Wearable Art Inspired By Great Artists

A Grinch and His Dog, 
Image Source for Derivative Work: Turner Entertainment Company
Original Artist: Theodor Geisel/Dr. Seuss

For years and years, on the day after Thanksgiving, which is my first favorite holiday, my husband and I have trooped off to Kuhns Christmas Tree Farm to pick out a beautiful tree to bring home to the delight of our two pups, Lil Bear and Benjamin, and especially our kitty, Joey Max. 

Christmas is my second first favorite holiday! We spend the day decorating and in the evening enjoy a glass of champagne and the glow of the lights and ornaments on the tree, along with a fire in the hearth and our favorite Christmas movies, which, of course include The GRINCH! We LOVE it!!

I love it so much that I decided to celebrate Dr. Seuss/Theodor Geisel's artistic talents with a very special Christmas cabochon necklace, wearable with lots of different colors throughout the holiday season, and even if you want to feel a little Christmas in July.

Click on the image to enlarge it.

Just plain fun!

As I designed this piece, which will be available at the Bellefonte Art Museum throughout December, I listened to the whispers of the Grinch, who said, "I'm an elegant fellow with a wild sense of humor, so choose your colors carefully, and add some fun for goodness sakes!" Hence the fringe includes fun little round blue and red balls reminiscent of the ones we love to hang on our Christmas trees, and loads of fluffy strands dressed up in their holiday best with beautiful sparkly Swarovski crystals.

Slips right over your head and likes to be worn with turtlenecks, dresses, sweaters, and smooth frocks in a rainbow of colors. 

This year's theme for artists creating gifts for the museum's Holiday Show and Sale was "Creating the New: Inspired by Great Artists."

So in keeping with this theme, Peter Rabbit showed up, saying "Pick me! Pick me!" And I did, in honor of the admirable Beatrix Potter. If you haven't seen the movie Miss Potter, it's an excellent choice for a cozy holiday evening, family friendly too.

Scoootching under the fence.
Source: American copyright for Peter Rabbit is in the Public Domain.
Original Artist: Beatrix Potter

Yep, there he is, Peter Rabbit. And I think he might be in the process of making Santa's naughty list, sneaking into Mr. McGregor's vegetable garden and all.... Uh oh. But then, rabbits will be rabbits, and Santa knows this, so perhaps he will understand.

Peter Rabbit

Peter loves all things of the beautiful earth, so he helped me choose some delicate little white flowers, leaves of various colors, and a couple of teardrop shapes for the fringe, because he doesn't feel too great about losing his beautiful blue jacket in Mr. McGregor's garden. Not to worry, mother puts Peter to bed with some camomile tea, so a little bit of love and some sweet dreams restore his energy for new adventures to come.

Sweet fringe

I can picture this necklace on someone who has children or grandchildren, and loves to sit down with them and tell the tales of Peter Rabbit and all the sweet animals Beatrix Potter brought to life with her magical stories. Don't worry if the children want to touch - this necklace can take a lot of handling, as it's strung on 10 lb FireLine, which is good and strong and will last for several generations.

Raphael's Tempi Madonna
Source: Public Domain

Okay, yes, these designs I made during the holiday season, and sometimes you just need something especially Christmasy. That's when Raphael's Tempi Madonna called to me, and said "It's about love." And there are a great many kinds of love, but the love a mother has for her child might just be one of the very greatest.

LOVE

Our children can do no wrong. We love them with all of our hearts and souls, we are Madonnas, we the mothers. I love this necklace because it shows the closeness between mother and child. The protection. The bond. Somehow the Madonna brings me back to Jesus, the son who was wrenched from us all, publicly killed by the fearful powermongers, the son who never lost faith, and rose, living...living, to give us hope, and a glimpse past the veil of forgetfulness. She is most sacred to me. Of all he went through, she went through as much, and she never lost her faith. I love the Madonna in all of the depictions throughout history by the great artists.

Cleansing, healing teardrops.

The image in this cabochon necklace was painted by the master, Raphael. For the fringe, the Madonna let me know that even though she cried and cried (as all mothers do when they're not laughing and laughing), the crying was cleansing, and healing, so together we chose the color of tears in the soft gemstone drops, the healing of green, which is the color of love in the chakra energy system, and copper, which represents the transmission of thought, and healing.

She is peaceful. He is trusting. And trust is a beautiful thing. We can trust in the process of life, and know that it goes on, in realms more loving than we can even imagine here.

This Madonna is for someone who prays, and she brings great comfort. The greatest.

Other worlds depicted by Warwick Goble in The Fairy Book, 1920.
Source: Public Domain

So as our little earthly physical selves deal with things doled out such as the killing of the Christ Child, where does that take us? Why to the ethereal worlds of the magical fairy kingdoms of course. So to complement the rest of this collection for my holiday offering, the fairies came in all their beautiful astral glory, saying "Hey, what about us?!"

And we danced and worked together under the full moon, choosing the soft colors of ethereal Nature.

Flora and Fauna

We picked pale pink and green and iridescenty Czech floral beads, along with leaf-shaped leaf beads in a rainbow of colors, plus crystals, representing the light of the worlds we have yet to remember, worlds in which we belong and are welcomed. Worlds in which we can play with harm to none.

Fairy worlds.

Funtimes.

The fairies love to party and they believe in fun. Necessary for our well-being, no matter what. It's good to make time for imagination, fun, play, laughter, and innocence. It's good to celebrate life in all its forms. This necklace is for someone who knows how to do that. And still does.

Each of these necklaces comes with a velveteen pouch for softkeeping. 

Length of the image when you have the necklace on is about mid-chest, with fringe about 4-5 inches long. Each one slips right over your head with no fussy clasps. They take between 20 and 30 hours to make, pure joy. 

What do you earn for that amount of your time? 

I try to make my prices reasonable, wish I could make them "cheap," but they're not. I strive for the highest quality possible in materials and craftsmanship, can't help it. I'm a quality girl. These won't fall apart. They're irresistible conversation starters and just plain pure treasures. Come to the museum to touch and try them on. They won't break, and you'll feel the good energies behind them, both from me and their original creators.  

Gifts for and from the heart. Happy holidays! May we celebrate them with such love, and such appreciation for our Lovies, those who are close to us now, those who've gone before us and created such beauty to keep our hearts warm and our souls inspired while we're here. Theodor Geisel, Beatrix Potter, Raphael, Warwick Goble, and all the artists who are contributing to the Holiday Show and Sale, we thank you from the bottom of our hearts for the beauty you spent time creating to share with us, and for inspiring us to carry on.

Carry on, with celebration and joy.

Namaste,
Jen