Contemporary jewellery is often concerned with the personal stories and journey of the maker. The selection and composition of materials to give form to thoughts, feelings and memories, is often the most challenging and exhilarating part of the process of making.

Collecting, arranging and making things have been a part of my life since I can remember. Born in the Netherlands, I immigrated with my family to South Africa as a child, returning to the Netherlands briefly, before moving to Australia. Ours was a childhood of dazzling natural environments and exotic cultures. Often my extended family would visit and trips into the "veldt" and later, "bush" would yield unexpected booties and a wealth of impressions, while second hand shops and roadside vendors were a source of many extraordinary finds. These items or later finds with associations to particular times and places frequently find their way into my jewellery.

The idea of preciousness in jewellery and the search for beauty in the discarded and overlooked has interested me for some time. In 2008, I began to work with perforated ceramic honeycomb. Usually a soldering aid on thousands of jeweller’s benches around the world, I realised that there was also a world of possibilities concealed in each 15 x 10 x 1cm block. Experiments followed and tools were trialled before my first pieces Holier than Thou were created.

From an occasional inclusion, this unlikely stuff is now the dominant focus in my work. It is a slow and time-consuming process: The delicate honeycomb must be carefully filed and sanded to avoid chipping and breakages. With every movement more pattern, line and form is revealed. Once painted and sealed, the pieces are more robust. I often agonise over the choice and final placement of all elements in the work: each component plays a critical role to play in the final composition. There is something immensely satisfying in creating these objects. They are a celebration of the hand-made.