Walker Goldsmiths have over the years created quite a menagerie of ½ inch wide bracelets that because of the constraints of space are indeed small bracelets to delight the eye and excite the mind. It is difficult to confine the personality of magical creatures into a 1/2 inch strip of design space, but the results are often delightful and exciting! Even the designer is sometimes surprised. I don’t often think of them as little gems because I make so many of them that I rarely give them a second thought, but they really are very delightful. When we first started our business every design had a name that described the bracelet and the action that is happening on it. Looking back at our old documents is fun because of the names.
small Orca bracelet
The bears: Little Bear, Bold Bear, Sea Bear, Young bear, Big Bear, and Bear Cub. The Hummingbirds: Little Sipper, Sweet Hummer, Joyful Hummingbird, and Little Hummingbird. Then there are the usual Northwest Coast Culture birds Raven, Eagle and Thunderbird in all their many incarnations, and the Lovebirds, Flickers, Loons, and Kingfishers. Then the Frogs, Salmon, Orcas, Dogfish, Octopi and Wolves, with adjectives like diving, jumping, flying, large, small, Timber, alpha, all having something to do with the personality of the subject or the bracelet.
Small Sockeye Salmon Bracelet
I have often been asked why I capitalize the names of the animals that are the subjects of my designs. The answer is that they are not just animals. They are illustrations of ancient stories in which the animals have personalities and attributes that are not visible to those who think of them as “just animals”. They have attributes that put them in the spiritual realm, including the powers of speech and transformation of physical forms. Each small bracelet is an illustration of an ancient story or commemorates an event or experience.
Small Thunderbird Bracelet
Small bear bracelet
