Philosophy

The art of creating lasting jewelry is complex. For the designer so many ways to get inspired from, for the person who will decide to adorn its body with a jewel so many choices, so how to link both? The answer probably lies in the story.

Someone might look at a jewel and first be drawn to the vibrant color of a stone, or to the unique components and imagery, but it is the story behind the jewel's creation and how that story relates to the wearer that will make the connection.

Nathalie Leseine has spent many years leaving in France, Spain, the United States, has traveled extensively in the South Pacific staying in French Polynesia for several months each year, explored New Caledonia, the Cook Islands, studied in Taipei for 3 months, spent time in China. During all that time she absorbed the different Art forms of each culture.

In France she was inspired by impressionist paintings with their unusual visual angles, sense of movement and softness. She admired Augustin Rodin, the progenitor of modern sculpture. She was dazzled by Boucheron and Cartier refined jewels, and René Lalique's Art Nouveau sensual jewelry. She was captivated by the intricate iron geometric architecture, most notably that of the famed Eiffel Tower.

In Spain she experienced mostly the prevalent gothic architecture, admired Picasso's paintings whether he worked in a cubist, neo-classical, or tribal-art-influenced vein. She was mesmerized with The Alhambra's Moorish palaces poets described as "a pearl set in emeralds", in allusion to the color of its buildings and the woods around.

In China, she admired the intensity of the visual art. She fell in love with calligraphy. She was in awe by the jade culture. She recalls the sculpture of two monkeys shown presenting a peach inspired by the folk legend of an impish stone monkey who came to life and brazenly stole the peaches of immortality from the ruler of heaven, the "Jade Emperor." As the monkey explained, "Nothing could content me but to live in the Green Jade Heaven!" The strong representation of Nature and the animal kingdom in paintings, sculptures, jewelry stroke a cord with her and she was impressed by the usage of strong cultural symbols.

In the South Pacific, mostly in Tahiti, Nathalie explored and studied the traditional Arts rich with amazing sculptors from the Marquesas Islands, primitive painters like Paul Gauguin, weavers of traditional Polynesian dance costumes, and jewelers who have the privilege to design with the most beautiful pearl in the world; the Tahitian black pearl.

In America, Nathalie discovered abstract expressionism. Franz Josef Kline work such as his 'Painting Number 2, 1954 caught her eye as she could see the influence of Japanese calligraphy. She was touched by Ansel Adams' photography of nature. She admired the philosophy behind Frank Lloyd Wright's organic architecture, which was to create structures in harmony with humanity and its environment.

Nathalie, via Atelier Leseine, wants to transcend that feeling of being multi-cultural by designing jewelry of the highest quality, multilayered, and inspired by stories of her experiences with all these cultures. Atelier Leseine's philosophy aspires to adorn women who love what the world and its diverse artistic cultures have to offer.