Gum Flower

Jewelry Design

About: I was headed back home to Australia for Christmas, and for the first time in over three years, both my best friends would be there too. In anticipation, I designed and assembled a set of earrings inspired by the great Australian gum flower. The goal was to capture the frilly pink skirt of stamens, and the golden pollen ends, in a style that felt representative of its natural context.

Role: Designer & maker

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The original concept was to hollow out a pyramidal bead to thread the tassels through, but this design wasn't conducive to wearing a stud which requires a flatter surface to sit against the earlobe. So instead I laser cut 3mm plywood to make thin layers which would sandwich the threaded tassel in place.

I used Illustrator to design the plywood gum nuts, ran the laser for multiple passes in order to hollow out the central cavity to house the tassels, and spent many of my 23 hours in transit between continents to painstakingly thread tiny golden beads at regular intervals.

At our annual Christmas camping trip – Mel on the left, Jo on the right, and me in the middle.