This is a sweet little assemblage I made just for me.
The first few years of my life were spent on a farm in south Texas, I was the youngest of 7 children, and although the memories have become faded, I do have a few mental pictures that are clear and crisp of my days on the farm.
People often ask me "how long have you been making this kind of art?" in response, I like to reference my earliest memories from my days on this farm.
I remember that at age of 5 or 6, I would often crawl under the farm house, (1) to get out of the hot Texas sun, and (2) to play quiet solitary games, creating imaginary kingdoms in a silent, secret place.
(3) Additionally, under the house, I would often find many important treasures, to include bits of pottery, marbles, keys, coins and other forgotten bits, left behind, I'm sure, by previous residents of the old farm house. I loved collecting these treasures and keeping them in glass jars. I loved looking at them, and I loved playing with them.
In another memory, I remember, making 'mud bricks" (like mud pies only square). I remember, too, that I would sometimes 'embed' my treasures into the mud bricks and set them out in the sun to dry. And as I recall, they were BEAUTIFUL!
Early assemblages? I think so. . . so when someone asks me, "How long have you been doing this kind of art" . . . I always say, "I've been making assemblages all of my life . . ."
PS: Yes, that is me, the short girl in the middle . . .