Jacqueline Morren was born in The Netherlands and after extensive travels arrived in New Zealand where she became acquainted with its precious stone, pounamu. During her first visit she attended a night class in Jade Carving whilst teaching full time at the Tai Poutini Polytechnic. After returning to The Netherlands she was overcome by a very strong pull to take up working again with this amazing greenstone. She returned as an international student and earned a Diploma in Jade and Hard Stone Carving. 

After searching for a silversmith to collaborate with, and coming up short, Jacqueline began immersing herself in the craft of silversmithing, gaining knowledge along with way without – at the time – the aid of google or the internet! Her desired end result was to learn ways to combine pounamu and silver in her jewellery practice. More recently Jacqueline has moved towards the smithing side of silversmithing - a skill almost lost and again very little information is available - only a handful of colleges around the world still teach this craft. 

Jacqueline strives to be as ethical as possible in her studio, harsh chemicals are replaced with old traditional and natural products and the materials are joined without the use of glue. She recycles and melts down her silver dust collected whilst creating new pieces. Silver and gold are at times found during second hand shop trips or are kindly donated.

Jacqueline works full time from her studio and creates her jewellery and sculptural objects. Also she is a part time teacher for various courses at Hagley Community College.