another rustic collage

Here I am again with another sculptural piece. It's Friday and I should be in the shower but I wanted to post quick before I'm off to the mountains.  This weekend I'll be providing a crafting experience to middle aged Mennonite women.  My good friend runs a wonderful woodland hideaway in the mountains near Lincoln City.  Drift Creek Camp is unique place and although a winding drive....I never pass up a chance to visit and see my friend.  And.....she makes wonderful espresso drinks!

This composition includes collaged vintage papers on a old box lid with it's original hardware remaining.  It's complimented with 2 contrasting carved walnut furniture adornments.  The sleek glass door knob is paired with the chippy green door handle base.  These are then mounted on a elevated remnant of a agricultural screen found here on the farm.  Created as a wall hanging.  All these elements contrast in texture and orgin.  Embracing many aspects of life. 

On a another note.  This upcoming July I'm attending a artist workshop "camp" all based around the use of hot wax...."Encaustics".  The camp was created to help all types of artist on how to incorporate encautics into your works of art.  I'm thinking that this piece would of been perfect to encase (the base) in wax.....I'm excited to be the host and student of this amazing combination of artists from around the U.S.  I'm happy to know that it will be held at my very own Western Mennonite School Campus so I don't have to travel far. You'll find info about it here....

another try

This one is my favorite.  I salvaged so many square nails and thought I could never use them all...Now maybe I can. This creation is based in a tiny drawer, collaged with vintage papers and some divine paint.  I picked up some divine paint samples at Goodwill....amazing find.  The center wood piece is from a pipe organ salvaged after a flood.  I wonder if anyone can guess what the center black item is?

I've been trying something new...

Have you ever been to an art gallery and saw artwork you thought was ridiculous and wondered "what was that guy thinking?"....Well I guess that's the path I'm on. People are strange as to what they like.  I've always preferred collage.  I really dig assemblage and found object type creations .  Using items that would normally be tossed or using things for a different purpose seems to spark something in me.  Some people might not call it art, but it takes thought and time finding the right combination textures is intriguing to me. Here are a few reasons that I started in this new direction....1) I have the need to create...I needed to tap into that or I was going to go crazy.....2) I've acquired a lot of really cool hardware that I haven't found a need for with the furniture creations. 3) it's butt crack cold out side and my shop is not pleasant to work in. 4) I'm re-applying to a art show that I've done in years past and I wanted some new things to expand with.  The show called "Cracked Pots".  I was involved for a number of years but leadership has changed and I lost my connection with the gal who knew me. Reapplying is a drag but it keeps me on my toes and it ensures a high quality show.  I needed the time off.  Prepping for the show took weeks of work.  I overheard my daughter say "Mommy is in her shop again...."  I felt kind bad.  It was the tone of her voice and it sounded like I was in there too much.  That's when I decided to take a summer off.  We focused on having fun and one summer became two and now I'm back.  She's got her cousins to play with now and she's more independent.  Some days during the summer she's gone for hours playing....what a life.  This farm is such a treasure.  I wish I could of grown up here.  I had lots of outside fun though.  We lived in the hills outside Eugene.  Lots of fir trees to climb.  I had poison oak and pitch on me most of my life.   anyways.......I've been gone a bit from here too.  Now I'm back.  Here is a photo of one of my creations.  I'll post one photo a day.  Kinda funky stuff.......but it's fun.

a little bummed that there's no snow....

Well, the rain has started again!  I was secretly hoping for a big snow storm that would take us by surprise!  No luck.  At least it's not 20 degrees.  I will have to get into my shop this evening after school.  In the mean time I'm planning my next "Knock-off Wood" creation...I wanted to show what you can do if you have a husband that saves trinkets and treasures.  Everything is very cool.  Ticket stubs, matchbooks, Mr. Peanut, guitar pics, Old pens, receipts (from his first Mac-Intosh Computer), old tins, baby books, poker chips, business cards, coasters, patches, lipton tea ceramics, doodles from church.....the list goes on.  I just realized i was finding all these little "treasures" and they didn't have a home.  I'd ask him what it was and he'd tell me that it was from his grandma or it was something he dug up on the farm when he was a kid or it was from aunt Alice or......  Now I totally understand about keeping this type of stuff.  I to have a secret collection myself. But I decided to finally starting a collection together in one box.  When the box was full and I had the perfect frame....these shrines were born.  Theses frames are from IKEA and were very affordable.  Actually should of gotten a few more.  Establishing a background is a important first step when creating a collage / assemblage.  I used photo copies of a few photos and some flat items (like coasters, ticket stubs, or doodles) a craft paper grocery bag and some snippets of note/letters that he wrote to me over the years.  The pair on the right are only 12"x12" and include more miniture type objects.  I created the larger version with more of a photo / flat type item theme.  I attended a crafty girls weekend up at Driftcreek Camp on the Oregon Coast Range.  while the other ladies were scrap booking or quilting..my sister and I arranged, rearranged and then arranged again to get all the ingredients just perfect.  We used hot glue to adhere them.  The photo above was very difficult to acquire with out reflections...so sorry.  But for now you can at least get an idea.  Gotta run and get off to my real job......Art Teacher.  How many days til summer break?