Michael Ayling has been working with silver and gemstones for the past 35 years. After completing the first half of a medical degree at Auckland University, he began turning what had been a hobby into a career. In 1974, he became a founding member of Fingers jewellery co-operative. Two years later
I went to a summer school in Nelson tutored by Jens Hansen, whose work I had long admired, I ended up working with him for the next couple of years, and learning a great deal.

In the mid-80s, after years of living and working in Nelson, he visited Berlin. I ended up living there for two years as a member of a group workshop a few
metres from the famous ‘wall’. Michael then set up his own studio in Golden Bay and, over the next eight years, taught a series of jewellery courses. Moving back to Nelson, he had a studio-workshop at Craft Habitat in Richmond for the next five years. Michael regards his jewellery as mini-sculptures – tiny pieces of engineering or architecture. That is to say, the pieces are seen from a three-dimensional point of view, as objects in their own right, ‘making sense’ when seen from any angle. He enjoys the interplay between a form and the inherent qualities of colour and texture. I seem to tap into left and right brains, being naturally accurate and geometric but on the other hand (or hemisphere), enjoying organic forms and processes that give unpredictable, primordial outcomes. Michael also enjoys silversmithing: forming by hammering so that the metal is stretched and spread with a natural change of thickness. Michael currently works from his home at Whangarei Heads. He enjoys working with a variety of materials: gold, silver, stones, shell, wood and bone. He explores different techniques of construction and carving to produce a wide range of simple and stylish work.