Autumn Colours in Beading

The colours of Autumn (or Fall) if you’re in the northern hemisphere, are resplendent tones of orange, brown, rust, yellow, red and bronze.

Lush green leaves on trees start to turn at the beginning of April, and by mid June are mostly off the tree and in piles on the ground.

 

Japanese maples are one of my favourite trees to watch transform into these glorious shades, and nature lends itself to a perfect colour palette. The image below of a Japanese maple with orange and hint of yellow is reflected in my piece I designed in 2016, based on a design from Marcia DeCoster’s beaded rings pattern. I gave this one to a friend in a Kris Kringle exchange, knowing these colours were her favourites.

Another beautiful Autumnal foilage is the Elm tree – although the falling leaves make a huge mess everywhere, the large green leaves in beautiful shapes are another inspiration for a leaf patterned design. The pendant necklace shown here, matching this glorious gold American Elm, is also a Marcia DeCoster design, from her book ‘Beads in Motion’. I adapted the rope somewhat on this one, but kept the basic concept of large, open weave leaf shapes, with the connecting lariat adorned with large navette crystal beads looping through the holes. 

And of course, working with metals matches perfectly with the dried leaf in bronze toned Autumn colours. I’ve done a few metal work classes over the years, and the cold connection ones are probably my favourite – no hot flames or melting metal with these. I made this coppery bronzed owl pendant with Robyn Wilson from Deegan Designs at a Bead Society of Victoria retreat way back in 2016.

 

So if you’re thinking that Autumn colours are not for you, then look to the shapes of leaves and other aspects to enhance your beading creativity.