This post is about the inspiration to the products. The beginning, the process and how I work:  

Connect with nature is the basis of all my collections. Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, connecting with nature also took on an additional meaning for myself, particularly in relation to my more recent collections. While difficult at first, the pandemic forced me, like many others, to slow down. Initially I was forced to reconnect with the basics of life, and eventually, I began to consciously reconnect and tap into the basics of life, finding myself freshly inspired by nature. Turning outward to nature became a way to recognize forms in their simplest state. 

With quarantine strictly enforced during the height of COVID-19, I came to Sag Harbor, a village in the Hamptons. Our house has a garden with tall oaks and many luscious ferns. Rather than getting caught up in many of the day-to-day responsibilities of being productive, I had the chance to reflect on the landscape around me, especially the majesty and mystique of the tall oaks and other trees with their deep roots. The Wrap, Shell, Butterfly, Chrysalis, and Bloom Collections are the physical byproducts of that period of reflection. 

Being in quiet and still Sag Harbor created the ambiance I needed to reconnect with my past, growing up in the mountains, and the pastoral beauty of the Hamptons. Conversations on the beach with my son about the many forms found in nature led to us designing together for hours. He helped me with the forms of my collections, symbolic of our familial relationship rooted in mother nature. Together, we transformed our observations of nature into physical forms.  

Each collection is connected in its inspiration, and is named after different stages of nature’s progression. The products together refer to the story of nature and life changing in forms to reach its full potential. 

The Wrap Collection is inspired by the very environment that butterflies thrive in: vines and ferns. Like the chrysalis that has to survive unpredictable weather, predators, and many other obstacles to become a butterfly, vines are lithe and hardy. They’re symbols of determination and strength, and like the dynamism of the Wrap Collection, reminds the wearer to branch out to explore and grow. Discussing vines inevitably means discussing ferns as they usually grow together with ferns representing eternal youth; it’s a visual memento that we stay young by continuously branching out.  

In a similar vein, The Bloom Collection is bold and colorful, symbolic of new life and beginnings. With rings that look like flowers, evocative of the spring, the spiral design also shows how nature is constantly in motion. Especially when flowers are in bloom, their beauty is prized and admired because of their temporal nature. The appeal of this collection’s freshness is the evergreen symbolism of the Bloom Collection as well, since cultures throughout the world associate flowers with fertility and femininity.

Just as every flower must be a seed before it can realize its full beauty, the Crysalis Collection is a modern and intricate bracelet. It’s clean complexity alludes to the many layers of the cocoon and overall process that creates the butterfly: from egg to larvae to caterpillar to chrysalis. The Crysalis Collection stands strongly on its own, but is clearly a segue into the Butterfly Collection’s simple and almost symmetrical bracelet and ring.

Almost universal symbols of positive transformation and hope, butterflies are fluttering masterpieces. Likewise, the Butterfly Collection’s beauty comes from its clear resemblance to, and inspiration from the butterfly’s form. Whether around your wrist or finger, the Butterfly Collection’s pieces are rife with meaning and grace.