Elise, the creator of Agua del Rio, divides her time between Paris and the foothills of Tayrona National Park, in Colombia’s Caribbean Sierra Nevada.

​

It was along the banks of the Río Piedras that she learned the art of weaving mostacilla beads. She creates her own designs. Some are respectfully inspired by Indigenous traditions, while others draw inspiration from the silhouettes of waterfalls and mountains at whose feet she lives.

​

The colors, too, are drawn from the surrounding landscapes: the turquoise sea after a storm, the deep brown bark of mango trees in the rain, the countless shades of blue and green in the heart of the jungle, and above all, the golden waters of the river as the sun sets above it.