Our interview begins with a burping poodle and ends with the beautiful Turkish phrase “health to your hands” which really sums up the essence of Olivia Cummings, founder and jewellery maker behind Cleopatra’s Bling. She will take you on a poetic journey to explore the mythology behind Greek amulets, and then ground you with tales of the logistics behind making her dog Alfonso’s birthday cake. This suits us just fine.
Yes, Olivia is a jeweller, but she’s also devoted to food. For her, food is a connector and a nourishing, fortifying force. She finds meaning and satisfaction in the act of cooking for the people she loves and in the act of sharing food around a table. She favours simplicity in the kitchen for herself day by day, but will go all out when it comes to others.
We end our chat with laughs about a kitchen disaster story that she’s still not over, and Olivia’s admission that she’s “a sicko with butter” - she has been known to give people a cracker with so much butter on it that they’ve assumed it was cheese.
You can find Olivia's Flourless Cacao & Orange Cake recipe on our website!
Find us @whatartistseat on Instagram and our website www.whatartistseat.com.au
Links to Olivia's work and anything else we chatted about: