Friday, October 3, 2008

Transformation and Life Cycles


I'm very influenced by what I read and what I watch. Movies especially, they influence what I think about and the visual images I see.

The pieces and components on this necklace were made separately, at different times. I intended to use the little rose and poppy flower charms to make a bracelet.
The little blue hearts were for earrings.

And the etched copper pieces were from an earlier project, the cut off corners I didn't need when I cut out a circle from the center of the etched piece to create a circular piece for a possible locket.

Then we watched a movie, it's a kid's movie - "The Spiderwick Chronicles" - and the next day I made this charm. There are a lot of faeries, sprites, good and bad spirits, great imagery. I was working on this design during the movie, and I think it influenced my ideas.

The same thing happened when I watched the movie "The Golden Compass" and the movie "Elizabeth the Golden Age" about Queen Elizabeth with Cate Blanchett, period piece costume movies.

Anyway, the visual image of the children with the butterfly wings has been done a lot, and I wasn't going to do it. But something in my mind had me put this together this way, using the charms for the necklace chain and the hearts on the bottom of the charm with the single word - 'heart' - on the front.
*** Update - I'm happy yet sad to say, this special necklace has found a home and is on its way to its new owner. I love when someone chooses one of my pieces of jewelry for their own, it validates that my message is speaking to someone. But I'm also a little sad to see it go, I enjoy looking at them. I'll take lots of pictures so I remember it, I don't reproduce pieces exactly because there's always something new to say. And thank you to the person who will soon be wearing it, I hope it speaks to you.

6 comments:

Beth Hikes said...

I love this picture of the girl. So sweet! Also, you've got me thinking of all the movie visuals I've been influenced by.

Loved "The Golden Compass!" That was one seamless artwork. Also, thanks for your insights about ear wires. This really helped me. I'll have to check out some of your earrings.

Amanda said...

I really love the colors that you used in this - especially the sort of teal-blue in your heart. (:

The butterfly child art piece reminds me of a reconstructed book that my high school art teacher made - it was her fairy book, and she took pictures of her mother (and other people) and added wings to them... among other things. She also used stamps, drew things, and used paper shape cut-outs.
Have you ever considered stamps? I was just thinking about the collage sort of style that you use in these lovely image pendants...

Hmm...

LLYYNN - Lynn Davis said...

Yes, that movie is one thing that has me all wound up about making lockets, that cool gadet they have that looks like a pocketwatch - wanna make something like that! And if you want to see the earrings idea look at my Gears earrings at lynndavis.etsy.com and see the photo of the back of them

The 'child with butterfly wings' image has almost become iconic and I wasn't going to use it myself, wanted to come up with something fresh, but the idea of transformation influenced my choices

Do you mean postage stamps or rubber stamps - and either way, yes! I do bookbinding sometimes, and I use lots of both - love collage

Amanda said...

Rubber stamps.

She adored rubber stamps.

That particular teacher also took a workshop and made a beautiful piece of jewelry that was similar to the styles of pendants you're working on right now, with the image charms. She dabbled in absolutely everything! She was a very entertaining lady, and is definitely a creative spirit.

Joy aka GoddessJoy said...

This necklace is so beautiful! It really does capture the feeling of the Spiderwick Chronicles quite nicely.

On a side note, seeing how you are using the annealed steel wire gave me the courage to go ahead and try it! I had been eyeing it at the hardware store for some time now but was too afraid to try it. Thanks for the inspiration!

LLYYNN - Lynn Davis said...

That's great, Joy - the annealed steel wire is fun for the unusual pieces where the precious metals really aren't what I need. Just be sure to follow up and clean the finished pieces well afterward, the darkened wire can be a little messy. But what art related things aren't messy, if they are fun!