Its time to pull out the gorgeous, rich, autumn colored in gemstones and glass beads. Shades of honey and amber, russet and pumpkin, wine and maroon, hunter and forest green. And every shade of brown imaginable, from chocolate to black coffee. In gemstones, make sure you include jaspers & agates, citrine, carnelian, African brown rhyolite, hematite, obsidian, aventurine, malachite, olivine, tourmaline, serpentine, jasper, unakite.
And of course, the must-have metals of the season: copper, bronze, silver, gold. Metals are essential to this earth-based season. Autumn-inspired beadwork should give off a burnished glow, so weave radiant gold and/or warm bronze into every palette. The sheen of copper beautifully augments autumnal greens and blues.
But wait… there’s an important color missing. A color everyone overlooks in this season that can make any autumn palette absolutely divine… turquoise!
Yes, turquoise, that hue somewhere between blue and green, and slightly darkened (especially the color of the stone itself, with its charcoal grey matrix).
Yes, turquoise, that sublime hue that looks good on every skin tone. (Skin with yellow-based undertones works better with bluer turquoise with less green in its composition.)
Yes, turquoise, that delightful hue that finds its way into every seasonal palette with only slight shifts. (In seasonal color analysis one’s subjective colors correspond to the colors of nature’s seasons: I explain this in detail in The Beader’s Guide to Color.)
Those with winter leanings (lovers of high contrast and saturation such as myself) love a pure turquoise. Those of the spring season love it pure and bright. Those of summer like turquoise gently tinted. And those of the autumn season love it in any variation.
So don’t forget the turquoise – the stone of the color – in your autumn creations. It will heighten the drama, the contrast, and the beauty of your beadwork.
Autumn palettes are gorgeous...

Autumn palettes are gorgeous...

Its time to pull out the gorgeous, rich, autumn colored in gemstones and glass beads. Shades of honey and amber, russet and pumpkin, wine and maroon, hunter and forest green. And every shade of brown imaginable, from chocolate to black coffee. In gemstones, make sure you include jaspers & agates, citrine, carnelian, African brown rhyolite, hematite, obsidian, aventurine, malachite, olivine, tourmaline, serpentine, jasper, unakite.

And of course, the must-have metals of the season: copper, bronze, silver, gold. Metals are essential to this earth-based season. Autumn-inspired beadwork should give off a burnished glow, so weave radiant gold and/or warm bronze into every palette. The sheen of copper beautifully augments autumnal greens and blues.

But wait… there’s an important color missing. A color everyone overlooks in this season that can make any autumn palette absolutely divine… turquoise!

... the addition of turquoise makes them divine!

... the addition of turquoise makes them divine!

Yes, turquoise, that hue somewhere between blue and green, and slightly darkened (especially the color of the stone itself, with its charcoal grey matrix).

Yes, turquoise, that sublime hue that looks good on every skin tone. (Skin with yellow-based undertones works better with bluer turquoise with less green in its composition.)

Yes, turquoise, that delightful hue that finds its way into every seasonal palette with only slight shifts. (In seasonal color analysis one’s subjective colors correspond to the colors of nature’s seasons: I explain this in detail in The Beader’s Guide to Color.)

Those with winter leanings (lovers of high contrast and saturation such as myself) love a pure turquoise. Those of the spring season love it pure and bright. Those of summer like turquoise gently tinted. And those of the autumn season love it in any variation.

So don’t forget the turquoise – the stone or the color – in your autumn creations. It will heighten the drama, the contrast, and the beauty of your beadwork.