Monday, January 09, 2017

Psyche's Helpers Painted Earrings

While reading about the surrealist artist Yves Tanguy, I came across these earrings he painted for Peggy Guggenheim.


Immediately I wanted a pair of my own painted earrings.


In my last post I mentioned the story of Cupid and Psyche, and wanting to explore that theme further. This seemed as good an opportunity as any.

In the story of Cupid and Psyche, Venus (Cupid's mom), gives Psyche seemingly impossible tasks. Psyche, in despair, keeps thinking that she should kill herself and be done with it, but at every turn she finds help. 


When told to sort a mound of seeds and grains, an army of ants come to Psyche's aid.


Sent to gather black waters from the underworld, Psyche considers jumping off the side of a ship and drowning herself, but Jupiter himself sends his eagle to assist her.

  

The earrings are made with furniture tacks, painted 1/2 Inch Brass Pendants, and elements recycled from old jewelry. 

I really like them and have already worn them twice.


Although I'm not actually a painter, I'm pretty sure I'll be making more painted jewelry. This was a challenging scale to work in, but I really enjoyed it. Same goes for my buddies Cupid and Psyche; I don't think I'm quite done with them yet.