Self-taught bead jewelry maker Leslie Emerson has been making beaded jewelry and creating bead embroidery art for more than 35 years. She incorporates contemporary, vintage, antique, and ancient elements in beadwork and beaded jewelry.
Emerson makes earrings, necklaces, and bracelets. She says, “The beads are fascinating, and the history of beads and beadwork is amazing. My beadwork is eclectic, I suppose. I rarely create two pieces of jewelry that are alike. I love sitting and experimenting with different tactile treasures to combine them to make something someone else loves as much as I do, something enchanting, whimsical, elegant, or even wild!”
Emerson finds inspiration in nature, science, language, culture, and work by other artists. Working with beads wasn’t something she was driven to do from a young age, but rather “drifted happily into it.”
Emerson grew up in a multigenerational family of artists. Her sister, a historian and genealogy expert by profession, has traced artists in each generation on their mother’s side as far back as the 1500s.
Jewelry is something Emerson always loved. When she was a young girl, she and her friends made “Daisy Chains,” a few simple beaded pieces. She also spent time at her grandparents’ home where both her grandmother and grandfather had hobby home studios.
“My grandmother painted and worked with clay. My grandfather, a ‘rock hound,’ made sterling jewelry with turquoise and coral; beautiful pieces that I and my family members still wear with pride after all these years,” shares Emerson.
After fixing one of her favorite broken beaded jewelry pieces, not only was she hooked but people were asking her to make pieces for them. “That was almost 40 years ago, and I’ve been making and selling my jewelry in galleries, fine boutiques, and art shows ever since,” says Emerson.
But Emerson isn’t only a jewelry maker. She’s also a bead embroidery artist. “It is laborious, but it is my love. My art brings me such fulfillment.”
She states that making two pieces identical “would be boring and ruin the spontaneous pleasure of creating. I can’t say I have gone through ‘trends.’ I tend to do my own thing. But I do believe my design capabilities have evolved and improved over the years,” and she hopes they continue to do so.
Emerson worked primarily out of home studios since she began creating, including a studio space at Tumbleweed Art Collective (TAC) in Longmont and a home studio filled with beads and decorated with artwork created by friends and other artists she admires. “Both studios are escapes for me, and I love to spend time in either place.”
Emerson plans to remain flexible with her art, saying, “I think artists by nature always are looking to the future, to the next thing we want to attempt. I’ve learned that being flexible leads you down roads or pathways you might never have expected to explore.”
Meeting people from near and far and spending time in a beautiful environment are also parts of what Emerson enjoys. “How lucky am I?!”
Leslie Emerson’s beaded artwork is displayed at The Old Gallery in Allenspark. For more information, you can email Emerson at beadsareme@gmail.com or give her a call at 970-227-6317.
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