A Monkey On My Back

"A Monkey On My Back"●
An electric guitar body found at the flea market without the 'electronics' has been altered to tell an alternative story.
The "neck' of the guitar was shortened, and the entire piece has been covered in vintage sheet music
and bits and bling, front and back.

Although the guitar can no longer be 'played', the 'desk bell' attached to the front can!

Intentions and Consequences

Thank you for stopping by.  

Take a moment and leave a comment to let me know you were here.

I enjoy reading what you think.

"Intentions and Consequences"
Constructed in a vintage sewing machine drawer, this diorama is full of interesting bits and mementos meant to challenge consciousness and provoke memory.  

Regardless of our intentions, our actions, ideas, proposals, policies all have consequences, some are good and some are not.

#7 - The Legend of The Golden Duck

#7-Legend of the Golden Duck ●

A few years ago, my husband and I were at an estate sale, where he spotted a wooden duck form that was plain, no color or other detail.
He asked me if it was something I might be interested in for my art work.  Although I had no immediate inspiration, I liked the wooden duck form, it was well made and the right size and the right price, so I said yes.

 The wooden duck sat around my studio, somethimes he would be sitting on a vintage roller skate, other times he would be sitting on the window sill, patiently waiting his turn at the worktable. 

Those of you who follow my blog, know that I make a lot of "memory" pieces.  Memory pieces are art pieces typically start out being a recognizable wooden form, a frame, a box, an an animal form, then I will usually 'paper' the piece with a selected color, and then I begin to 'embellish' it with bits and bling. 
I typically work with silver-toned bits and bling, for no real reason except that I like the way the silver looks.  
Looking back on when I was working on this piece, I realized I was working on 3 pieces at the same time, a mirror, a mannequin head and this duck . . . and all three were in gold tones.

The title for this piece is inspired from a children’s activity book titled: “The Legend of the Golden Duck”.

Happy Summer everyone!

Champ

"Champ"  ●
This is Champ, he is an show winning Irish Setter.  Actually, Champ represents several, in a long line of show winning Irish Setters.

This piece was commissioned as a birthday gift for a dear friend's step-mom, Wendy.  
Wendy shows Irish Setters in shows, competitions and obedience trials. From what I understand Wendy has had a long history of "Champions'.

Not only are Setters beautiful dogs, they are energetic, intelligent, affectionate, loving, high-spirited and full of energy. They love family time, whether indoors or out, and they get along famously with children and other pets. They have no real  guarding instincts, however.

***

"Champ" started out as small wooden dog form found at a local antique store.  
This is what he looked like when I first saw him.

After few weeks with me, he transformed into a pup full of boisterous energy and whimsey. 
It turns out that Irish Setters want to be involved in everything you do. This one apparently got into a few of the 'stashes' in my studio when I wasn't looking . . . when he came out he was all "bling-ed up and fancy".

Champ sits on a silver trivet. The trivet sits atop a smaller silver tray, which sits on a mini turntable lazy susan, so he even spins!

The birthday celebration was this past weekend, and from what I understand, "Champ" was received with open arms, and he won the heart of the birthday girl!

Thank you Tracy!

Pearls of Wisdom

 

"Pearls of Wisdom" ●
We discover the 'pearls' as we go.  We collect them, one by one.  Precise and succinct ideas about what is right and what is truth.  We discover our own realities, we acquire our own indisputable principles. We pick and choose the bits of internal advice that fit. These are the things that develop our character.  These are the Pearls of Wisdom that guide us as we journey.

***

The Marin Museum of Contemporary Art, (Marin MOCA) will be holding their 6th annual altered book fundraiser, to include the work of over 100 Bay Area artists who re-construct and re-work books to produce a highly entertaining and remarkably varied exhibition. The exhibit and silent auction will be open for bidding from April 18-May 23.

"Pearls of Wisdom" is my entry to the book show.

Reflections

I would love it if you would stop by my FACEBOOK art page and LIKE it.

"Reflections" ●

Several months ago, I came across this wonderful vintage mirror, The mirror appeared to be handmade by someone many years ago, lovingly sculpted out of a piece of fur, or possibly pine.  A heart shape design cut-out was fitted with a 1/4" thick mirror.  The fine sanded wood frame was painted silver.  Truthfully, the piece was beautiful as I found it.

But, alas, I had to bling it up.  A thin layer of tissue was first, (you can see it in this closeup photo).

 Then I began adding the hardware. Mostly silvery bits, and baubles and bling. 

I have included several photos which will hopefully provide you an opportunity to take a closer look at the many pieces included on this memory mirror.

