For as long as I can remember, I have been surrounded at home by rocks, shells and flotsom and jetsome picked up and brought home by my parents and my brother , and then by me.Things in nature always held a fascination for us and that has never changed for me. Eventually, above all else, I developed an enduring passion for gemstones. From there it has been a natural progression to make jewellery. I love the colours and textures, and the fact that every stone has it’s own character and speaks to me.Putting them together is an intuitive thing, I walk around them until I find pieces that appeal to me at the time. I use silver findings because I like the look of the silver with the stones.
Texiles are another passion, once again because of the colours and the texures and also because I work intuitively, rarely to a pre-ordained design. I opened Taranna Edge Gallery to fill a void that I perceived existed on the Tasman Peninsula. Years ago there were many galleries and tea rooms to bring visitors to see. It was a trip to Port Arthur sure, but along the way it was a wonderful adventure, popping in to all the interesting galleries, potteries and devonshire tearooms on the way there and back. That, alas,disappeared long ago, and dozens of tourists have asked me since, “what is there to do down here” I hoped in some small way to fill that void a tiny little bit.
I have many other artists work in the gallery to make it interesting and because I love the work they do. It adds to the colour and interest,and hopefully there is something for everyone, although I have to admit its a bit sparlky and girly for most of the guys who come in, it is the rare fellow who likes rocks as much as us girls do. I’m happy to say they are increasing in number though and that is wonderful !