Wonder and Whimsy Monthly Challenge - October Edition

When I was deciding what to do for this month's challenge, I realized that it's been awhile since I made jewelry based on the work of a visual artist. In the past, I've done jewelry inspired by James McNeill Whistler, Edward Gorey, Claude Monet, and even Vincent Van Gogh. (I listed those in the order that I did them; it's fun to see my own progression as an artist when looking at them.)

For this month, I picked another visual artist. My decision was inspired by a recent trip I took to the Cincinnati Art Museum; my sister-in-law and I like to go there and visit the works by European painters. There is just something so serene and, well, rejuvenating being surrounded by the works of people like Monet and Gaughin and Cézanne--people who were at a turning point in art, reinventing painting and stretching the bounds of creativity.

Anyway. 

This last time I went, I ended up spending a lot of time looking at this painting:

It was painted in 1911 by none other than Pablo Picasso. It's entitled "Still Life with Glass and Lemon."

I am, by no means, an expert in cubism. In fact, I hardly know anything about it. My personal forays into art history focused more on the Northern Renaissance. And classical. And 19th century. And Mesoamerican. And--well, you get the picture. 

Still, I couldn't help but find this painting fascinating, from its geometric forms to its limited palette to its small even brushstrokes. I was even able to get some really cool closeups of it:

And so I have decided that I want to make jewelry based on this painting. 

Heh. We'll see how this goes!

Oh, and for fun... here is the painting, in place on the Cincinnati Art Museum wall, as seen from a very convenient bench in the middle of the room:

So, there you go. That's what I am going to be working on for this month's challenge. Be sure to come back on Friday, October 25 to see what I end up creating! 

Thanks for stopping by today to see what I'm up to... Have a lovely week, everyone!

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P.S. I have found an interesting essay that goes into more detail about this painting and its history, if you're interested. It's a bit scholarly and dense, but still really cool. You know, just if you are interested. :)