I was deeply saddened to hear of the death of Mark McDean last week.
I have known Mark for about 15 years. Over these years, I had made him a number of rings, and took the photo above in 2012, of the way he liked to wear them. The oldest and I think the best, of these rings is the middle ring, which is very wide and is the ring that he wore the most.
On the inside of this ring, I engraved the words: She said Marry Me
We had talked of collaborating on an exhibition where we explored this theme, which we had been talking about for a number of years, and Mark did a series of collages and embroideries with these words we were playing with. I started an embroidery last year for Mark, and then got so busy I put it aside, as I thought that there would always be time to pursue it, and to continue our conversation.
The above image was from a blog post I did in November 2012.
I wrote:
Special rings, special person
I made these three rings over many years for my friend Mark McDean, who wears them almost everyday.
Which is a dream come true for a jeweller.
There are times when I feel very proud to be a jeweller.
When I make wedding rings, or a piece of jewellery for someone to mark an event or something personal.
And when I make work for people that I love and that they wear it every day, and carry it on their bodies as they go about their daily lives. This profession feels like a great privilege when I witness this.
I was honoured to know Mark and to be a part of his daily life.
Mark was one of the most creative people that I know, and passionate about art in all its forms. I was constantly inspired by him.
My heartfelt condolences go out to his family at this time.