Sculptor Regina Dudek made her first pair of earrings at age 11 combining yellow seed beads with fuse wire that she’d nicked from the meter box of her family home. It proved to be the start of a fascinating adventure.
The young Regina began hunting for beautiful beads, stones and wire, making jewellery initially for family and friends and then to sell at weekend craft markets. Her interest soon became an obsession.
With an eye on a career in arts and teaching, Regina headed off to Uni, completing a Bachelor of Education where she studied silver smithing/jewellery making and sculpture.
She landed a job at a local secondary school and spent seven years in the classroom. She quit teaching in 1993 and travelled to Europe before returning to Australia and settling in Perth, a gift of some discarded copper wire taking her in a new direction entirely. Deciding she’d had enough of small, Regina made candle holders and a lampshade for her new home, adding beads and other jewellery like embellishments. She never looked back.
She became a hit among the Fremantle arts community, teaching jewellery making and wire sculpture, and selling her artwork every weekend at the popular Fremantle Arts Centre market.
In 2004, with a young family in tow, Regina returned to Gippsland. Re-establishing herself in the tiny Gippsland town of Boolara she continued to create her elegant, whimsical sculptures featuring everyday objects such as old wire, faded crockery, discarded cutlery, scrap metal and well-worn fabrics.
In 2009, after bushfires destroyed her Boolara home, Regina and her family relocated to Inverloch where she again started afresh. She scoured op-shops, garage sales, junkyards, hard rubbish and on line to replenish her material stock. It wasn’t long before she had forged a reputation at local markets and art shows and was sharing her skills and her passion with others.
Click here to download Regina’s CV.
