We wanted to commission wedding rings
(I had lost mine). It was a celebration of 12 years together, but we also wanted to celebrate the idea of our separateness and individuality too. I'm not the minimalist of the family, I like pretty things.

When we collected the ring Barbara described how she had carved a mermaid around the heart shaped gemstone and then removed it because it didn't look quite right. We were told that the mermaid had dived down under the water and the tiny dots around the gem were the bubbles of the mermaids breath. Then about the scroll (I hadn't wanted scrolls) she explained this one had to be there. Being separate and together you can see yourself as an island - the blue gem was an island and the scroll was the waves breaking on the shore. (I liked these stories).

Sally Thompson

For my wife - a ring for the night sky, for stories told on twilight walks. A jewel that speaks of the part of her that is forever innocent, translucent. A gown by Ewaldo Bock, a painting by Chagall, we are transported once again, in the presence of a mermaid's breath.

Shane Thompson (from brief sheet)

I made the gemstone ring for Sally first and it may have been 12 months before I made the ring for Shane. The mermaid surfaced again, though at the time I'm convinced I didn't recognise it as such, it was an abstracted female form. My intention was simply to make the second wedding ring - the ring 'for the minimalist in the family'. However the figure was there and, albeit with a minimal aesthetic, she encircled the whole finger. Some time later Sally told me that Shane had lost this ring.

The mermaid had submerged again ... (?)

Barbara Heath