Bones, Crystals, and Blood: BloodrootJewels brings us back to our roots
Nikki Erickson ︎ Edgewater, Colorado
My name is Nikki Erickson and I am the creator behind BloodrootJewels.
I have made art all of my life through various media. The first time I really played around with jewelry making I was 18 - my friend’s dog sniffed out some raccoon bones while we were hanging out. I was immediately interested in the bones. I remember excitedly going home on the bus with a plastic bag full of bones. I cleaned them up and went straight to drilling holes in them and adorning them with stones and other objects I had laying around at the time. From there, BloodrootJewels was born.
I am from the Pacific NorthWest and grew up spending a lot of my time hiking around the forest. As my fascination with bones grew, I found myself searching for them during my usual outdoor activities. I find a lot of joy in recycling these remnants.
What started out as a hobby quickly evolved into a personal belief system. I began to see the process of turning bones into bling as creating a home for these animals to live on through. I felt like I was bringing the dead back to life with my art. I had found my way into a never ending circle.
I began to travel a lot and started running BloodrootJewels from the road. While my search for bones on my adventures continued, I was also pleasantly surprised by all the other inspiring objects laying on the ground. Exploring new areas provided me with fresh inspiration and new media. Diverse terrain quickly became my favorite art supply store.
The style of my jewelry shifts a lot depending on my location. When I lived in the PNW, my work was very earthy, in both colors and material. When I lived in Hawaii, it became watery and whimsical, as I sourced a lot of materials from the ocean.
When I lived in Northern California, I found a lot of driftwood and Abalone on the coast and went through a different sort of watery phase inspired by another part of the ocean.
When I explored the desert, I worked with warm colors and textures.
When I explored cities, I felt a pull toward bolder, more sculptural pieces. These different terrain and media have accumulated into what I do today.
Creating pieces with materials sourced from my surroundings has helped to create a sort of balance or unification between me and my environment. To find inspiration is to find a home. Having the ability to create while I’ve traveled has gifted me many homes. In this way, the pieces I create are reflections of my memories, adventures, the places I’ve been, my past selves, and the person I am becoming.
BloodrootJewels is a space for me to create freely and express myself beyond any limits or expectations.It’s not just a business to me- it’s the sweetest and safest home I’ve ever known, and I’m happy to be here.
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Follow along BloodrootJewels through instagram, or check out what’s available for purchase on etsy.
Published May 18th, 2020
