It was by accident Yallingup artist Valma Rhodes happened to become a talented jewellery maker, after a friend dragged her along to a workshop.
Ms Rhodes was doing art and design, mostly creating sculptures, and thought she might learn something at the workshop she could apply to her sculptures.
"People told me I should be making jewellery," she said.
"It took a while but I did a couple of little things and had one on display in a gallery at Martha's Vineyard, a woman commented on the first piece I ever made, she told me they would walk out the door.
"When I came home I talked to Nina at Gunyulgup Galleries, she said she would like some of my pieces at the gallery.
"I came home and told my husband, 'I think I am meant to be doing jewellery.' So I bought a soldering iron, did a few workshops and joined the Jewellers and Metalsmiths Group of Australia."
Ms Rhodes will feature her work during this year's Margaret River Open Studios event, which runs from April 27 until May 12.
This is the sixth time Ms Rhodes will feature her work in the open studios event, her first time she mainly had paintings and only one box of jewellery.
"They all walked out the door I had to go and make some more, the jewellery just took over," she said.
Ms Rhodes takes inspiration for her jewellery from the organic world surrounding her property, with her ideas starting out as drawings.
She takes long walks, picks up bits to bring back to her studio where she will start drawing and turn her ideas into stunning pieces of silver jewellery.
"I might take a long stick and put a bit of charcoal on the end or I might draw a pine cone, it could just turn into a shape or something, then it goes into a piece of silver," she said.
