DAEDALUS AS A BOY

I love vintage photographic images. I enjoy rummaging through bins of photos at flea markets and antique stores. It always makes me a little sad, though, wondering why some family member doesn't have that precious photo...but then maybe nobody is left...no one left to straighten the bent corner...to blow the dust off...to remember. That's where I come in. When I use a vintage image in my artwork I always feel as though I am breathing a little new life into that memory that was a person. Maybe some day at some distant art show a customer will say..."Hey, that looks a lot like my great uncle Silas." Now that would be fun.

Here is a vintage image of a young boy that I found years ago in the bottom of a shoebox at an antique store. I was immediately captured by the image and especially loved the attitude...he didn't really want his picture taken that day...his pants were too tight ...or maybe it was his boots. Anyway, the pout almost undid me. For years I carried this picture around not knowing how to use it. Once I learned how to photo-etch on metal it became clear to me that images, like this one, would become an incredible resource for my artwork.

Using photoshop I spend a lot of time making an image etchable. Basically, I need clear crisp images that are high contrast. The image of this boy became one of my first pieces of jewelry...and still one of my favorites. I call this piece DAEDALUS AS A BOY. As I worked on the image I thought I was working on Icarus. I got more and more attached to the boy in the photo and finally could not bear the thought of him growing into a young man only to fall to his death in the sea because he flew to close too the sun...so the boy image became Daedalus ( the father of Icarus). Daedalus was an accomplished architect, inventor and craftsman.

For me this piece of jewelry is all about personal flight...about taking chances...about trying on our wings for size and fit. The wingspan is 5 inches and it stands 3.75 inches tall. The body is photo-etched sterling silver and the wings are copper. It comes on a 20 inch sterling silver snake chain.