Mandala XLI

(Above:  Mandala XLI.  Framed: 24" x 24". Found objects hand-stitched to a section of an antique quilt.  Found objects include: a clock face, rivets, antique dominoes, clock gears, washers, paper fasteners, keys, buttons, decorative wire spirals, zodiac symbols clipped from a metal belt, safety pins, and game pieces shaped like medieval druids. $550. Click on any image to enlarge.) 

Finding unusual multiples is now an obsession.  Once I had started looking, I started finding them ... some were even in my house!  Such was the old, brass belt.  It came on a table lot from Bill Mishoe's auction, a purchase made well over two years ago.  It was in my stash but I'd never really looked at it until this series developed.  Using a pair of wire cutters (which is a tool that is in constant use here at Mouse House, our custom picture framing shop), I had twelve zodiac circles inside of five minutes.  Hilariously, there are two Virgos and no Scorpio ... but these mandalas aren't picky!

 

(Above:  Detail of Mandala XLI.)

 

Each mandala seems to have stories that connect me to other people.  The blue ceramic button in the middle was recently given to me by my friend Dolly.  Dolly helped sort the fifty pounds of discontinued buttons that were sent from a button manufacturer.  Dolly sorted almost all the slate blue buttons from the box ... some of which are now on this mandala. When she was visiting the beach, she went to a gallery that had ceramics, including a few ceramic buttons. She couldn't help herself; she knew I needed one!  

The wooden looking game pieces came from a local antique mall.  I thought they were wood but they are some sort of very hard plastic.  In order to get them to lay flat, I used a vise grip to hold each one while sawing away the slanted backside with my Dremel tool.  It created quite a mess of very fine, dark powder.  After cutting the first one, I cut the others in the garage ... wearing a dust mask and goggles ... and then had to take a shower.  

I bought the druid-like game pieces at the same time as this set of dominoes.  These aren't like the ones I had as a kid.  They are much older and definitely wooden.  The indentations were painted. Much of the paint was chipping off.  I mixed up some acrylic paint and touched them up.  In fact, I painted dots on the sides that were blank too.  I just sort of liked "more dots" rather than an empty side.  Then, I drilled holes in each one ... one hole on each end, one hole in the middle of the long sides.  These were used to stitch the dominoes to the quilt.

 

(Above:  Detail of Mandala XLI.)

 

The spiral wires came from my Canadian, on-line friend, Margaret Blank .  Using things sent by friends is always a welcome challenge.  As long as I have at least four, I can likely find a place on a future mandala!  This series will be on-going because I recently purchased an entire stack of antique quilts.  All are in rather poor condition ... which, like the imperfection of the zodiac symbols, is PERFECT for these mandalas.