EARRINGS: A CELEBRATION

EARRINGS: A CELEBRATION

To celebrate this abundant harvest season, I have curated a selection of my favourite earring designs developed over the past ten years of my jewellery making.

Written in English.

To celebrate this abundant harvest season, I have curated a selection of my favourite earring designs I have developed over the past ten years of jewellery making.

Earrings have been my preferred kind of jewellery to wear for some time now. There is something special about bold statement earrings that embodies the pure joy of life. It’s a splash of colour that can instantly elevate any mood. To me, they act as little personal talismans, giving me inner strength and boosting my confidence. I often choose colours, shapes and gemstones according to the tasks at hand and the day ahead.

Dressing up with earrings, to me pesonally, can be a gesture of defiance against all the darkness gathering out there. They embody my core creative principles, adding a spark of enchantment to a normal day, reminding me of my connection to Nature, of how lucky I am to be part of this creative craft tradition and that there is joy to be found and cultivated in unexpected places.

While I love asymmetrical earrings or a single bold statement earring (which I am always happy to create for you on request), the symmetry of a face framed by two similar shapes is also very appealing to us. Earrings offer such an easy yet impactful way to express yourself, send humorous messages, instantly uplevel any outfit and even enhance your facial features by accentuating your jawline or elongating your neck.

Enjoy browing through this curated collection below!

Sawing small silver pomegranate shapes by hand.

Pomegranate Fantasy & Spatter Earrings

This is a family of earrings that evolved early in my career and that remains an absolute favourite. Pomegranate Fantasy and Spatter both derive from the stylized image of a pomegranate (read my exploration of pomegranate symbolism to understand its meaning to me personally) with its seeds spilling out; occasionally also from other fruit shapes such as rosehips or pineapples.

Spatter earrings come with a playful ‘spattering’ tail of small gemstones or pearls on delicate flexible wires, while Pomegranate Fantasy earrings simply evoke the same abstracted fruit shapes, but without the glittering gemstone addition.

Both exist in a wide variety of delicious enamelled colours, often with a colour gradient merging two different hues in multiple layers or a contrasting sprinkle of a complimentary colour.

Their hand-sawn perforated patterns allow for surprising lightness, despite the density of precious metals and the weight of enamel. I love adding a spattering of rich reddish garnets - reminiscent of the pomegranate’s jewel-like interior - but some favourites also include shimmering miniature pearls, deep purple amethysts, the tempting glint of ruby and sapphire, or the superior sparkle of a spattering of black diamonds.

All earrings in this collection can be finished either with a hand-crafted hook or an ear stud (sometimes adorned with a pearl or gemstone) in silver or gold. Generally I recommend studs for heavier earring specimens - for that feeling of extra stability.

Large Green Spatter Earrings with amethysts, ‘peacock’ freshwater pearls and a colour gradient from dark forest green to bright leafy hues, carefully layered to create depth and luminosity. These are available here.

Yellow-Green Meadow Spatter enamel statement earrings, with bright yellow and green enamel, playfully freckled to remind you of a summer meadow mood. Available here.

Orange Dragon Breath Spatter with red-orange enamel and a sprinkle of tiny white freshwater pearls.

Midnight Garnet Spatter: Dark blue transparent over white enamels, carefully layered to create depth and luminosity. Completed with a trestle of faceted faceted garnet beads that will sparkle deep red when sunlight hits them from behind. Available here.

Sybilla Earrings

These delicate floral ear studs, worn close to the ear, are made up of layered three-petalled flowers as their underlying geometrical shape. Sybilla earrings contrast an airy, intricate frame with bold colours such as vibrant greens and deep ocean blues. The designs are meticulously hand-sawn from silver or gold, kiln-enamelled in multiple layers and/or patinated, and completed with precious pearls or gemstones at their centre or as an elegant drop-like adornment below. The delicate lattice-like pattern of the blossoms creates volume without being heavy, making these statement earrings comfortable enough to wear for many hours on end.

The SYBILLA collection is inspired by the artist Maria Sybilla Merian, whose work reflects a fascinating interplay of scientific observation, imagination and deliberate, aestheticizing composition. Read more about Merian and her time here.

