Paula White
EDUCATION
Paula has focused more on living and exploring and less on tertiary education. She went to school in the UK where she obtained her matric and followed this with various administrative courses.
Paula's passion for jewelry began with her first necklace which was given to her on her third birthday. She still wears her brightly colored wooden childhood beads today.
EXPERIENCE
Paula has worked and lived in the UK, Germany, France, Namibia and Israel and has also traveled extensively around the world. After visiting Namibia in 1993 she decided to make the country her home for six years.
Paula lived and worked in Northern Namibia with traditional regional crafters and artists assisting in developing their work to meet a range of more sophisticated markets. She worked with Ovahimba, Okavangos, Oshivambo, Caprivian, Damara, Nama and Ju/'hoansi craft producers including basket making, pottery, wood carving and the San ostrich eggshell beaded garments and adornments.
The colors, textures and forms of these crafts (particularly the San) served as a critical catalyst for Paula to explore the artist within herself. When in Israel in 1998 she studied silver smithing with Amos Stein in Be'er Sheva.
Paula moved back to South Africa in 2000, she began playing with the idea of making jewelry. Her first pieces were well received by friends and acquaintances and at her first tentative outlets.
She soon became known for her one of a kind eclectic range and in 2003 she formally began to devote all her time to her business, "The House of Hector" now based in Kalk Bay.
Paula manages effortlessly to twist the traditional with the contemporary. The work certainly captures her view that jewelry should be fun but if the wearer walks a bit taller for it, then all the better!
Paula White?s jewelry pieces are bold and contemporary. She is not shy with colour, form or contrast. Some of her pieces reflect unexpected elements of quirkiness, yet they retain a simple, sophisticated and elegant feel. No two pieces are the same.
Paula uses a range of materials - precious and semi-precious gem stones,organic materials such as bone, wood, leather and shell, ancient and modern trade beads from West Africa, and working in silver and gold. She is influenced by African and Middle Eastern stories, traditional symbols and the folklore of the stones. She also draws inspiration from the natural environment:
?Designs often begin in my head while on the mountain or on sunrise beach runs. The light in the sky or the form of a leaf may trigger the process. My attention is often caught by unusual colour or texture combinations. If mother nature can do it, then so can I!?
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