If a Shepard Fairey button isn’t your idea of a stylish accessory, jewelry designer Jeanine Payer today launched a new jewelry collection that’s a more subtle and moving tribute to the inauguration of President Barak Obama. Her new “Elements of Change” jewelry collection is hand engraved with excerpts from the inauguration poem by Elizabeth Alexander, “Praise Song for the Day.” Payer gave the first pieces from the collection to Michelle Obama, her daughters, Oprah, and other women who she feels are working to advance the president’s message of hope.
Hand-engraved poetry has long been a signature of Jeanine Payer’s work. When Payer wrote about how moved she was by Alexander’s poem on her company’s blog during the inauguration, a commenter suggested that the poem would be perfect to incorporate into her jewelry designs.
“I reached out to Ms. Alexander to give her a gift, a piece with her poem engraved onto it, and the dialog turned into a collaboration,” Payer says. “Her words about love and possibility are perfect for the art I make.”
The six pieces in the collection, three necklaces and three bracelets available either in sterling silver or 14k gold, will be made and hand engraved in the Jeanine Payer design studio in San Francisco. The pieces can be worn by either women or men.
“Jeanine Payer’s exquisite designs create elegance in elemental forms,” Alexander says. “Her jewelry honors the power and beauty of simplicity, yet they also capture poetry’s invitation to deep contemplation. In every aspect, Jeanine’s jewelry is beautiful, and I am honored that she would find inspiration in my poem.”
The launch of the collection today also celebrates the beginning of National Poetry Month.
“In today’s sharp sparkle, this winter air, any thing can be made, any sentence begun.” - Elizabeth Alexander