Sybilla: Pacific statement earrings, meticulously hand-sawn, kiln-enamelled on silver in multiple layers, and patinated. Complemented with pale yellow rose cut diamonds in an 18 carat gold setting, small grey pearls, and precious Tahiti pearls dangling freely from each blossom.

Dark Sybilla earring with pink garnet and patinated silver, available here.

Tilia Earrings

Tilia earrings are named after the Latin nomenclature for linden tree, as they are reminiscent of a tassel of linden tree blossoms as they spill out in summer. These earrings are made up of brightly coloured enamelled fruit shapes that seem to have burst open to release a delicate cluster of different coloured gemstones and tiny pearls. This fairy-like precious ‘froth’ bursting from the enamelled ornament is meant to evoke the linden’s sweet summer perfume.

Because of their volume and complexity, Tilia earrings are among my heavier earring creations and usually come with a sturdy stud and extra large butterflies for extra stabilty.

They are magical when worn: These statement earrings move as you move your head, dance as you walk, and frame your face with a wild fluttering of joyful abundance.

Blood Red Tilia: Statement earrings in a celebratory gush of red enamel and shimmering black pearls, available here.

LeafEater Earrings

My LeafEater series is inspired by those delicate patterns on leaves left ravaged by hungry insects. As I started collecting these and paying closer attention, I noticed how different plants attract different predators, and how they each have their unique patterns. In an attempt to get to know each leaf intimately, I play with these patterns, study the subtle colours, contours, jagged edges, and lace-like cut-outs. LeafEaters speak about the cyclical nature of time, of the skeletal beauty that exists at the edge of decay.

Each leaf is meticulously hand-sawn from silver, copper or gold and kiln-enamelled in multiple layers to allow the colours to merge in that beautiful emotionally stirring way. LeafEater earrings are either finished with a pair of hand-crafted precious metal ear hooks, or with studs set with pearls or gemstones to allows for a secure wearing experience with maximum comfort. The free-moving long leaf can sway gently with your movements.

Orange-Green LeafEater, combining an oxidized sterling silver pomegranate-shaped stud with an elegant, enamelled leaf for a unique look - available here.

A trio of enamelled autumn-inpsired LeafEater earrings.

I continue collecting more patterns for LeafEater earrings on my walk.

Green LeafEaters, with luminous green enamel, gently shaded, on silver and 18 carat gold hooks, available here.

Aninka’s Dreams - Sterretjies

These glamorous earrings form part of the Aninka’s Dreams collection, an homage to my late aunt and jewellery godmother Aninka. „Sterretjies“ – little stars in Afrikaans – are clusters of delicious gemstones on movable delicate gold wires, designed to add a dynamic sparkle to your movements.

There is a distinct festiveness about this special design, especially in the queen of all Sterretjies, a combination of 18 carat gold and black diamonds. Sterretjies are only available in gold and platinum.

Black diamond and 18 carat yellow gold Sterretjies, available here.

Dragonfly Wing Drops

These elegant long wing-shaped earrings are inspired by dragonfly wings with a delicate perforated pattern and evoke a subtle echo of my favourite period in jewellery history, Art Nouveau.

I prefer crafting these with complimentary pearl or precious gemstone studs, allowing the free-moving wing to sway gently with every movement. However, finishing Dragonfly Wing Drops with simple precious metal hooks is also possible.

These long and elegant Blue Wing Drop earrings are a perfect accompaniment for long floaty dresses. The dragonfly-like wings, topped with small pearly crowns, invoke something Art Nouveau-like, an air of a mythical creature from a fairy world perhaps - available here.

These large Amethyst Berry Drop earrings are carefully enamelled in rich mulberry and grape tones, set with beautifully cut light-purple amethysts in one-of-a-kind asymmetrical fantasy prong settings.

Spriggle Ear Studs

The Spriggle earring family emerged as matching earrings for my enamelled neckpieces and have fast become favourites for those among you preferring smaller ear studs to long dangly earrings.

Spriggles add a splash of colour to enhance your mood or accentuate your outfit in a subtle but intentional way. The are carefully enamelled on silver and completed with a protective silver setting, a central pearl or gem, and an ornamental cluster of assorted faceted gemstone beads. Alternatively, the ‘spriggle’ of gemstones may be replaced with a baroque pearl or faceted gemstone drop.

