natural vista of Kahurangi National Park visible from her Golden Bay/Mohua home, she finds she is able to stay focused on what is important. She loves to create pieces that are special – one of a kind – working with natural materials that are simple, pure, and renewable.
Eiko Kawaguchi of Studio A & Co lives and works in Waikuku, North Canterbury, her home for the last seventeen years. From her studio in a heritage mill complex she creates stunning, ethereal jewellery and tablewares in heat resistant borosilicate glass. Her love of glass as a material, and the lampworking method, shines through in her unique, delicate creations.
We love this unique, sophisticated “Playing with Blocks” necklace from Nannestad, made from oak/ash and pine with a simple brass ring to soften and balance it. What a great way to dress up a work or evening outfit! Get yours now.
Hunting for the perfect wedding jewellery? (Or jewellery for any special occasion…) A leaf design makes such a beautifully shaped earring, and the detail in these drops from Whalebird Jewellery is just gorgeous. We think that what makes these perfect is that the stem becomes the earring hook in a single elegant curve – take a look!
Wairarapa primary school teacher and mum of three Elise Hoogsteden-Roberts of Fruit Salad Gal loves wearing her Allsorts jewellery to school – it’s an absolute hit with the kids. She enjoys the fact that her jewellery engages people and ignites smiles and conversation no matter … Read more »