Into Eternity

"The theme of 'Into Eternity' relates to our fragile natural environment and the gift of trees and forests. I had collected (tiny) bits of bark of palisander wood, an endangered species in Madagascar, and had decided to cast these in 18 Kt gold and in silver as a way to preserve and honour this precious resource. Last year I was one of the community members protecting the old Tuart tree on Healy Road in Hamilton Hill, home of the red-tailed black cockatoo and many other endangered native species, which was going to be cut down to make room for a development of cheap units. When one day the developer sneaked in with chain saws and severed a third of this protected tree's canopy, some wood chips were left and again, I cast some into silver to save the memory of this tree, whatever would happen in future. Fortunately, after so much community action, the tree is being saved. The selection of jewellery in this exhibition uses these precious parts of trees and some of the more common but not less amazing local trees' fruits, such as sugar gum, Eucalyptus Marginata and Norfolk Island Palm." - Tineke