When Mason started creating jewellery in the mid 1970’s, he did so intending to earn his living this way. He never saw himself as a jeweller, rather as a maker of objects. His father had been an engineer, and like him Mason developed an affinity for machinery. An innate artistic sensibility, an appetite for reading and an interest in Zen Buddhism led to an exploration of Japanese culture, aesthetics and attitudes to materials which influenced him over a decade.

He soon developed a reputation for superb craftsmanship in wood, bone, shell and metal, and incorporated precious resources like ebony, hardwoods, jade and precious stones.

After decades of focusing on larger forms in stone and bronze that explored his interest in the vessel, Mason’s practice has led him back to the jewellery. Despite this, his love of material, in particular stone is ever apparent.

Mason’s talent has been acknowledged in many way including Crafts Council grants to teach in India in 1979. He taught at Elam School of Fine Art in the early 1980’s, and in 1985 was appointed cultural ambassador by the New Zealand government. He has received several QEII Arts Council grants and many commissions, and has exhibited widely, nationally and internationally.  In 1998 he was nominated for the prestigious Seppelt Contemporary Art Award in Australia.