ABOUT JANE
ONE COULD ARGUE THE WORD UNIQUE IS OVERUSED IN TODAY’S DAY AND AGE. HOWEVER, JANE MAGON’S LIFE AS A CHILD, WIFE, PARENT, ACADEMIC AND ARTIST SHAPED HER TO BE TRULY ONE OF A KIND.
(Jane is in the red shorts aged 11)
Jane was raised in Papua New Guinea (PNG), and after living in Port Moresby she called Goroka in the Eastern Highlands her home from ages 11 to 20. Here she experienced a rare and fascinating childhood full of cultural memories that now fuel her work.
After leaving PNG, in 1969 Jane commenced her studies in art and design in Melbourne, Australia. Upon graduation her fascination for gems saw her move to Brisbane to work as a jewellery designer but it would seem that Jane had a life of academia awaiting her whilst simultaneously fulfilling her leading role of mother to four children.
By 1998 she had completed an Art & Design degree from Melbourne and a graduate diploma of teaching, three art history degrees, including her PhD in art history and shamanism, and published two art books internationally.
The following year (1999) she won a Senior Research Fellowship at Harvard University in the Center for the Study of World Religions 1999-2000 and lived, researched and lectured in America for two years.
After moving back to Brisbane in 2001, and receiving encouragement from her husband Wally, she began to design jewellery again and Jane Magon Jewellery was established. Her motivation to start the business was partly out of frustration at not being able to find pieces that suited her style; but mostly due to her powerful inner-need to be creative.
Jane’s jewellery is mainly inspired by her childhood in New Guinea, her extensive travels abroad and her time in remote parts of Australia, on sailing trips with her husband or conducting research in the central Australian desert where she spent time with the Pintupi people.
Her intensely multi-cultural life experiences balanced with her academic pursuits has fuelled her ability to create innovative designs with extraordinary materials such as “hand selected gems, gold and silver, dinosaur & crocodile teeth & (skins), lava and meteorite combined with precious gems.
Over the last few years she has shown at international jewellery fairs in Hong Kong, Tucson, Taiwan, Sydney and Brisbane, and was invited to exhibit in China. Currently, Jane is professionally active in the areas of history, the arts (gems and jewellery), archaeology, anthropology and published two books internationally.
Jane is highly regarded internationally by the industry as a “super star designer”.
The Jane Magon brand has been in the making for over a decade. Meet the man, Wally Eaglesham that walks beside Jane through her journey.
