Folly’s Bead Weaver
Jewelry artist Caroline Hatchell celebrates the Harvest Moon with special show
by Miranda Steadman
A Child of the Moon, local jewelry maker Caroline Hatchell says she feels inspired while watching the rise of the full moon over Folly Beach. So it’s appropriate that she’s hosting a special jewelry show during the Harvest Moon on Saturday, Sept. 10 at Lunar Light Botanicals, located at 113 E Ashley Ave. Signifying the end of summer, the Harvest Moon is a time when animals like snakes, deer, rodents, and cats gather to feed on the remnants of the crops harvest.
In honor of this annual event, Hatchell has weaved designs of lunar phases and spirit animals such as snakes and ravens, among other stunning patterns. Her recent work incorporates beads of earth tones, such as rust, olive, sand, and copper.
According to Hatchell, the celebration is to show gratitude for all the seeds that have been sown, both literally and figuratively. After exploring many different jewelry mediums over the years, Hatchell is proud that she has returned to her roots. Her work has evolved greatly since she first began designing jewelry as a teenager.
“No one taught me how to bead weave, it was an intuitive process,” says Hatchell. Three decades later, she has come full circle, back to where her journey began, with traditional bead weaving.
Hatchell’s techniques use a very slow, meditative process so her work is made in small batches, limited quantity, or made to order. Hatchell says she uses the finest glass beads available: Miyuki beads from Japan. Each piece is finished with 0.925 sterling silver or 18-karat gold filled ear wires and findings (jump rings, headpins, crimps, clasps, endcaps and cones, bails, and bead-caps that connect the parts and pieces of handcrafted jewelry).
“I picked up some seed beads at a local craft store … I just started bead weaving, at the time, I was completely unaware that I was intuitively doing a traditional, Native American beading technique,” says Hatchell. “I try to stick to the natural world and my spiritual growth,” says Hatchell. “I feel very strongly about being rooted in nature. People take for granted that Folly is a very delicate and diverse eco-system that deserves to be respected and protected.”
Hatchell, who started a hiking group called Hiking The Lowcountry, finds being in nature very meditative and sees Folly Beach as a healing place full of natural beauty. In alignment with the healing properties of this small barrier island, Hatchell’s beadwork also provides her with a meditative, healing process.
“Each pair, regardless of how complex the design, is the result of hours of my meditation and healing,” says Hatchell, who uses a slow. “If people connect to the things I make, they are connecting to my spiritual path and growth.”
For the Harvest Moon jewelry show on Sept. 10, Hatchell focused on warm, rich fall colors with good contrasts that invoke a comforting and cozy feeling. These contrasting hues include cool blue and warm green against a rich, harvest gold. Her work fuses ancient techniques with modern design. Hatchell draws inspiration for her designs from Native American.
Her art honors the ancient tradition of our ancestors while staying relevant to current culture. Her Boho Collection with brass features traditional bead weaving with a contemporary style. A symbol of her meditation, Hatchell wove a Lotus flower for her Chakra Series in the seven colors of the chakras. She was inspired to weave earrings with a snake design she found that was created by a Ukrainian artist.
The show will be held from 6-9 p.m. in the evening under the harvest moon on the back deck outside of Lunar Light Botanicals, located at 113 E Ashley Ave. “I am a fan of natural, lunar and celestial designs,” Hatchell confessed. She once wove an emulet purse out of beads donning a blue moon design. “Bead weaving is both meditative and creative and very much in tune with my spirit,” says Hatchell, noting that the Harvest Moon is a time to align your intentions, manifest, and reconnect with self-love. It’s a time to have gratitude for the abundance of crops which `we have received from the Earth and to set intentions for the future. For the show, Hatchell invites guests to bring an idea of what they would like to let go of and manifest in this Harvest Moon.