Galaxy Spriggle enamel ear studs: Both everyday-wear and classically festive, with milky-white transparent enamel and a sprinkle of black on silver, finished with a small cream-coloured Akoya pearl and delicate cluster of white freshwater pearls and black spinel dangling just below. Available here.

Dark Violet Spriggle studs enamel studs with iridescent ‘peacock’ pearls and a cluster of gemstones (sapphire, lapis lazuli, pearls, labradorite) to adorn your ears.

Miniature Rainbow Spriggle earrings with contrasting splashes of reddish and green-yellow enamel.

Bespoke Earring Creations

Bespoke jewellery pieces are a marriage of a client’s unique story and my design and craftsmanship. Sometimes, special materials such as heirloom gemstones or found objects are integrated. In this way, a rich narrative of personal associations and imagery is woven into an object of true meaning. If you wish to discuss your own bespoke piece, please contact me via email.

Below are some examples of bespoke earrings I have created over the years:

Bold statement earrings with orange enamelled elements, geometrically cut carnelian, ‘peacock’ pearls, bright turquoise and malachite.

Aninka’s Dreams custom earrings with garnets and black diamonds.

Grape & Vine bespoke earrings. Created for a special wedding outfit. Dark green enamel on silver, patinated sterling silver with a tassle of garnet, onyx and cubic zirconia.

Tiny pomegranate studs with turquoise enamel and white freshwater pearls.

MY CORE PRINCIPLES: A CREATIVE COMPASS TO NAVIGATE STORMY WEATHER

This summer, I have taken some time for deep thought to reflect on my most important beliefs underpinning my creative practice. I think of these nine concepts below as directional pointers for my inner creative compass. This is a deeply personal navigational tool for whenever the weather gets a little rough and stormy, and clear vision is impaired.

Written in English.

Connection to Nature.

1. Connection to nature.

My work is underpinned by my personal belief that almost everything around us has its own kind of consciousness. We are immersed in a web of awareness, a field of subtle interactions between different beings, which we can start to observe if we choose to. We are connected to this living, breathing world around us. We also depend on it for our survival.

I feel most at home in the forest - held by Nature, supported by her, and endlessly inspired by her forms, colours and fractal patterns. Nature has so much to teach: Everything is cyclical. There is a season for everything, which will pass, every time. Death is just the beginning. Nature uses many different types of communication. Nothing is wasted. Everything has its purpose, even if it is ‘just’ to flower. Nature shifts, changes, unfolds, grows under our feet, adapts constantly.

We as a human species have behaved abominably, to our own detriment. Perhaps we could begin to change our perspective if we moved from exploitation mode to collaboration mode. Working closely with all kinds of natural shapes in my art allows me to immerse myself in that web of consciousness, study these different species and their interactions intimately, celebrate Nature’s limitless beauty and inventiveness, and share my obsession with the world.

Devotional craftsmanship.

2. Devotional Craftsmanship.

When I make something - when I draw or paint, cook, write, stitch, enamel, saw, fabricate jewellery, design, imagine a piece of art in my head - I often feel myself moving into an expanded state of being. In this space, I feel connected to a larger, ineffable yet benign source of energy. I feel as if I am opening myself up, gaining access to a vast pool of ideas, dreams and archetypes that might not all be my own, but seem to belong to the world at large. To me, this feels both utterly mysterious and completely normal. Being in communication with this energy is a two-way flow: I feel filled up with ideas, motivation, joy and enthusiasm, and I respond with gratitude, reverence and devotion.

This mixture of meditative and intentional crafting can become a type of prayer, capturing my emotions in my work - my joys and troubles, my excitement at being alive, my reverence for the skilled craft traditions that have come before me, and my devotion to Mother Earth who has birthed everyone and everything. While the making is often more important to me than the finished objects, they matter because they carry a permanent record of my creative prayer. Each piece I create will bear the marks of my hands and spirit; it will carry my intentions out into the world. As you encounter my work, may you feel your heart expand, may you be reminded of the mystery and the wonder of living, and may your entire being fill up with light.

Re-enchanting the world.

3. Re-enchanting the world.

One of my core missions in this life is to re-enchant my personal world and hopefully the lives I touch, too. Re-enchantment means restoring a spark of awe, of otherworldliness, of the numinous to everyday life. It means understanding the universe as a mysterious and unknowable and magical place. I am not against science, on the contrary. But science becomes most fascinating where it pushes right up against the fuzzy edge of the mystery of life.

