Artist Profile : Patsy Oxley of Oxalis Jewelart

On the high, dry, and dusty plains of Southeastern Colorado where sage and yucca are sometimes the only natural greenery available for us to enjoy, we learn to value even the smallest efforts of nature to beautify her most forbidding landscapes. It is not uncommon for us to cultivate, as ornamentals, plants that in more temperate areas are considered noxious weeds. So I pamper and treasure my pot of Oxalis, and in return, it rewards me with gorgeous bouquets of dainty pink flowers from its purple foliage. In the humble Oxalis, nature has given us a lesson in art - if we are able to learn it.

Thirty years of design, decoration, illustration, and watercolor have led me to what I have come to call the Oxalis Method, a jewelry designer's philosophy of value. It goes something like this:

"Within every twig and pebble there is a trinket, charm or jewelry component with a story to be told. They are timeless tales of form, color, and texture which, when combined in innovative and tasteful ways, become as ornamental as a pot of lush Oxalis among prairie thistle."

For years I labored at my easel to capture the essence of our arid environment in paint. But from the moment I fashioned my first piece of art from wire and beads - a simple bookmark - I knew that my artistic hunger had found a new dimension. Using precious materials I would be able to offer my artistic expressions to others in ways that painters could not. Making the common uncommon; creating the unusual from the usual. That is the Oxalis artform.

Many Oxalis pieces are designed around a natural sepal, petal, twig, seedpod, or leaf native to Colorado. These specimens are converted to fine silver and combined with other metals and individually selected crystals and stones. This process seeks to achieve the dual purpose of expressing both the taste of the person wearing it and evoking the magic of the "Oxalis effect" on those who admire it.

Symmetry and perfection play only supporting roles in these stories. More important are the values of balance, contradiction, and understatement. It is the art of nature not to conform, or to imitate, but to be original, authentic, and genuine. Look for the uniqueness in each Oxalis creation. Explore its individuality. And if you find that it evokes in you that sense of the ordinary made extraordinary, then you will also be rewarded with a timeless bouquet.