Marie-Juliette Bird, like nature and the wild creatures that inspire her jewelry designs, music and video efforts, isn't an easy one to pin down.

Her fine jewelry collection of moons, stars and bird motifs comes from the Victorian charms she found while haunting antique stores and flea markets in London. She lived there a few years back and taught piano to pay the bills while working on music projects.

The music video for her song "Broken Wings" has images of fire that recalled her experience of having to evacuate her Boulder home in the summer of 2012. Work on her latest single, "Black Crow," was underway as the city was deluged with rains and subsequent flooding earlier this fall.

Marie-Juliette Bird
Marie-Juliette Bird (Courtesy of Marie-Juliette Bird)

Bird tries not to think of herself as a harbinger of trouble, but there's something both alluring and haunting about her. She has long dark hair and delicate skin and features. Her soft singing voice has an ethereal, dreamlike quality.

She grew up in Boulder and studied dance at Juilliard before an injury ended any thoughts of making that a career. Bird says the dance world left her disillusioned anyway, with its emphasis on physical perfection. She had other artistic endeavors to pursue.

Hence the move to London, forays into music and the fun of discovering and collecting nature-inspired vintage jewelry. With the help of friends and mentors such as master jeweler David Courts, she began reinterpreting jewelry to her modern tastes.


Using lost-wax casting, Bird designed delicate pieces of jewelry in white, yellow or rose gold or antique plating. Little diamonds dot the slender necklaces, drop earrings and rings in the Blackbird and the Snow jewelry line, which she started last year.

"I had to fail and start over many times; it took a long time to get it right," she said. "The chains look delicate, but they're actually very strong."

Bird now sells her pieces at such stores as Max and Willow in Boulder, Super Ordinary and Victoriana in Denver and Blue Tree in New York City.

Suzanne S. Brown: 303-954-1697, sbrown@ or

Jewelry show

Marie-Juliette Bird will show her jewelry line from 4 to 7 p.m. Nov. 7 at Willow, 2595 Canyon Blvd. in Boulder and in Denver Nov. 8 at Victoriana (the line will also be at the store Nov. 9); 1417 Larimer St. 303-573-5049;