Have you ever wondered how we create our in-house designs of Maison Mariann jewelry or curate a collection by our master jewelers? We're starting a new series called Moodboard to share what we're immersing ourselves in during the creative process. This week's inspo: Nature.
We've shared several posts that talk about some of the shared history of Maison Mariann's founders' chosen homes of Mobile, Alabama and New Orleans, Louisiana. History (and a certain pair of besties) isn't the only thing the two cities share. Both the architectural and the natural landscapes are also quite similar in a variety of ways. The Spanish and French architecture is a huge inspiration for us, but today we're leaning into the Gulf Coast's natural splendor. Specifically its wealth of ancient oak trees.
Mobile has its 300-year-old Duffie Oak in Midtown, as well as the approximately 175-year-old trees on the scenic Avenue of the Oaks at Springhill College (where Stacy is an entrepreneurship professor). In New Orleans, the positively massive Tree of Life at Audubon Park (pictured) is dated between 300-500 years old, whereas at City Park Conservancy it's believed that the Historic Oak Grove is one of the oldest groves of registered live oaks in the world.
Melanie — a tried and true forest girlie — has been an avid hiker since an outdoorsy childhood spent in Kentucky hiking the woods with family on her grandparent's farm, Natural Bridge State Park, Bison Trace at Big Bone Lick and, as an adult, traversing landscapes all over Ohio, Tennessee, Texas, Oregon, Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama and North Carolina (so far). Having always been more of a beach girlie, Stacy didn't grow up hiking, but a few years set a personal goal to tackle the Make a Wish America Alabama's Trailblaze Challenge, a 26.3-mile trek through the Talladega National Forest in Alabama. Despite a harrowing fall and injury on the first go, Stacy got back up on the horse — er, trail — returning the following year to complete the full hike. Talk about tenacity! To Melanie's delight, Stacy learned to love hiking and these days it's not unusual for the pair to venture out together to clock a few miles on a trail.
Our individual and shared connections to Mother Nature are what inspired Maison Mariann's Celebrate Nature Collection's Branching Out necklace, ring and earrings.
We'll continue to add to the collection with charms and other flora- and fauna-inspired pieces, but it all started with the Branching Out Collection in homage majestic historic oaks in our home cities, which are a constant reminder to remain rooted, embrace growth and — no matter the weather or other outside forces — to stay strong.
Note: Here's the full Moodboard, since it's a little cut off in the main image at the top of the post:
