The Lady with the Black Eyepatch

Inspired by Ana de Mendoza, The Lady with the Black Eyepatch brings together black opal, deep blue kyanite and accents of red. The shifting colours within the opal echo the mysterious allure that drew me to her portraits.

I imagine her eyepatch becoming part of a beauty she defined for herself: a distinctive expression of identity, rather than something to conceal. That idea of changing how we see ourselves lies at the heart of this collection.

The deep blue of a hat in one of her portraits inspired the kyanite, while black and red express the tension between intellect and passion. These pieces explore individuality, self-redefinition and the courage to find beauty on our own terms.