Born 1947 South Africa.

Syann trained in Ceramic Design at Johannesburg College of Art from 1965-68.  Followed by three years as in-house designer at HID, Johannesburg, manufacturers of architectural ceramics.

Contact with architects brought opportunities for creating site specific murals ranging in size from restaurant interiors to an 80 meter shopping mall pediment and a double hight atrium.  Importantly, it gave her the freedom to experiment.

She left South Africa in 1971, and took work as assistant to jeweller Geertje Pijper in Amsterdam, revelling in hands on scaling down. Focussing on jewellery and metal, gave her the opportunity to develop skills and learn from those whose work she admired, as she still does, through collaboration.