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An Artistic Alchemy: Painting Jewels with Polina Bright
I’ve always believed that the most captivating stories in jewellery are told not just through stones and metal, but through emotion and artistry. That’s why I was so keen to collaborate with the immensely talented watercolour painter, Polina Bright, whom I have followed on Instagram for several years. Based in Sydney but with her artistic soul rooted in Moscow, Polina’s work celebrates the profound connection between women, nature and inner beauty with a delicate, ethereal touch. I wondered, what would happen if we added jewellery to the mix? Read on to find out.
Polina’s @polinabright Instagram feed is a wondrous world where birds, blooms and feminine portraits seem to float on a whisper of watercolour. So, I decided to give the artist a bit of a challenge and a new source of inspiration, because when we merge different art forms, something magical happens!
I asked Polina to have a glimpse into my world of jewellery through her artist’s eyes, with no technical constraints, just pure creative freedom. She took a few weeks to consider my offer, when suddenly a half-finished portrait of me wearing gorgeous earrings landed in my inbox. “I drew it in one go, without any special preparation. I looked at several of your videos and felt the love you feel for jewellery, so the rest followed naturally,” shared the artist with me on our first Zoom call. The result truly touched my heart, not only for its beauty but also for the purity of emotion and the exchange of good energy and positive vibes. “I have never seen anyone talking about jewellery the way you do. The way you speak about stones shows how passionate you are about them and how much you love them, it just brought me so much joy,” shared Polina. She was so enchanted by the beauty of the gems on my Instagram, and my love for them, that she envisioned a one-of-a-kind painting of a bespoke earring design. It is rich with symbolism, personal history and stunning gemstone colours. It also resonated deeply with me because it featured two gemstones I love: rubellite and Paraiba tourmaline.
The one-of-a-kind painting of a bespoke earring design created as part of a collaboration between watercolour artist Polina Bright and Katerina Perez
Now you might think, why did this jewellery challenge fascinate Polina, an artist who is already very busy with painting, private orders and managing her 1.7M social media following? The answer to this question can be found in our conversation below. We also discuss Polina’s journey from geography to galleries, her fascination with minerals and rediscovery of painting, and the beautiful narrative woven into every brushstroke of our collaboration.
Katerina Perez: Let’s start at the beginning. You studied geography at a university in Russia. How does a geographer become a celebrated watercolour painter?
Polina Bright: It’s quite a journey! I studied geography for four years – my mother’s choice – and while I learned a lot about minerals and landscapes, which I love, my true self was always longing for art. I painted as a child and for two years went to art school but stopped for nearly 15 years. It was only when I moved to Australia, away from expectations, that I rediscovered my love for drawing. I am self-taught and started with small watercolour landscapes for my family, and it grew from there. My husband inspired me to try watercolour, a medium I’d always found intimidating, and suddenly, I understood it. It became my flow, and now it’s been nine years since I started practising it.
Watercolour artist Polina Bright, who has more than 1.6 million followers on Instagram
KP: That’s a powerful testament to listening to your inner voice. Now, your art explores feminine beauty and connection with nature. How did you develop this signature style?
PB: It evolved naturally. I began posting my work on social media in 2016. The immediate, positive feedback, especially from women, showed how my art resonated with their emotions. That acted as a guide for me, encouraging me to deepen collections like ‘Blind Folded’, which is about inner beauty, and ‘My Power Over You’, which considers daily feminine emotions. My audience’s stories became my compass, but I learned to follow my own heart first.
KP: Which leads us to our collaboration! I gave you a simple brief: to create a jewellery design inspired by your artistry. What was your starting point?
PB: Your idea instantly reconnected me with my first love from geography: minerals. I have visited the Altai and Elbrus Mountains in Russia, as well as climbed many other mountains, and I adore them. Before our collaboration, I hadn’t painted stones in years! I wanted to create something that held personal symbolism, something that you see across my work already, but also add a new element to it: gemstones.
KP: So, what did you embellish the earrings with?
PB: The central stone is a ruby [Polina loves this gem, but I saw a rubellite in it] for its deep, wine-like magenta – a colour of passion. It’s surrounded by gold and little sapphires in orange and yellow. A pearl at the bottom adds balance and calm, with a green sapphire as a final anchor point.
Polina Bright presents a unique earring design in the medium of watercolour, featuring an oval-shaped rubellite, pearl, green sapphire and Paraiba tourmaline
KP: And what about the figurative elements – those are the symbols that I regularly see in your paintings, right?
PB: Yes, indeed! I included a moon, for my love of the night sky, and a swallow, a symbol of freedom and grace. The bird carries a heart made from a Paraiba tourmaline. First, I envisioned an aquamarine, but eventually I fell for that electric blue of a Paraiba – such a rare and intense colour.
KP: Every element is so thoughtful. What I find fascinating is how your design breaks conventional jewellery norms. The swallow is holding the earring hook, and the rest of the elements are connected but seem to be floating and are wonderfully free. As a non-jewellery designer, how did you approach the balance and composition?
PB: I started by trying to capture the depth and light of the stones on paper, doing many sketches. For the portrait of you, I watched your videos to capture your true expression – not a posed one, but the thoughtful, genuine look you have when you’re just being yourself. The rest was intuition. I balanced the vibrant colours so they wouldn’t overpower, letting the ruby be the focal point. It felt like a natural flow.
Based in Sydney, Australia, Polina Bright captures the beauty of gemstones through watercolour painting as part of a collaboration with Katerina Perez
KP: It’s that “real” expression you captured that I love. It’s me dreaming about jewels! Speaking of which, the Paraiba tourmaline is very special to me – I even co-wrote a book about it. You didn’t know that and chose it instinctively for its colour, which makes it even more meaningful. Can you describe your typical creative process?
PB: Inspiration comes from travel, nature and mineral museums. Sometimes I sketch; other times, I start directly on the canvas. For this piece, I began with the stones, then the portrait emerged around them. It’s about capturing a feeling first.
KP: You’ve also worked with jewellery brands before, in the UAE. How does this personal project differ?
PB: Those were beautiful commercial collaborations. This felt different – more intimate. It was a return to my roots in mineralogy, blended with my artistic symbols. It was an absolute joy – a project undertaken purely for the love of creation.
KP: That’s the heart of it. In a world filled with AI-generated imagery, why do you think hand-painted, human-centric art remains so vital?
PB: Because it carries emotion and a piece of the artist’s soul. People connect to the story, the imperfection, the feeling. It’s about human connection.
This diamond-set half moon detail forms part of an imaginary earring design envisioned by artist Polina Bright
Artwork by Polina Bright showcasing a pair of asymmetric celestial-inspired earrings
Beautiful watercolour artwork by Polina Bright spotlighting an otherworldly pair of earrings
Coloured gemstone earrings in a watercolour painting by Polina Bright
Jewellery details in a watercolour painting by Polina Bright
Based in Sydney, Polina Bright creates watercolour artworks that have proved a hit on social media
Celestial-inspired earrings play a role in this watercolour portrait by artist Polina Bright
Discover more of Polina Bright’s enchanting world on her Instagram @polinabright and her website polinabright.com, where you can purchase Polina’s art or commission something unique to you.
WORDS
Katerina Perez is a jewellery insider, journalist and brand consultant with more than 15 years’ experience in the jewellery sector. Paris-based, Katerina has worked as a freelance journalist and content editor since 2011, writing articles for international publications. To share her jewellery knowledge and expertise, Katerina founded this website and launched her @katerina_perez Instagram in 2013.
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