Raina Ham - Jewellery - Art on Cairncross

Raina Ham - Jewellery

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Born; Germany 1946
Resides; S.E. Queensland

Raina Ham emigrated with her family to Australia at the age of three. She was always keen to be a sculptress and enrolled in life-drawing classes at the Victorian Artist’s Society in 1964 to improve her skills with anatomy and drawing, to enable her to depict her ideas for sculpture. Raina was introduced to small scale sculpting while learning silver smithing and by 1970 was becoming very adept with the various tools (from those of jewellers to dentists!) and started working in lost-wax casting. Her total immersion in this artform led her to leave her job in the Public Service to concentrate on her art and this certainly paid off, as she had her first major exhibition within 3 years in central Sydney. This featured both jewellery and small sculptures which were quickly recognized for their finesse and originality and soon there were awards, commissions and a demand for corporate gifts. Raina and her husband moved to Montville in 1980. Here her passion for frogs was truly fulfilled and with careful planning and much hard work, the couple replanted native rainforest and as it grew and ponds were established, the native frogs moved in and the number of species diversified. They left this haven for Ravenshoe in Far North Queensland in 1994 and once again set about creating an environment in their garden for the frogs, which were by now the main focus of Raina’s sculpture and jewellery. Her work has depicted many other native animals from frill-necked lizards to platypus, from bats to geckos, but always with an eye for detail and a genuine affection for each animal. The family moved back again to South East Queensland in 2002 but the challenge to establish a habitat for the frogs has been a much greater this time with the drought. But of frogs Raina says “I have focused on frogs because they are like butterflies and able to metamorphose from one form into another. I find this fascinating and see beauty in humble creatures. If we observe them, we can see life working with co-operation and harmony.” Raina’s work can be found in private collections across Australia and in public collections worldwide, especially because of having previously completed many commissions for the Queensland Government which were then gifted to visiting international statesmen and dignitaries.