The Road Less Travelled - Emily Chantiri

“ One day we had a
judge, an inmate
from Long Bay Jail
with a guard either
side, and one of
Sydney’s best-known
prostitutes sitting
together in the
waiting room.”
Cliff Trefry
10 Discover The Dymocks Building Magazine

Still dreaming about pursuing your
life’s purpose? Emily Chantiri
meets three people who chose
unusual career paths – and never
looked back.
One of the more unusual requests came from
Australian artist Brett Whiteley who wanted
a fake eye for a painting he was working on.
A theatre company also ordered a perfectly
round eye to roll around the stage of their
latest play.
It has been said that if you follow your passion then you will never work a
day in your life. The stories you’re about to read are from three people who
have done just that. Not satisfied with the run-of-mill-type professions, they
decided to follow their calling and have never looked back.
Bright Eyes
In 1949, industrial engineer Cliff Trefry’s career took a dramatic turn after he
lost an eye in a workplace accident. At the time, there were only two artificial
eye makers in New South Wales; one was Les Taylor who Trefry visited
regularly to have his new eye custom-made. A strong bond formed between
the men and Trefry found he was increasingly more interested in how artificial
eyes were made than in his own profession of engineering. Before long, he
was training under Taylor and then off to London on a scholarship to further
hone his newfound craft. Now, he and business partner Edit Gillott run
Taylor&Trefry, artificial eye manufacturers.
Contrary to what you might expect, these two do not make for a solemn
pair. They are jovial and brimming with humour and life. Gillott, a former
schoolteacher, was asked to help out in her school holidays. Her skills with
handling youngsters were invaluable to a business that sees a lot of children
who have been born with only one eye or lost one in an accident. She loved
the work so much that she never left.
“It is so interesting and fascinating,” enthuses Gillott. “I really enjoy the
clients and I still see many of them today. When you see someone come in
with a slightly misshapen face, hoping for and wanting something better for
themselves, you know that you can give them that. They leave feeling better
about themselves and you can’t help feeling better yourself as well,” says
Gillott who confesses to getting a buzz out of perfecting the colour and shape
of each eye to match the original.
Both Trefry and Gillott agree that it is the people they meet who make the
work so enjoyable. They say that most of their clients seem to have a more
pronounced sense of humour than sighted people and that makes them
better company. One client who is completely blind spends his whole time
making them laugh.
Some requests have come from left field. Like when Australian artist Brett
Whiteley walked into their small premises on the Dymocks Building’s fifth floor
and requested an eye for one of his paintings. Another came from a theatre
company that wanted an artificial eye to roll around on stage. “We had to
make it perfectly round, so it rolled and rolled,” laughs Gillott.
“It doesn’t matter what their social standing or wealth, our clients come
from all walks of life,” adds Trefry. “One day in the waiting room there was a
judge, an inmate from Long Bay Jail with a guard either side and across the
other side of the room sat one of Sydney’s best-know prostitutes.”
They’ve seen their fair share of tragedies, too: babies who were born
without eyes, blind children, cancer sufferers who lose half their face. The
artificial eyes are made from acrylic and carefully matched so that no-one can
tell which is the good one. Trefry takes due pride in that.
The eyes are free, subject to the Department of Health guidelines,
and, generally speaking, a person with an ocular prothesis will require a
replacement every four years.
“You help people and you get paid for something that you really love
doing,” beams Gillott. Trefry concurs: “The most rewarding part of my job is
the friendships I’ve made. They’re long-standing and genuine, it would be
bloody hard to find anything better than this.”
The Dymocks Building Magazine Discover 11

