Wearable Art
In Sterling Silver and Gold
I love making jewelry and I love wearing it. As with all of the art I create, my goal is always to create something that appeals to contemporary people, and at the same time, represents something special about my Columbia River Native American heritage.
Like me, my ancestors loved to wear jewelry, as well as other forms of "wearable art" including beaded belts, beaded bags, moccasins, pendants and other things that could be worn. For them, jewelry, and other forms of wearable art, were signs of distinction ... just like it is today — and the more of it that someone wore, the more distinguished the person was.
Much of the Traditional Art Was Wearable
Historically, Native American people of the Columbia River region accumulated few possessions that could not be easily transported. That's because their lifestyles required that they follow the seasons to acquire their food.
In the spring they would be fishing for Salmon along the Columbia River, in the summer they would be up in the mountains hunting and gathering berries, and in the fall they would be in the plateau areas digging for roots. It made sense then, that they could carry their art with them ... and so it was that wearable art, was a very popular and practical form of art.
The Focus of Lillian's Jewelry
As with all of Lillian's art, her jewelry is a contemporary interpretation of traditional Native American Arts of the region. Her goal, always, is to study the art of her ancestors, and to recreate it in ways that would appeal to contemporary people.
Jewelry in Gold and Silver
All of Lillian's designs are available in both gold and silver, and are sold in the various galleries and museum gift stores that carry her works. Rings that are part of Lillian's existing designs are custom fit to each person. Rings and other jewelry can also be custom designed.
Slide Control Bar
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Indian Rock Art
Native American people of the Columbia River region created thousands of images on the basalt cliffs overlooking the Columbia River and its tributaries, for a period of time that spans thousands of years. The images are most often of humans, spirit figures and animals that were prevalent at the time the images were created.
There are two types of rock art—petroglyphs and
pictographs. Petroglyphs are rock carvings made
by a variety of techniques, primarily pecking, whereas
pictographs are rock paintings made from pigments derived
from various minerals. 
Shown here is an example of a ring Lillian designed based on a pictograph of a snake. In the background is a photo of the actual pictograph from which the ring was based.
Snake images appear in rock art sites throughout the Columbia River region.