About

Kirra-lea is an independent metal artist. She specialising in hand crafted copper, sterling silver, gold and platinum jewellery and wearable art, tableware and sculptures. Her work is heavily inspired by nature and recycled found objects.

Kirra-lea has a background in visual and contemporary arts. She is a qualified jeweller with over 10 years experience in the trade, having learnt many traditional and contemporary metal smithing techniques. She is a multi-award winning jewellery designer and manufacturer, winning competitions including The JAA Jewellery Awards and DGA Design Awards. She was recently won the colour category and the title of Jeweller of the Year in the 2019 JAA Design competition for her colourful entry "Plumage". 

Kirra-lea is also an accomplished sand caster and specialises in cast-in-place stones. This unique skill has enabled her to travel around Australia, New Zealand and England teaching fellow jewellers and novices alike the ancient technique of sand casting. 

Based in Tasmania, Australia Kirra-lea works as the sole manufacturer and designer from her home studio. She collects twigs, pebbles, shells, coral and bones from her surroundings to use in her work as metal cast replicas or create textures on metal surfaces. She also makes fossiking trips to Tasmania's North East where she finds her own rough gemstones in the pristine rivers of Derby. The river banks are a great source of interesting rocks and twigs to inspire and incorporate in her work.

Image mid left: Alabastra, winning entry 2017 JAA Contemporary design award

Image bottom middle: Plumage, winning entry 2019 JAA design awards colour category and overall winner.