“ as soon as I walked in the door
everything inside me went, ‘YES!
This is it! ” Karen Workman
“ I get so far into the job,
in my mind I could be
on a tropical island.”
John W. Thompson
Karen Workman says
she has experienced
‘miraculous’ moments in
her work as a therapist.
Go with the Flow
Increasingly dissatisfied with her career in human resources, Karen
Workman knew it was time for a change but didn’t know what that
change should be. She left her job, packed her bags and went travelling
to explore the world as much as her future options. She settled for a time
in Canada when a chance meeting changed the course of her life. She
was attending a workshop about passion in life when she met a woman
who had been studying Reiki. This complete stranger ardently insisted
Workman join her for a class. Following a hunch, she agreed.
“It was a freezing cold night,” recalls Karen Workman, “but as soon
as I walked in the door and into the class, everything inside me went,
‘YES! This is it! I am home’. I began to study and practice passionately,
giving Reiki to anyone I could get my hands on.”
Shortly after, she returned home to Australia and set up her own
practice. Six months later she was reading an article on Hakomi
therapy when she felt a familiar pull. “When I read about Hakomi I was
immediately energetically drawn to it,” she says. “There is something in
me that has always wondered about people more deeply. Talking about
issues wasn’t the only way. I knew this through my own experience of
therapy.”
Hakomi is a therapy that involves using the body to explore
and understand ourselves better. It is based on and committed to
principles of mindfulness, non-violence, mind-body holism and unity.
Karen Workman knew that this was the link she had been waiting for,
connecting her passions for the mind, body and spirit. The initial flame
that ignited her passion still burns strongly 20 years later.
Karen Workman offers this advice for anyone looking to find their
passion: “You can feel it in your system. It’s not cognitive. It’s is the fire
in your belly that just keeps burning. When you can be mindful of those
times in your life when you have felt like this, you can follow that path and
it will lead to passion.”
Today, Karen Workman believes that therapy isn’t about locating
problems or searching for answers to why issues occur. She says
therapy is about moving through the limitations that constrict our
consciousness in order for us to feel our greatness, to know the inner
truth of who we are, and to connect with our innate qualities such as love
and happiness.
There have been so many rewarding moments “even miraculous
ones,” she says. “One man suffered incredible panic attacks, which were
brought on by his fear of flying. This was stopping him from visiting his
girlfriend in Ireland. After six months of therapy, I received a message on
my answer machine. He was calling from Heathrow airport in London. He
had done it! I felt a thrill of real joy for him.”
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John W. Thompson’s services have been
requested by Buckingham Palace, where
he has hand-engraved invitations for Her
Majesty Queen Elizabeth II.
Lord of the Ring
John W. Thompson didn’t have to search far to find out why he
has a passion for rings – his ancestors have been designing them
for the British royal family for centuries.
Growing up in London’s East End in the 1960s, Thompson
decided he wanted to be a diamond mounter (commonly known
as a jeweller). “To be honest I hated the course until I picked up
the engraving chisel,” admits Thompson. “From the very first
moment I picked up that graver, I was hooked. I knew this is
was what I wanted to do, it was as if I was being pulled in that
direction.” He was surprised to discover that engraving was in his
blood, tracing his passion back to his ancestor William Hogarth, a
famous 18th century English engraver to the Royal family.
To support himself while studying, Thompson worked at
a tractor plant where, during the long hours he dreamed of
becoming a master hand-engraver. Luck was on his side, as
the firm William Day of London took him on to serve a five-year
apprenticeship. He was to be the last engraver’s apprentice to be
taken on anywhere in the United Kingdom.
Thompson moved to Australia in the 1980s and still uses
traditional engraving methods passed down from the Middle Ages,
boasting that he is fast-becoming a dinosaur. His pieces include
seal and signet rings, cufflinks, pendants and bangles made from
gold, platinum and sterling silver. He engraves decorative patterns
dating back to the 18th century, including phrases and sayings in
languages from Hebrew to Gaelic to Chinese.
Thompson’s reputation as a master engraver is known
around the world. His clients hail from Hollywood to Buckingham
Palace and include former prime ministers and current media
moguls. Thompson designed the signet ring for Prince Charles
when he became the Prince of Wales and recently completed
another for royalty of a different kind: Australian racing identity
Gai Waterhouse.
He likens his job to yoga. “My work is relaxing,” he reveals. “I
get so far into the job, in my mind I could be on a tropical island.”
At 59 years of age, Thompson has no plans of retiring. His son
Peter works alongside him inheriting the traditional ways. “If Dad
retires, I’ll have him come in on a casual basis,” jokes Peter, “Just
six days a week!”
Thompson, a warm man with a quick wit, shuns the title
master engraver and prefers to call himself an artisan, a man
continually crafting his work. According to his wife Linda, his
passion is so consuming that even she cannot compete with his
love of his craft. “It’s 24 hours, seven days. John eats, drinks,
sleeps his job,” she says.
“My job is never boring, I receive immense satisfaction from
my clients,” he says. “Recently I made some cufflinks for a woman
whose son was turning 21 years old. When she saw the cufflinks
she burst into tears. Her joy was overwhelming. I feel very lucky
to have a career I love; it has so many rewards. Every job I do is a
special job and every one is different.” [D]
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