"Zoe brought to life the essence of what I had hoped during the whole process. Through her artistic and creative finesse she captured the relationships I cherish with the landmarks and elements that have helped anchor me through this new phase of life."

We recently worked with a special customer who had jewellery from a previous relationship. She came to Zoe & Morgan with this jewellery to create new pieces, which she wanted to symbolise the beginning of a new phase in her life.

This story of growth, transition and creating meaningful jewellery to represent this inspired us. We'd love to share a little bit about the design inspiration for these new pieces with you...

Nature and the natural world provide notable symbols of heritage. In this case, this customer's maunga or mountain is an important inspiration. "To me, it's the most significant landmark of where I'm from, which I describe as my ancestral mountain, and represents my relationship with my iwi (tribe), my ancestors and with the land."

 

A strong feeling of connection to the environment is also something our customer shared with us.

"Times spent at the maunga are meaningful moments for self-reflection. The wind, the sun, the snow - it's often here where I 'unplug' and ground myself. Most importantly, there's a special spiritual connection I feel."

The ocean is another important element that represents heritage and courage. "Surfing is a vehicle through which I am reminded of my relationship to the moana and the wider Pacific through my forebears who navigated their way across the vast sea to migrate here to Aotearoa.

I'm inspired by the ocean and the numerous metaphors for life it teaches. I feel my perception of struggle and challenges can be insignificant when compared to the brave journey my ancestors took to make their way here. It's exhilarating, exciting and freeing to ride a wave ... and humbling to get pummelled by them on occasion!"

Symbolising transition in life, the jewellery was created to celebrate what's to come in the future.

A treasured piece of art by artist Nikau Hindin inspired the design of the new pieces, "it invokes strong feelings of whakapapa (heritage, genealogy), growth, new beginnings, and fortitude. The name of the piece is Te Wheiao II, which in Nikau's words "refers to the space between the world of darkness and the world of light.

When sky Father and earth Mother were separated there was still a period of time before the world as we know it dawned. Creation energy was stirring... between chaos and calm- creating the laws of nature. The stars, sun and moon were still being hung. It is the dawn of time."
Zoe crafted two bracelets which represented this unique journey; drawing on inspirations and a strong connection to the environment.

"Zoe brought to life the essence of what I had hoped during the whole process. Through her artistic and creative finesse she captured the relationships I cherish with the landmarks and elements that have helped anchor me through this new phase of life. For me, a further layer of meaning was infused in the way Zoe cared and shared her kindness and emotion - from the time I first came into the store to consider having something made, to when I finally saw the beautiful bracelets for the first time." 

A modern symbol of love for place, love for self, and love for the dawn of a new time.