Mandala XC

(Above:  Mandala XC. Custom framed: 29" x 29". Found objects hand-stitched to a section of a vintage quilt. Found objects include:  Part of a glass table lamp over a brass part of another lamp; felt hammers from a piano; cafe curtain hangers; tines of forks; dominoes; wavy hair curlers; coffee K-pods; View Master reels; inlaid wood backgammon pieces; bronze colored plastic knives; galvanized washers; duck-shaped napkin rings; trophy shaped name-place holders; and buttons.  Click on any image to enlarge.)

Before going to the Philadelphia Museum of Art Craft Show, I finished a similar Found Object Mandala.  Both were stitched in order to go into two, distressed, off-white "floater" styled picture frames that I've had for more than a decade.  Well ... I finished the second one. 

  

(Above:  Mandala LXXXIX and XC hanging above my Seal dry-mount press here at Mouse House, my business ... which is "downstairs" and zoned as commercial.  Steve and I live "upstairs", which is amazingly zoned residential.)

I think they look great together.  Both could hang as a diamond but I forgot to snap photos of either when hanging with this orientation.  The fact of the matter is that I've been really, really busy!  I've finished another, smaller Found Object Mandala already but haven't taken any photos of it yet.  I'd better get moving though.  A large piece is more than half stitched too!

(Above:  Detail of Mandala XC.)

By the way, I didn't cut off the forks.  They came that way.  They were on a "table lot" at my weekly auction. Apparently, the person consigning the stuff had been using the stems to make key rings.  It has, however, given me ideas!  I have a bolt cutter ... so there might be more "parts" of utensils in the future.

 

(Above:  Detail of Mandala XC.)

There definitely will be more Found Object Mandalas in the future.  It seems that I've stumbled onto a successful series!  Tomorrow night there are two art receptions for shows each featuring three Found Object Mandalas.  The 701 CCA South Carolina Biennial opens tomorrow here in Columbia.  The Vendue in Charleston is opening a textile show called Unraveled Recollections.  I wish I could be in two places at once!