Re-enchanting the world means opening yourself up for unpredictable opportunities. It means daily excitement at the prospect of living. It means entertaining the idea that we hardly understand anything at all, and that there may be secret invisible worlds all around us.

Re-enchanting the world is an act of defiance against darker forces that thrive on war, conflict, exploitation and suffering; it is a form of empowerment and mental liberation. At its core, re-enchanting the world involves finding, channelling and nursing your personal creative energy. I search for little shards of magic to integrate into my creations, so that the work I make can be a powerful carrier of this enchantment energy and a daily reminder to look at life through that magical lens.

Cultivating joy.

4. Cultivating joy.

Feed your inner child! I spent my twenties and early thirties trying to shoulder my responsibilities and become a ‘real’ adult. Now, moving into my mid-thirties, I’m finding it important to return to my inner Little Nora, to indulge her craving for colour, pattern, costume and play, magic and make-belief. This is another important source of creative energy. Searching for joy quite literally feeds the fountain of my creative capabilities. Joy makes difficult things feel effortless. It is my personal insurance policy against burnout and fatigue and self-doubt.

Searching for joy means doing things with no clear purpose, playing games with yourself, being a little frivolous, dancing with the seriousness of life. It may also mean the practice of finding joy in an activity you usually think of as rather unpleasant, like doing the dishes. Joy is infectious, it is bubbly and light and completely free. I try to surround myself with objects that evoke spontaneous joy: a favourite gemstone, my watercolours, a card I like, a luscious piece of fabric, nourishing food. To me, nothing evokes joy as reliably as vibrant, bold colours and patterns.

I truly hope that my art, especially my jewellery, can act as a buoy of delightfulness for others in their own journey of cultivating joy.

Celebrating the Sacred Feminine.

5. Celebrating the sacred feminine.

The concept of the Sacred Feminine is an archetype, a primordial force of creative power that reaches far back into the nebulous origins of culture. It is rooted in a woman’s miracle-like ability to create and birth new life from her womb, and by extension, all creation energy and the birthing of new ideas into the world (by any gender). It connects the energy of creativity directly to the divine, and is fuelled by love. It is associated with the unconscious mind, and therefore potentially threatening for those that fear the dark. I experience the Sacred Feminine as the seat of my personal power and intuition, my source of self-knowledge, trust in the world, wellspring of abundance, my refuge and my oracle, a portal to my own creative expression and my spiritual umbilical cord tethering me to divinity.

The Sacred Feminine is a powerful force in many different cultures and religions across the world, yet it has been systematically maligned, demonized, suppressed and persecuted for centuries, if not millennia.

I want to revive and celebrate the Sacred Feminine through my work. My multi-disciplinary creative process itself emphasises intuitive work and interconnectedness. Many of my designs are infused with symbolism associated with Nature as the great Mother and the Sacred Feminine: fruit and flowers, water and the ocean, pearls, gemstones, colour symbolism, roses and rose hips, apples, and above all, the pomegranate. Powerful in its duality, the pomegranate embodies the light and the dark; death, blood and destruction, but also fertility, the miracle of life, the tenderness of love and the phoenix-like magical possibility of renewal. I hope that my work can serve as a constant reminder of our own sacred strength - especially for those of us who identify as female.

Adding more colour.

6. Adding More colour.

In a world that is measurably becoming more monochrome (think popular car colours, tech, clothing, interior design, etc.), it is one of my missions to contribute more colour. Colour captures and transports our moods and feelings; it allows for unique emotional articulation. Being colour-conscious means being more aware of effects different colours can have on us. By draining our world of colour, we are depriving ourselves of this very archetypal personal expression.

In the Western world, non-colour is often synonymous with sophistication, while bright colours signify a child-like mindset. This is an idea I find infuriating and which I seek to undermine through my work, adding a splash of colour that is both playful and powerfully stimulating. I continuously experiment with different colour combinations and love how the technique of enamelling lends itself to merging and layering colours in spectacular new ways.

More colour, obviously, signifies more diversity. A lack of diversity, whether in ecology, in society, or culture, leads to instability and erosion with disastrous consequences. I believe in the freedom of personal expression – as much as possible without infringing on the freedom of others – in all spheres of our lives. A colourful world would certainly be a healthier one.

