Aprili Designs creates hand crafted jewellery in silver or brass complemented with gemstones and minerals. Aprili hand forges, beats, adds details with traditional impressions dies and sets stones. Meditating and breath work bring the unseen elements that are infused into Aprili Designs. She creates talismans, amulets and jewellery that lifts the wearer’s energy to bring joy, abundance and protection. Aprili completed a Bachelor of Fine Art (Hons) degree at the University of Newcastle in 2005. Her Major was in sculpture, metal work and bronze casting. Completing her degree she moved to the blue mountains to join modern fusion belly dance troupe ‘Caravan Dance Company’. Traveling, teaching and performing world wide has exposed Aprili to cross cultural use of jewellery for adornment as well as identifying status, religious beliefs, cultural heritage, and the use of talismans and amulets for protection . These principles inspire her work today. Aprili Designs began with adornment for dancers and has been sold world wide at festivals and workshops in N.Z, Germany, U.S.A, France, Sydney, Newcastle, Adelaide and Perth. When studying Classical Odissi dance in Rajasthan, 2009/10, Aprili found her silversmithing Guru who came from a long lineage of goldsmiths. Undergoing private tutoring, Aprili learnt traditional techniques using impression dies. Metal is annealed or softened and beaten into a impression die which creates detailed designs in low relief. These designs are then cut out and soldered onto backplates as stand alone pieces or used as accents in her work. You can find her work currently at Fire and Flood, Wentworth Falls, Atelier, Lawson and www.aprilidesigns.com.au