Every year around this time I see tulip leaves emerging in the gardens around Victoria College and I worry that they’re too eager, that they won’t survive another Spring snowfall. “Why would you leave your cozy bunker for the wicked chills of lingering winter?” I ask them. “Stay put, little blooms.” But the tulips ignore my pleas. They know better. I see these ones bloom year after year. They’re a vibrant red and bring a splash of majesty to the grounds of the college. Spring is always a bit of a miracle, isn’t it?

Adele Brereton‘s vessels, crafted from silver and gold, look like they might have washed up from the ocean, or fallen from a magical tree. They look like fragments of a larger vessel. Made from a flat sheet of metal and using ancient techniques such as hammering, her delicate bowls are destined to contain your most precious items. Her jewellery –– delicate pendants and textured rings –– is simple and beautifully crafted. Heirlooms, one might say.

Sax Impey‘s work is inspired by his experiences at sea. He’s clocked thousands of nautical miles delivering yachts to places all over the world. Impey’s paintings are so beautifully atmospheric, as are is his highly detailed pencil drawings. It’s his most recent seascapes that I am most drawn to, that show the many moods of the ocean.

Yutaka Yoshinaga‘s artworks have the look of paint peeling from a wall. Drawn on traditional Japanese washi paper using dry pigments, colour and texture are both central to his work. The pieces are like unfolded origami. “The life of materials,” every crease, blemish and repair, is what intrigues him. I find them very beautiful, but it’s his meditative pace –– Yoshinaga works on one square at a time –– and his respect for what happens to his materials over time, that I find inspiring.