Patrick Mavros expresses his passion for Africa thanks to a beautiful Silversmithing story. Throughout the years, he developed a collection of fine silver objects, from women’s and men’s jewelry to home designed objects and sculptures. Born and raised in Matabeleland (the wild, western province of Zimbabwe), the young Patrick developed a deep affinity for its wildlife, particularly the birds of prey. Like many an artist before him, he strove to capture the form and essence of the birds and animals on paper – as evidenced by his boyhood sketchpads. Adulthood, however, laid out a more prosaic career for Patrick, and he became first a baker, then a soldier. Fortunately fate, in the classic tradition, smiled upon the young man and he met, wooed and won his wife, Catja Halsted. The petite, warm-hearted Catja became the pivotal influence that was to set Mavros on his path to becoming one of the…

• 20 February 2012