Russell Ord and Payet Gallery combine forces

Through the combined creativity of photographer Russell Ord and jewellery makers Francois and Nicholas Payet, Born from the Sea will be on display as part of the Margaret River Region Open Studios event.

The collection of oceanic images and handcrafted work were inspired by the South West surroundings, in particular the call of the ocean according to Francois Payet.

“When you live here, you can’t help but be inspired,” he said.

Payet spent hours fossicking through the beaches of the area, finding unique pieces of marine life and objects symbolic of the ocean to inspire his creations.

“Each beach seems to give up a different coral and numerous unique elements,” Payet said.

He said from the inception of the idea, it was a matter of matching the jewellery elements to the unique offering from the ocean in such a way that the piece shone.

A favourite piece for Payet was a necklace that harnessed the idea of looking through a rock pool to discover what lies beneath.

In terms of the collaboration between pieces of jewellery and the strong oceanic imagery captured by Ord, Payet said he believed it was an unusual combination, but it worked.

“I’ve very grateful of Russell,” Payet said.

“He’s very giving of his time and knowledge; I admire his work.”

Ord said his shots sought to provide a unique view into the depth of the impact zone of some of the South West’s heaviest waves.

"The last few years I've kind of gone away from capturing every single moment, and now I'm just trying to get that one moment that's challenging to myself,” Ord said.

"So that means swimming right into the thick of things and seeing what we can do.”

Payet has a similar approach to his work, finding inspiration from one piece and letting it lead him to new creative places.

“Nature has offered most, if not all of those designs,” Payet said.

“I’ve just transformed them into jewellery.”

The collaboration is on display from April 5-27 at Payet Gallery, open seven days a week from 10am-4pm.