These beautiful earrings from Laura Eyles are soft rectangular studs. They feature mother of pearl that has been set in a high polish silver bezel. They are complete with butterfly backs.
Dimensions:
9.5mm x 9.5mm
Materials: Sterling silver, mother of pearl
These mother of pearl earrings are an extension of Laura Eyles' hand carved button work that she created for her solo exhibition 'A Pearler's Life For Me' at e.g. etal. Before the birth of plastics, mother of pearl was used for making buttons. In the 19th century, Broome was one of the world's major suppliers of mother of pearl for the button making industry.
Laura says that working with the material of the shell from the oyster that makes her south sea pearls allow her to consider the whole life cycle of the oyster, it's pearl making and it's shell collection. Carving and drilling buttons connects her with history and an industry that worked with beautiful natural materials.
The titles of these mother of pearl pieces are all of memories of her time spent living and working on the Dampier Peninsula at Australia's oldest family run South Sea Pearl Farm.
Laura Eyles embraces adventure as a central part of both her life and practice. Her adventures have included working at Australia's oldest operating South Sea Pearl Farm on the remote Dampier Peninsula, 250 kms north of Broome. Eyles’ time at Cygnet Bay allowed her to gain an in depth understanding and appreciation of the cultured pearling process and experience the remote landscape of the Kimberley and world famous waterways of the King Sound.
In 2013, Eyles crossed the Nullarbor Plain to embrace desert life and work in the largest open pit gold mine in Australia. She worked as an 80-tonne dump truck driver, carting high grade ore from the pit to the ‘Crusher’ to begin the long process of being refined into gold. Understanding this process has imbued Eyles’ practice with a strong sense of respect for her materials.
Eyles holds a BA in Fine Arts (Painting) from RMIT; MA Art Curatorship from the University of Melbourne; Adv Dip in Engineering (Jewellery) from NMIT; BA in Fine Arts (Gold and Silversmithing); a Cert 4 in Small Business Management also from RMIT; and a Cert IV in Training and Assessment. Eyles teaches the Jewellery and Object Design program at Melbourne Polytechnic TAFE.
In her own words, Eyles states, ‘My work is a reflection of my approach to life. Each piece is an adventure strewn with surprises: little worlds waiting to be explored.’
