January 2014

137 330

PHILANTHROPY
137 January14
was dug up in Afghanistan. As you can
see, it’s been oxidised during its many
years under the ground, and gradually
infused with mineral traces.
I came across this trove of glass
shards and beads in Bangkok some
time ago, and the style of this necklace
is indicative of the kind of thing I’m
working on. This one is not actually part
of the collection, though; because the
pendant is set in heavy gold, it would
be too expensive to sell.
How did you go about getting
your designs made up?
Through an antique dealer friend
here, I met an Afghani jewellery dealer
who travels back and forth between
Singapore and Kabul. He told me about
a group of women in his village who did
work for him, so I handed over some
materials and kept my fingers crossed.
Sure enough, he turned up a fewmonths
later with a bag of finished jewellery.
They had done an excellent job.
I am now using a team of young girls
in Chiang Mai, mostly Burmese, who do
fine beadwork; I go to Thailand a lot, as
Paul and I are building a house there.
We’ve also found someone to make the
gold-plated clasps that finish our pieces
off perfectly.
Each necklace is individually designed
by me, and each one is different, like a
painting. I don’t want to do five of the
same thing. I love these natural stones;
I don’t want to get into anything plastic
or mass production. I could work with
wood, too, or with shell – as long as it’s
a natural material.
How does Liberty Rocks work?
It’s a business that is registered here
in Singapore. Any costs incurred come
back into the business to be reinvested,
and all the profit from each piece of
jewellery is donated to WFF.
Working in this
way gives me the
flexibility to support
other charities, too.
Another cause
that’s dear to me
is Maiti Nepal,
which combats
human trafficking,
especially the
sexual slavery of
women and young
girls. We hold an
annual Girly Whirl,
where we get together
to collect good, gently
used designer clothing and
accessories to sell at a three-
day sale.
How have you been getting the
word out?
I’m lucky to have an interesting and
varied group of friends, each with
their own extensive circles over many
communities – Malaysian, French,
Japanese, Iranian, Indian, Norwegian,
American, English and Australian – and
they’ve all generously come on board
to help nurture this new baby of ours.
I’m starting to discover how kind
people can be. My sister-in-law Julia
Ferrero, a photographer and key support
partner, took photos of the first collection
and posted them on our Facebook site.
Several friends and businesses have
offered to sponsor coffee mornings
or wine evenings, modelled on the
Tupperware party formula.
And recently, a close friend who had
a significant birthday asked friends and
family not to buy gifts for her, but rather
to make a donation to WFF. That raised
an amazing $2,000!
What inspires you?
Colour inspires me enormously; I love
browsing through the silks in Arab Street,
putting fabrics together to see how the
combinations work. These days, mymind
is often on necklace designs – inspiration
comes from everywhere. Even at night,
colours, shapes and textures swirl
around in my head, and I have to keep a
piece of paper and a pen at my bedside
to sketch ideas as they come up.
Without meaning to, I seem to have
followed in my mother’s footsteps. She
worked as an interior decorator in New
Zealand, back in the sixties and early
seventies; and then, years later, she
opened a very successful little jewellery
business in Wellington, selling mainly
costume jewellery. Recently, she gave
me a bag of stones, including bone,
ivory and onyx that had been sitting in
her cupboard for over 30 years. That’s
just waiting to inspire me, too!
What are your goals?
Through the wonderful success of our
launch and three-day sale in November,
together with some incredibly generous
donations, we raised $14,000 – enough
to pay for 30 fistula operations.
My mission for 2014 is to continue
donating money from jewellery sales,
and also to go to Africa to find out more
about the work being done there. We
may make a small film about it: I have
a daughter who is a moviemaker in Los
Angeles, a friend who is a moviemaker
in Thailand, and a sister-in-law who is
a photographer. Wouldn’t that be a
wonderful joint effort!
Colour inspires me
enormously; I love
browsing through the
silks in Arab Street,
putting fabrics together
to see how the
combinations work
I’m starting to
discover how kind
people can be facebook.com/libertyrocksjewelry