There is a mystery that surrounds Henriette Schuster.  Go online and see a website with only photographs and drawings.  Take a look at the 2014 catalogue, ‘henriette schuster’ to find there is no text to explain the work or reveal the motivation of the artist.  There is a brief curriculum vitae on the back inside cover that sits beside a photograph of Henriette standing before her work, staring directly into the camera.  The message here is look closely and work it out for yourself.

What then, can I work out from what I see?  I see jewellery small in scale and large in stature: quiet but confident.  I see personal imagery and motif that is universally understood, and I see technical expertise that sits comfortably alongside the spontaneous treatment of materials.   I chose Henriette as a mentor in the hope that some of this would rub off and I look forward to our exchange and conversation – in whatever form that will take.