Coloring Club: Lover’s Eye DIY
Happy Valentine’s Day! Here’s a fun DIY project to help you show your beloved you care.
Lover’s eye jewelry was a style of love token popular in the late 1700s and early 1800s. These pendants and brooches featured miniature paintings of the giver’s eye, a form of intimate and somewhat secretive portraiture.
Print out this coloring page and draw your eye, the eye of your love, or your pet into the frames. Alternatively, print out pictures of your favorite eyes to collage into the frames. Want to take it a step further? Cut out your finished piece, laminate with a little packing tape for stability and add a pin to the back to wear your DIY Lover’s Eye as a brooch!
Here are a few resources on Lover’s Eye Jewelry to get you in the mood:
A history lesson on Lover’s Eye Miniatures from renowned antique jewelry dealer Lang Antiques.
Archivist and jewelry lover Levi Higg’s recounting the process of commissioning a Lover’s Eye style brooch from Michael of David Michael Jewels, a magnificent jeweler and contemporary lover’s eye enthusiast - Story Here.
A beautiful assortment of historic miniature eye portrait jewelry from the collection of the Philadelphia Museum of Art.
As always, I'm offering this coloring page *free* for everyone :) If you enjoy my work & want to make a contribution to my livelihood - feel free to send a tip my way via Venmo: @wowhannahwow or Paypal: hannah.s.becker@gmail.com . Thanks!
Just click each image and it will open full sized. Right click and select "save image as" to download. After it's on your computer, just print it out and get coloring. Want to stay digital? Upload the page to the Procreate app to color it in on your phone or tablet!
Lover’s Eye DIY project page.
Diamondoodles’ versions of lover’s eye jewelry.