Early life

I was born on June 9th 1951 in Maracaibo, Venezuela, as Candida Helena van Rood.

My family lived in many countries until we arrived in Australia in 1964, where we finally settled in Adelaide, South Australia.

After completing my diploma in Graphic Design at the South Australian School of Art in 1972, I went to Holland where my father's family are from, and was accepted to do a Post Graduate Degree at the Rietveld Academie in Amsterdam where I majored in painting and printmaking.

In 1973, on my return from Europe, I married Tom Spender and we had our son Tom (aka Dingo) in 1978, who is now musician known as 'Spender'; at the time of writing (Sept 2025) he is the ‘Spender’ in ‘Mama Kin Spender’.

Sophie van Rood and 'The Banana Room'

In my early years I was strongly influenced by my mother Sophie van Rood, who with Tom Spender, opened the legendary Banana Room in 1974. (Tom left 1981 to pursue his career with art).

Sophie's collection, was Australia's largest and oldest collection of vintage & antique, fashion and costume pieces.

Sophie had been a couturier just before WW2 started, with her salon in Knightsbridge London, and she had an insider's knowledge of fashion from the late 19th Century to the 1980's

When Sophie died in 1998, there were over 8,000 pieces in her collection. My sister, Peta and I had to do a crash course in the history and value of these amazing things. We were ofcourse deeply inspired by Sophie's brilliant 'eye', her quirkiness and sense of humour.

Quite a few Australian designers have told me how they cut their fashion teeth in 'The Banana Room.' Sophie was an aficionado, and great teacher.

Candy Spender Jewels

I started making jewellery out of polyclay, stones, crystals and objet trouvé in 1984 in Adelaide and wanted to expand my field and so moved to Melbourne in 1986.  
My studio grew and by 1989, I had customers like Adele Palmer (Jag), Bettina Liano and Georges.  

Throughout the nineties my fashion jewellery pieces often appeared in mainstream publications, media events as well as on Australian fashion and couture cat-walks.

In 1995, I opened a beautiful store in High Street, Prahran East, where customers, clients and brides would enjoy our bespoke services, and have something styled and made especially, or browse and choose from the ever-changing ranges and one-of-a-kind pieces on display.

In the small manufacturing studio at the back of the store, we were always busy on the benches, creating exclisove ranges pieces we supplied to other exclusive boutiques.

In 2000, at the height of CSJ's wholesale operation, stockists included over thirty exclusive Australian fashion boutiques; International fashion houses such as Browns in London; several galleries in North America, as well as an exclusive fashion boutique in Hong Kong.

Sustainability and more…

In my studio, I always make sure the jewellery is made with quality parts, and designed to suit many occasions and styles so that it will last a long time, and might even become a talisman (special lucky charm)!
Candy Spender jewellery pieces mostly incorporate Swarovski crystal, Czech, Indian, Italian glass; semi-precious as well vintage/antique stones, beads and components. Many of the newer components were exclusively created & designed by myself then cast and plated in Melbourne, Australia.

Painting, drawing and digital printing

Since 2016, my partner Rory and I have been living in the Mornington Peninsula where I have a wonderful studio and have been able to return to my core creative practices, painting and drawing. My love of Lithography, etching and silk-screening has now morphed into digital prints.

I do still make some jewellery. I enjoy 're-treasuring' pieces, combining vintage and antique bits-and-bobs into a sort of 'wabi sabi' sensibility of wearable and unique art.

Astrology and Tarot

My Dutch grandmother was a psychiatrist who added astrology to her work after studying with Carl Jung in the early 1920s. Metaphysics and psychology were part of all our family talks and daily life. This gave me a natural understanding of both Astrology and the human mind, from an early age.

Since my early twenties I have practiced Astrology and Meditation, as part of being on a spiritual path with some remarkable teachers. See more about that side of my work here: EarthHeart.

Sacred Activism

Part of my spiritual practice is what Andrew Harvey calls 'Sacred Activism', and I was instrumental in an environmental campaign to stop AGL from destroying Westernport, near where I live in Crib Point. 

Save Westernport won our campaign in March 2021.