Paying attention.

7. Paying Attention.

Apart from time and physical energy, our attention – meaning our intentional and directed focus – is one of the most valuable limited resources we possess. It is now under constant attack by a flashing, wildly stimulating, noisy and fast-paced world out there, making it incredibly hard to hold on to. Our attention is made into a product by global media companies, who reach into our private lives in increasingly invasive and pernicious ways.

I try to pay more attention to that which I am paying attention to, putting up guard rails against ‘attention leakage’. We all get distracted by shiny things on the internet, so it’s useful to ask: What types of content are truly nourishing, and what seems hollow, inflated and without substance? While I love using digital media to enrich and share my creative world, I want it to feel authentic. I seek to carve out more space to pay attention to my creative work and the meaning it creates in my life. With AI creating vast amounts of vaporous content now, commanding our own attention will become an ever more important skill in the future. Truly being able to pay attention to the quality of our experience is the first requirement for finding awe, re-enchantment, connection and creative flow. Giving someone your undivided attention is the most precious gift we can give.

Nurturing community.

8. Nurturing Community.

While I cherish my solitary creative time, I don’t believe we evolved to navigate life alone. Being part of a strong community gives our lives purpose and creates the stories we weave into our personal web of meaning. We are made to share, connect, question, exchange, give, take, support and mould each other. We have that miraculous and inexplicable capability to love.

I consider my relationships and friendships among the most valuable assets of my life – far more precious than any material object could ever be. I understand relationships to be living, breathing entities; fragile yet adaptable, fibrous, resistant and incredibly strong.

At Atelier NONNE 11 in Bamberg, we have begun to cultivate a beautiful network of like-minded creative souls and craft enthusiasts. Above and beyond my actual art-making work, this creative nexus really nourishes me in a way I could never have anticipated. My husband and business partner Alvaro and I will continue to nurture this network through exhibitions, artist talks, workshops and all kinds of formal and informal in-person gatherings in the studio space and beyond.

Keep searching.

9. Keep searching.

Curiosity is the fountain of youth. In my personal questioning of the elderly around me, it seems clear that those who retain a sharp intellect in old age are also those who remain continuously interested in the world, who never stop learning, who pursue a passion, who read and question and think, who search for connections between different disciplines and who lean into the mystery of life.

Continuing the search does not mean being discontented in the present moment with who we are and what we have. Rather, it means staying supple and dynamic as the world shifts below our feet, remaining interested and playful enough to adapt to new challenges.

For me, it is in the search that I replenish my creative reservoirs and keep expanding my inner world. Every time I revisit an idea, it spirals out further into the universe. My work is often underpinned by stories that might not be visible at surface level – deep rabbit holes of research into history and mythology and culture, evolutionary science, ethnobotany, psychology and the process of meaning-making. My pieces are crystalline embodiments of these thoughts. Even though it is enough to find joy simply in the aesthetics of a piece, every one of my creations carries its own story.

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Winter

WINTER.

I needed a real Northern hemisphere winter, I needed its pause and reflection, its going-underground, its gathering-of-forces, its quiet stripping away of the unnecessairy, its gestation for new creativity to emerge.

Written in English.

It’s winter. I cherish this white and noiseless time between the bustle of our Christmas season and the start of the new year. Since moving to Europe, it’s taken me a few years to learn to fully appreciate winter. Now, I know it’s one of the reasons I wanted to move here in the first place: I needed a real winter, I needed its pause and reflection, its going-underground, its gathering-of-forces, its quiet stripping away of the unnecessairy, its gestation for new creativity to emerge.

My ancestors are mostly German, Hungarian and Swedish. They were Northerners at home in vast forests with hostile winters. While living in South Africa was all I knew as a child, the world did feel upside-down somehow, with Christmas at the height of summer. Coming to Europe felt like returning to a native land, I felt beckoned by the forest, embraced by the local botanicals in hedgerows and meadows. It’s here that my internal rhythm can truly sync up with Nature and allow me to follow her cycles as she inhales and exhales in great breaths of life and death.

Here are glimpses of this past week’s winter walks, as the old year has crawled into hibernation. Underneath the frozen earth, I can almost feel the roots and shoots secretly strengthening.