Mirror Top

Bottom half of mirror

Lower left hand corner

The finished size is 16"x16".  And I think it turned out spectacular.  

I finished the piece a week before Valentine's Day, and although I felt I was a bit late for the holiday of hearts, the piece was sold a few days after that.

***

The sweet couple, Tom and Carol, who took "Reflecitons" home with them, sent me a lovely email telling me how much they are enjoying the piece. The also included a photo of the piece in their home.

How cool is that?

Knowledge and Power

 

 "Knowledge and Power"
The U.S Bureau of Engraving and Printing is the only agency authorized to develop and produce United States currency notes.  The BEP prints billions of dollars each year for delivery to the Federal Reserve System.  
When currency becomes badly soiled, dirty, defaced, disintegrated, limp, torn, or worn, they may be exchanged for new notes, through your local bank.  These damaged, no longer useful notes are removed from circulation, and returned to BEP who will shred the bills. Believe it or not, these shredded bits of US currency can be purchased directly from BEP . . .

I, however, found this bag of shredded money at a local garage sale recently.

 

 

 I called the Bureau of Engraving and Printing to inquire about this, as I was worried that there maybe be legal considerations for the use of this product.  I was told it was ok to use this bag of shredded money in what ever way I wanted.  Yey! Art materials!

***

A mannequin head wearing rim-less eye glasses, is covered in bits of shredded currency, and sits atop several CDs and a 1945 Standard American Encyclopedia Volume 1 A - Art.  
A small glass bottle is also mounted on the book, filled to overflowing with money. Two vintage brass drawer pulls anchor the piece.  Note the feet under the book . . . are vintage brass toilet seat hinges.

Do Better

"Do Better"  ●

Last Summer, I came across this quote by Maya Angelou. I loved the quote, and decided to use it in a Scrabble assemblage piece. 

So far I've made 4 using the same quote. The first 3 can be seen here. Each one is different and unique, yet the message is the same. They have all sold. I think it's because the words are simple, yet poignant and powerful:

"Do the best you can (un)til you know better, 

then when you know better, do better." Maya Angelou

                      

 Found wood and vintage wooden hanger are covered with various papers and tissue, scrabble tiles spell out the quote. Chop sticks and metal embellishments finish the piece.

My apologies to everyone for my absence on this blog . . .  after the holidays, we went away on vacation - we spent 10 glorious days on Kauai, and then after we got home, I think I just got lazy about posting . . . But I am back now, hoping to get back on to my weekly posting schedule.  I am far behind, and have lots of new work to show you. 

 

Husband Walter and a glorious sunset, Kauai, Hi

 I do hope everyone is doing great.

It's a New Year, with new opportunities to make good art!

Sister City of Wonder

"Sister City of Wonder"
The "City of Wonder" is one of my earlier assemblage 'city scapes'.  This piece is the 'sister City' to the 'City of Wonder" . .  . does that make sense? 

I absolutely love working with art materials that have a story to tell, a past, a history. Every element in this cityscape had a previous life, being something else. Here, they have all been transformed into a city scape with a new story to tell, and a bright and interesting future.

The four 'buildings' in this piece are made of wood. Two of them are scrap lumber (#2 & #4 above) 2x2 pine and 4x4 mahogany from the Dave the Cabinet maker.

The other two are most interesting.  
#1 is made from a hand made chess piece, found at a garage sale a few years ago.  At the time I did not know what it was, but i loved the patina on the oak and the signature and date on the bottom. As luck would have it, I did not photograph the piece before papering it. I only found out later what it was from my studio mate, 'Cliff' who knows about all these things. 
On top of the chess piece (staring at the fish) I positioned 2 additional pieces of wood, a 1" slice of 4x4 and a 4" piece of 2x2 that has been shaped on top, to form the skyscraper.

#2 began as a hand carved incense burner tower, similar to this:

All four 'buildings' are covered in text from a 1926 dictionary, and washed in an off white paint/varnish finish, cut out images from the same dictionary are collaged on top. Each building is embellished with bits and bling, top to bottom.

 

The base is a wooden box, unsure of it's origin. Possibly made to hold candles.  I lined the bottom with 'canvas shims' or tightening keys, and created an inlaid soft-wood floor for the the cityscape.

My friend Paula, who is a prolific painter, gave me a bag full of these shims, asking me if I had any use for them. 

I didn't, but I found one . . . 

Thanks for stopping by. let me know what you think of this city scape. I would love your thoughts.

Have a creative 2015, everyone!