“Georgia Symmons: Transforming Metal into Emotion, Memory, and Meaning Through Tyet Designs”

CHAT SESSION 139 with Georgia tyetdesigns.com 

Topic- From Corporate Life to Handcrafted Stories in Metal

Monday 5^th January 2026 1pm https://rppfm.com.au

Memories in Metal

There are moments in life when a quiet shift changes everything.

For jeweller and educator Georgia Symmons, that moment came during the stillness of lockdown, when the fast-paced, high-stakes rhythm of her corporate and for-purpose career suddenly slowed to a whisper. After years spent writing strategy papers and leading social impact programs, she realised what her hands—and her spirit—had been craving all along: to make.

From Boardrooms to Benchwork

Before founding Tyet Designs, Georgia built a career in the corporate and philanthropic world. She worked across national organisations, guiding community partnerships and education initiatives designed to create meaningful change. It was purpose-driven work—but also intensely cerebral.

“I spent most of my days thinking, writing, negotiating,” she recalls. “But I’d get to the end of the day and feel this ache—like I needed to make something real, something tangible.”

When the world paused in 2020, that quiet ache became impossible to ignore. Georgia turned to what had always grounded her—art, materials, and the meditative act of making. Setting up a small workspace on the Mornington Peninsula, she began to hammer, solder, and shape metal again. What started as a form of therapy soon became a new way of life.

An Artist Returns to Her Materials

Long before she became a jeweller, Georgia studied sculpture and printmaking—disciplines that taught her to see form as emotion and surface as story. Those early explorations now ripple through her jewellery: pieces that hold memory as much as they hold metal.

Her studio became a sanctuary, where copper, brass, and silver became a kind of language. She describes working with metal as “a conversation between resistance and flow”—a physical reminder of transformation and resilience. Each piece bears the marks of hand and fire, with imperfections left intentionally as proof of process.

“I love the alchemy of it,” Georgia says. “You start with raw metal—something industrial, ordinary—and through heat and touch, it becomes intimate and alive.”

From that rekindled creative impulse, Tyet Designs was born—a collection of handcrafted jewellery that captures memory in metal and celebrates the stories that connect people, place, and shared moments.

Named after the ancient Egyptian knot symbolising protection and renewal, Tyet became both an artistic identity and a philosophy: to craft beauty with meaning. Georgia’s pieces—rings, cuffs, earrings, and pendants—are small sculptures designed to be worn close, each one quietly carrying the imprint of the maker’s hand and the landscape that inspired it.

Her early work combined sculptural sensibility with coastal influence—patinas that echoed sea spray, textures reminiscent of rock and tide. Over time, these pieces found their way into the hands of collectors and everyday wearers alike, each discovering their own connection in the metal’s warmth and story.

Recognition and Resonance

Tyet Designs has since grown into an award-winning practice. Georgia’s work has been recognised nationally, earning her Best Working Exhibit at the Tasmanian Craft Fair—one of the largest craft events in the Southern Hemisphere—and Best Jewellery at the Derinya Art and Craft Exhibition (DACE). Her pieces are exhibited at artisan markets, galleries, and boutiques, admired for their honesty, craftsmanship, and soul.

But beyond the awards, what matters most to her is connection.“When someone chooses a piece, it becomes part of their story,” she says. “A ring might remind them of a journey, a person, or a place. That’s what jewellery should do—connect us.”

Making as Mindfulness

For Georgia, making is a kind of meditation—a grounding counterpoint to the demands of modern life.

“When you’re at the bench, you can’t rush. The metal teaches you to slow down, to listen, to be present,” she says. “It’s not just about creating jewellery—it’s about finding balance.”

That philosophy flows through her C.U.F.T. Collection (Crafted. Uncoated. Forged. Timeless.)—a range of copper cuffs that blend design, wellbeing, and elemental beauty. Worn by men and women alike, each cuff celebrates the natural warmth of copper and its long-held associations with strength, vitality, and healing.

Teaching and Creative Community

Today, Georgia shares that same sense of discovery with others. She teaches silversmithing and lost wax ring-making locally at a variety of community workshops, encouraging makers to explore metalwork as a form of self-expression.

Her teaching is grounded in process and presence, rather than perfection.“The best part,” she says, “is seeing someone realise they can create something beautiful with their own hands. It reconnects them to themselves.”

Through these classes, Georgia continues to foster a creative community that values curiosity, courage, and craftsmanship—a modern circle of makers who understand that art isn’t just made; it’s felt.

Expanding the Creative Landscape

Beyond Tyet, Georgia’s creative practice has blossomed into several aligned ventures. She is launching C.U.F.T. as a dedicated brand of artisan copper cuffs that fuse beauty with wellbeing, and she co-founded Ninch Nabs, a community pop-up market in Mount Eliza showcasing local makers and their samples, seconds, and stories.

She also brings her cheeky wit to Bush Banter—a range of greeting cards celebrating Aussie sayings, humour, and regional character. Together, these ventures reflect Georgia’s multi-passionate spirit and her commitment to connection, accessibility, and the handmade.

Balancing Beauty and Purpose

At the heart of everything Georgia Symmons creates is a search for balance—the space between mind and hand, thought and touch, design and emotion. Her corporate years taught her how to lead, structure, and plan. Her artistic life teaches her how to feel, notice, and transform. The two coexist beautifully.

“I don’t see it as leaving one world for another,” she reflects. “It’s about bringing them together. The strategy, the storytelling, the creativity—they all feed each other.”

Tyet Designs continues to evolve, but its essence remains the same: jewellery that holds meaning. Pieces that carry traces of the maker and whispers of the sea. Metal that remembers the fire—and the hands that shaped it.

Each creation is, in its own quiet way, a vessel for memory—a bridge between people, place, and time.

About Tyet Designs

Founded by Mornington Peninsula artist and educator Georgia Symmons, Tyet Designs creates handcrafted jewellery that captures memory in metal. Working with copper, brass, aluminium, steel, and silver, Georgia’s award-winning pieces celebrate imperfection, connection, and the quiet beauty of craftsmanship. She also teaches jewellery-making and silversmithing, inspiring others to discover the creative joy of working with their hands.

“Georgia, how do you feel when you look at yourself in The Daily Mirror?”

“Honestly, I feel grateful. I see someone who’s finally found a bit of balance — between the head and the hands, purpose and play. I’ve spent a lot of years behind a computer, in meetings, in that corporate world and now I get to make with my hands again. The copper dust, the marks, the mess — it all reminds me I’m living a life that’s made, not just managed. And that feels pretty right to me.”

Discover More

To explore Georgia’s handcrafted collections, join a workshop, or follow her journey of creativity and connection,

visit tyetdesigns.com or find her on Instagram @tyetdesigns.

Each piece begins with fire and metal—but the story continues with you.

My hope is that when you’re looking at yourself in the

‘The Daily Mirror’

YOU SMILE

EMBRACE BEING YOU

AND FIND 10 MINUTES IN YOUR DAY TO NOURISH YOUR SOUL!

To get in touch with Cathy email smileinthedailymirror@gmail.com 

'The Daily Mirror' acknowledges Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people as the Traditional Custodians of the land and acknowledges and pays respect to their Elders, past and present.