Autumn
Laura Crawford
United States
Sterling Silver, red autumn leaves, silk thread

'This piece was conceived and designed in 2007, following a long walk through a local park. A current resident of Southern California (after growing up in Oregon), I was feeling disconnected from nature when I stumbled onto a row of trees in a park whose leaves had changed colours. It opened my eyes and changed the way I looked at my surroundings. I gathered armfuls of the leaves and took them home and stared at them in my studio until the idea hit to start collaging them into my metalwork. 'Autumn' was actually the first design that I created that incorporated natural materials and helped steer me in the direction that I have taken with my jewellery over the past few years.'