Giddyup Earrings

The Giddyup Earrings are a playful take on tropes from old west cinema. The design is one of a series of experiments I’ve done with the Iowa City Fab Lab in turning my digital drawings into physical works of art through the process of laser cutting. The boots began as a digital illustration, which was then laser etched and cut out of 1/8” plywood. The spurs were constructed out of silver and riveted through the wooden boots, complete with real star spinning action!

The Giddyup Earrings were then staged in a theatrical old west-style light box photo shoot. The two dimensional laser cut plywood cactuses and barrel are propped up on wooden triangles, with the word “howdy” laser cut in lasso type and suspended by threads from the corners of the light box. Though the video may look animated, the dancing boots and sign are actually a practical effect that I created by tapping side of the light box to the beat of Kay Kayser’s song, “Jingle Jangle.” The video was then cut together with the song and released on social media as two different videos, which can be viewed below.