great antique stove and intimate arrangement

Oxidised silverOxidised silver

"Metrosideros robusta is the latin name for the Northern rata.

I see parallels in my approach to jewellery and the growth of the rata tree. These trees start life as an epiphyte in the branches of another tree. As it grows the epiphyte rata sends roots down to the ground. It eventually replaces the host tree when it dies.

More than ten years ago I began using conventional jewellery pieces as a grounding material in my work. Like the epiphyte rata I added my attachment in gold or silver, nestling in or on a ring and also growing over entire pieces of jewellery.

Most of my recent rings do not include any ready-made pieces, they are entirely replaced by my own creations."
Karl Fritsch, 2006 via