Capturing Color

Remember when you were a kid and you brought home all the pretty leaves you collected on your walk?

I still do that every fall. I am still as fascinated by the changing colors as I was when I was  a child.

Technically as the days grow shorter the chlorophyll disappears from the leaves and the Carotenoids and Anthocyanins are left giving the vibrant hues of Autumn.

Although I know the science behind the phenomenon, it makes it no less magical when for a few sort weeks,  the days are surrounded by golden light and  the leaves of the trees come falling down like confetti.

As quickly as it comes, it disappears and leaves us with wet and cold  grey days.
I have tried tried to capture these fleeting moments of color in a necklace. Something that would bring me back to to that tranquil  feeling of a crisp autumn afternoon where the sunlight sparkles  through the colors and earth is covered in delicate leaves bursting with reds and pinks and oranges and yellows and you can smell the last breezes of summer as they drift by forever.

I went through my  stash of beads without a plan, other then to pick out colors that echoed the world outside at that moment.  I looked for all the colors and shades that I saw in my neighborhood.

I picked out many different  materials. There is old cherry amber  resin  beads that I have had for over 20 years, pink coral donuts, tigereye, jade, Czech glass, and carnelian tossed in along with my handmade ceramic beads.

I think I captured the colors well enough to savor the autumn well into the cold dark winter days.
I hope this necklace brings a moment of serenity to someone as they touch it, put it around their neck  and think back to golden autumn afternoons.

Diane Hawkey creates and blogs from her Detroit area home .

You can visit her ETSY store and website, or read more of her ramblings on her blog.