Irene Wood plays with color and size to evoke nature with her jewelry

Leschi-based jewelry designer Irene Wood lists a childhood box of Crayola crayons as her inspiration for her light, vibrant jewelry. "I'm obsessed with color," says the designer, who specializes in uniting natural stones in well-edited color combinations. 

Wood's handmade, one-of-a-kind designs often feature semiprecious stones. Richly colored faceted stones -- like a bright, sea green chrysophase or a milky orange piece of chalcedony -- are her favorite materials to work with. She pairs these stones with silver, gold and brass settings to create earrings ($20-$55) and necklaces ($25-$70) that call to mind natural elements.

Wood is inspired by the vibrancy of nature and often emulates trees and the sea in her jewelry. At her hands, the deep, saturated green of dyed jade paired with the rich orange of carnelian can instantly hearken to the sea floor rich with live coral.

Wood earned a bachelor's degree in studio art from Walla Walla's Whitman College and locally shows her paintings -- large scale, dreamlike landscapes -- at Caffe Ladro and Caffe Vita coffeehouses as well as at the Robert Daniel Gallery in Tacoma. Though she approaches an empty canvas in a similar way she does a new necklace, her paintings are very time-consuming and Wood loves that she can be prolific with jewelry, go with her senses and indulge in the "glee" she feels in creating something beautiful. 

Wood wears big jewelry -- sporting inch-and-a-half-long watermelon-colored earrings while we spoke recently -- but she understands that every woman has her own aesthetic. Her designs range from dainty pieces to brave, bigger jewelry and though her more conservative pieces look good on most, Wood encourages women to push their boundaries with her bolder designs. "I always tell them 'you'll never turn back,'" she says.

This summer, Wood opened a booth at the Fremont Sunday Market, an endeavor she's wanted to take on since her jewelry debuted in local boutiques four years ago. She loves the atmosphere that "feels like an ancient market" and is thrilled to personally meet clients while offering between 300 and 400 pieces at wholesale prices ($15 earrings and $25-$60 necklaces) each week. Wood offers deeply discounted prices at the open-air market because she wants everyone visiting her booth to buy something.  "You should have earrings if you want them," she laughs.

This fall, Wood is designing with a small collection of differently colored pieces of mother-of-pearl. The small pearls have an opalescent finish that perfectly contrasts with stones like jade and agate. Look for these limited-run, unique creations when you seek out Wood's designs this season. 

Wood's jewelry is avaliable at available at Downtown's Liave, the Fremont Sunday Market and online at her etsy site, Crow's Catch.

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