Mandala LXXIV

(Above:  Mandala LXXIV.  Framed as a diamond: 53 1/4" x 53 1/4", as a square: 37 5/8" x 37 5/8".  Found objects hand-stitched to a four-block section of a vintage quilt.  Found objects include:  A silver trivet; doll faces; The Fall Guy action figures from the 1980s; insulin syringes and their gray, plastic caps; laminated Tampa Nugget cigar bands, plastic combs; film reels; colorful, plastic gear-shaped toys; two different types of shower curtains and four yellow ducks removed from a third set; sewing machine bobbins; yellow hair curlers; brass drapery rings; Nespresso coffee capsules; blue water bottle lids; brown plastic Polynesia drink swizzlers; brass screw eyes; US flag and Arizona flag beer bottle caps; and lots of buttons.  Click on any image to enlarge.)

Mandala LXXIV is the largest piece to date.  With any luck, there will be three more this size.  The vintage quilt had exactly eight blocks in both direction and was cut evenly into four squares.  Working larger required me to really concentrate on using a few larger items ... like the film reels.  If everything had been informally smaller, the whole might look somewhat busy.  Balance is needed for color and arrangement but also for size!

(Above:  Detail of Mandala LXXIV.)

The larger size also meant that more than more curve was possible without losing the composition.  Yet, I started to run out of the laminated Tampa Nugget cigar bands that created some of these curves.  So, this weekend I learned all about laminating using my Seal dry mount press.  The earlier cigar bands were laminated at FedEx Office ... to the turn of about five dollars per letter sized pouch.  I happen to have literally thousands more.  I can officially claim to now be a laminating expert!  A package of 125 laminating pouches at Office Depot set me back just $33.  I spent Sunday laminating all sort of other things.  So, don't be surprised when vintage Green Back stamps and late 19th century postal stamps start showing up on future mandalas!  Laminating is fun!

(Above:  Items from a table lot purchased at Bill Mishoe's auction.)

One of my earlier mandalas has the toy NASA space shuttles on it and a small mandala has four of the red motorcycles, but I got more cool toys in a box from Bill Mishoe's auction ... including the Fall Guy action figures from the 1980s and the doll faces!  One day, I'll figure out how to use the little tractors!

 

(Above:  Detail of Mandala LXXIV.)

While writing this blog post, I realized that I forgot to post Mandala LXXIII.  I didn't even take photos of it!  Perhaps tomorrow!