Can anyone identify this image for me?

[BleeckerSt_Girl]

The other day, a friend of mine found this little 1" button pin on the street.
She gave it to me because she knows I like to wear little buttons of various types.

I have no idea where the picture is from or what it means (if it means anything). It's been bugging me.
Can anyone here tell me what this image is from?
I know if anyone can, the ladies of TE will nail it! :D
Thanks!

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3113/3223285072_4765b81e71.jpg

[Tuckervill]

It looks like some teenage Emo art to me, but I'm no expert. It could be some kind of iconography, but the worried look in the eyes leads me to doubt that. It's a cute little pin. I keep things like that when I find them, too!

Karen

[Eden]

hmmmm it looks so familiar..... I feel like I've seen it in as a book illustration, but I can't place it at the moment.

[Zen]

It looks like some teenage Emo art to me, but I'm no expert.

No, it's better than that and it may predate that genre. Notice the leaf hair,and that little background design is well thought out.

So now you know nothing more than when you posted the question :o:p

Great find, though :)

[sfa]

Looks vaguely Edward Gorey-ish, but too colorful and a bit too cheerful.

It's nice, though. I like it!

[BleeckerSt_Girl]

I did notice the similarity to Edward Gorey's work (I am a HUGE Gorey fan and have several signed works of his)....but it seems a bit loose for Gorey and might simply have been inspired by Gorey...or not. Possibly Charles Addams?

I like the button too! Hopefully someone will recognize the drawing and the mystery will be solved.

[Zen]

Ask a kid.

She looks like a book illustration, like she is morphing from a tree into a human or something along those lines.

[Trek420]

The halo or halo effect around her (?) face, the way the robe drapes, the cross on both shoulders .... I'm thinking Russian Orthodox Icon like:

www.christusrex.org/www2/art/icons.htm

[OakLeaf]

I was guessing saint also. The background really looks like a halo in old paintings.

BSG, we may have no real clue, but we can guess with the best of 'em! :D

[malkin]

The crosses on her collar also have a saintly look, and I'm trying really hard not to see a goatee.

[Zen]

I'm disturbed by the rendering of the mouth.
It looks like a moustache and soul patch :o

[OakLeaf]

Maybe it's supposed to be a male. Saints are often portrayed as very yin types. ;)

[BleeckerSt_Girl]

I'm disturbed by the rendering of the mouth.
It looks like a moustache and soul patch :o

Hmmmmm......
a relative perhaps? (http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_FbG9rWPXqnc/SLQv1Dsdt0I/AAAAAAAAHGk/bNsVSJvl070/s320/folder.jpg)

[malkin]

Image from a cautionary tale: Don't put Miracle-Gro in your hair.

[Zen]

And don't tonic your geraniums with Rogain.

[BleeckerSt_Girl]

http://www.whiteweswelker.com/fics/2008/feb/chia-britney.jpg

[Trek420]

I'm disturbed by the rendering of the mouth.
It looks like a moustache and soul patch :o

It looks like s/he could really use more sleep :confused: too much Sanka maybe?

[kelownagirl]

Mouth / moustache reminds me of Prince. (Ick)

[malkin]

It looks like s/he could really use more sleep :confused: too much Sanka maybe?

Poster child for that instant coffee-halucination connection.

[BleeckerSt_Girl]

Poster child for that instant coffee-halucination connection.

Yeah, like so really! :D

[withm]

Sometimes a button is ... just a button.

[Zen]

Don't poop on the party!

[BleeckerSt_Girl]

Sometimes a button is ... just a button.

Brain hurting!!!! AGGGHhhhhhh!!!! :eek:

[crazycanuck]

but but..hang on...a button isn't really just a button..ít's a cool round thing that has mysteries attached to it. It ends up on the road and someone spends many moons wondering hmmmmm...

[sfa]

St. Wilgefortis. (http://curiousexpeditions.org/?p=89) That's my final answer.

The motifs are reminiscent of traditional icons, but the drawing is far too modern to actually *be* an icon. But it could be from a children's Lives of the Saints, although they don't often stray far beyond Francis and Paul and Elizabeth Seton, so I'm not really serious about the Wilgefortis thing. But it would be funny to tell people that's who it is.

Sarah

[Biciclista]

St Wilgefortis. hm.. why not?

[Trek420]

St. Wilgefortis. (http://curiousexpeditions.org/?p=89) That's my final answer.

Do you want to phone a friend? ;) :p

[malkin]

Wilgefortis is a good explanation for the sadness around the eyes and the...uh...features around the mouth.

The vibe from the leaf hair isn't exactly Christian, though.

[channlluv]

I agree that she looks like a children's book illustration. Lots of authors and illustrators make their own promotional materials for book signings. I'm guessing this was part of a book signing done in the area.

Roxy

[Tuckervill]

Tarot cards! That's what I was trying to think of earlier. She looks like art from a tarot card, although I couldn't identify which.

Karen

[BleeckerSt_Girl]

The design is obviously an illustration snippet from something.
After taking a peek at some of the 1" button pins offered on Etsy.com, I've come to realize that there is a whole fad consisting of people with button-making machines creating little buttons from just about any random graphic image. There are literally thousands of them!
Here are some random examples:
http://www.etsy.com/search_results.php?search_query=1%22+button&search_type=tag_title&order=&min=&max=&page=3

I was not aware of how many people now have button-making capabilities. In the 60's and 70's, when I was a 'youngster' and wore all kinds of anti-war and groovy button pins, buttons were something only 'official' businesses had the ability to manufacture.
So, times have changed and I know think it would be almost impossible to track down where the image came from. The image is probably just a result of someone's fun moment with their button machine, and likely does not have a 'profound' message like I had thought at first.

But I do appreciate all the good suggestions as to it's origin- it may well remain an enigma. :o I'll keep wearing it and maybe one day someone will see it and say "hey, that's ____!" :p

[malkin]

I have a button machine!

[Eden]

If you are willing to disassemble it..... there might be something on the back that would give you a clue to its origins.

It also occurs to me that those might not be leaves that her hair is made of, but feathers?