I wake, pack my rucksack and head out at dawn. My jeep rattles along mud tracks and through puddles of water that lie on the ground like mirrors. Morning mist winds around tree trunks, insects call out in a thousand musical voices, and multicoloured spiders craft intricate silver webs. I pull over and take photos, envisaging a collection of bracelets that allow the wearer to feel a connection with this place – and with their ancient self who once called a place like this home. Then I continue on, deeper into the forest, where dappled sunlight gilds the great green leaves – Monstera, banana, orchid – as they dip towards the earthy track. More visions, this time of delicate gold-en earrings that replicate nature’s works of art.

As the sun rises high in the sky, condensation begins to drip off every surface. I have lost all sense of time. When I next stop and climb out of the jeep, I sense movement close by. From the shadows, a monkey approaches on all fours – tentative, curious – and looks me right in the eye with an intensity that touches my soul. It’s a poignant reminder of who I am as a human being, where I came from, and the wider world to which I belong. This is the Sinharaja Forest: a living, breathing monument of nature in the heart of Sri Lanka and my inspiration for the Exotica Bamboo collection.