Boston Common - Niche Media - A side of Boston that's anything but common.
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photography by Jim Webber Barbara's Cuff Bracelet ($2,499). Leather, PearLs, Love Brookline's BarBara Jelleme creates one- of-a-kind pieces to Be stacked, treasured, and worn forever. by lisa pierpont Artist Barbara Jelleme calls her jewelry her "love child." She named the collection Suley, an Anglo-Norman surname that means spiritually intense. The same could be said of Jelleme, who works in her light-filled Brookline studio with chanting melodies playing in the background. "My jewelry should be worn like jeans," she says. "It should become a part of you, absorbing the oils from your skin and your energy. You can surf, do yoga, or garden—the pieces will get better." Her just-launched unisex bracelets and necklaces are created out of leather and strung with Tahitian pearls, lava diamonds, prehistoric bone, and ancient prayer beads. No two pieces are the same. While she started as a macramé artist for fashion designer Mary McFadden, Jelleme enjoyed stints as a model (with Linda Evangelista, among others) and as a stylist for Bergdorf Goodman. Having come full circle to handcrafting jewelry, she says her current role feels the most natural of all: "Spirituality, design, nature, and a desire to give something beautiful to the planet just came together." Ten percent of all sales proceeds goes to Every Mother Counts (everymothercounts.org), a nonprofit organization founded by supermodel Christy Turlington that promotes safe pregnancy and childbirth around the world. suleyjewelry.com BC 119 bostoncommon-magazine.com the guide the Best of Boston