STUDIES
✤
About the Studies
Each study page records the thinking behind a completed work.
Here you'll find the ideas, symbolism, references, and observations that informed a finished piece, a single symbol, or a combined symbol. These pages exist to provide context and preserve the story behind the work.
Works in progress, experiments, and developing concepts are reserved for Field Notes.
The study pages begin once a piece has reached its final form and become part of The Archive.
The studies are listed as current through to historical in their date of entry. i.e. the newest studies appear first.
BY WAYS UNKNOWN
✤
Concept Study. 001
By Ways Unknown grew from earlier experiments with celestial and navigational imagery, particularly the Rope & North Star study.
I had already been considering how these ideas might move onto a band when, after watching The Odyssey, I became interested in the idea of the Bear as a point of navigation. Rather than making a celestial band composed only of stars, I began introducing references to direction, passage and finding a way through.
The resulting ring became less about any single symbol and more about the larger idea behind them. Stars, navigational markings and changing lines work together around the band, with the design intended to unfold as the ring turns.
In developing By Ways Unknown, I realised this work sat apart from my Symbol and Combined Studies. It became the first Concept Study — a new collection for designs that begin with an idea and develop their own visual language through engraving.
There are already several more in development.
—❦—
Available as:
The original By Ways Unknown Study is currently on display at a jewellery store in Adelaide.
A small selection of inscription possibilities arising from the same idea:
By ways unknown
Wherever we wander
Starward bound
Toward what comes
Under stars, onward
By moon and star
An original EMT celestial design - ‘By Ways Unknown’
THE ROPE AND THE NORTH STAR
✤
Combined Study No. 002
This study didn't begin with two symbols. It began with one.
The connection came later, after I came across an old method of navigation using a small board and a knotted rope to measure the height of the North Star. The two had been working together for centuries without me ever thinking about it.
After that, it became difficult to separate them.
The North Star remained the point of direction. The rope became the quiet act of staying connected to it. One gave something to steer by. The other gave something to hold onto.
From there, the study almost finished itself.
The two symbols didn't feel paired for the sake of symbolism. They felt like they already belonged together.
—❦—
That's also why it found its way into my wedding work. The more I thought about it, the more those same ideas seemed to belong there too.
Available As
Wedding bands
A small selection of inscription possibilities arising from the same idea:
True North; Home by the Stars; By One Star; One Path; Always North
THE PATH AND THE BELL
✤
Combined Study No. 001
I imagine travellers setting out with barely more than they could carry and a rough idea of where they were headed.
Across many places, bells travelled with people. Hung from walking staffs, stitched to cloaks, or carried close at hand, they marked arrivals, called people together, and broke the silence of a long road.
Pilgrims have rung bells at shrines and sacred places for centuries. A small way of marking their arrival.
The path they followed wasn't always straight. Sometimes it seemed to disappear before showing itself again.
—❦—
The path reminds us that most worthwhile things are reached gradually.
The bell reminds us to notice them when we do.
I like the way they seem to belong together.
Together they speak of a journey shared, and of the importance of noticing its milestones along the way.
Available as:
Sterling silver pendant with chain
A small selection of inscription possibilities arising from the same idea:
Every step, with you; Beside you, always; Direction; Wherever the path leads; Here, and onward; Still moving forward; Mark the moment
THE ARCHER AND THE VINE
✤
Combined Study No. 003
This study happened gradually.
It began with the Archer. I knew I wanted the arrow to be aimed at a single word, but I didn't know what that word would be.
Around that time, I was working on the Aster, Sterne, Stjarna North Star pendant, so old languages were already on my mind. While searching, I came across the ancient Greek word Thouros (θοῦρος). It describes spirited courage, fierce resolve, and the impulse to move boldly forward. It felt like the word I'd been looking for all along. Once I found it, the story began to unfold. The Vine seemed to grow naturally from the idea behind Thouros.
The moss agate belonged too. Its branching patterns echo the vine, and it has an association with growth.
—❦—
I never really set out to make a study about courage or growth. I just followed one idea until another arrived to complete it.
In an interesting way, these Combined Studies aren't always about combining symbols. They're a record of how ideas can find one another naturally.
Available As
A sterling silver pendant with chain
EXPLORE MORE WITHIN
THE ARCHIVE…
Explore a Symbol Study⟹
Continue through the heart of The Archive
—❦—
Explore a Collection⟹
Discover Concept Studies, Letter Studies, Combined Studies and more.
—❦—
Browse Available Editions⟹
View every piece currently available
—❦—