Alpine Meadow Bracelet
Summer Jewelry - Inspired by Nature and Memories
The Inspiration
Nature is often the inspiration for my summer jewelry creations. And summer in Colorado offers a lot of wonderful terrain to inspire my work.
I am fortunate to have camped, hiked, fished and explored some of the most beautiful places in Colorado. However, my favorite places are the high mountain meadows in mid- to late- summer. That’s where the wildflowers burst into bloom against the lush green grasses. They are spectacular!
One of these beautiful meadows is Lead King Basin near Marble, Colorado. It is part of the West Elm Loop Scenic Byway, which covers 204 miles of two-lane roads (paved & unpaved) through rural Colorado.
But the inspiration for my Alpine Meadow bracelet is the meadow at the base of Mt. Crested Butte near the town of Crested Butte, Colorado. Click here to see it for yourself on the cover of the July/August 2020 Colorado Life magazine. By the way, this magazine is awesome, and I highly recommend it if you are interested in exploring the sights, sounds, and great food in Colorado!
The Creation
I started the bracelet by making a beaded chain in the same fashion as my Everyday Bracelets. The simple chain of peridot green Swarovski crystals on 14K rose gold filled wire became the base for the wildflower meadow.
To create the explosion of colors of the meadow, I chose bright yellow and tiny blue pressed Czech glass flower beads. I collected additional Czech glass beads in the vivid colors of the wildflowers and wild grasses to fill out the bracelet.
The random pattern of the beads was planned, as wildflowers are just that – wild. And landscapes are rarely orderly. So, I added darker colors here and there to suggest shaded areas. Then I used more subtle colors near the clasp to resemble the muted shades in the distance.
Making this bracelet allowed me to “paint” a favorite memory. This one-of-a-kind bracelet will be available during my Featured Artist Month at The Artists’ Gallery in Canon City, Colorado during August 2022.
