Last Two Found Object Mandalas before the Philadelphia Museum of Art Craft Show

(Above:  My new booth design for the Philadelphia Museum of Art Craft Show.  Click on any image to enlarge.)

Monday was "Packing Day" ... the day when everything needed for Booth 303 at this year's Philadelphia Museum of Art Craft Show has to fit into the cargo van.  It is exciting and exhausting.  This year was also a bit scary because we did not get a place on our favorite aisle ... the 100 aisle.  Why is this our favorite?  Well, there's nothing but wide open space behind aisle 100.  It's like an amazing "storage area" for bubble wrap, packing boxes, and the crates used to transport my Found Object Mandalas.  Between most aisles is just a two foot space ... which is shared with the artist on the next aisle.  There are other options (like hauling this stuff back to the van in its long-term parking place or finding a spot in the provided storage room used by all the artists and show staff which isn't exactly convenient ... and our crates might tip over and damage another artist's extra artwork).  So, Steve and I designed our booth differently.  It isn't the full 10 in depth.  Thus, we have 14" in addition to the two feet behind our booth.  We also ordered shelves for the fiber vessels.  Because this is such a different set-up, we erected the booth in our parking lot before loading the walls into the cargo van.  We feel confident in this new design!  We also took plenty of photos so that we can re-do it again on Wednesday when we move into the Philadelphia Museum of Art Craft Show!

(Above:  Mandala CXLV.  Custom framed:  24 1/2" x 24 1/2".  Found objects hand-stitched to a section of a vintage quilt.  Found objects include:  The face of an egg timer; a set of souvenir spoons; watches; green casino chips; eyeglass frames; plastic bottle lids; lime green and copper can pull tabs; hair clips; golf tees; external tooth lock washers; and buttons.)

Happily, I'll have two more Found Object Mandalas for Booth 303.  These are the last two finished and finally photographed ... and put into crates!

(Above:  Detail of Mandala CXLV.)

I've been collecting the souvenir spoons for months.  Finally, I had enough that looked good in a circular formation.  I'm still collecting ... especially since some of the ones I have are either too long or too short for a similar arrangement.

(Above:  Mandala CXLVI.  Custom framed: 32" x 32".  Found objects hand-stitched to a section of a vintage quilt.  Found objects include:  A copper pastry mold on a silver trivet; blue perm curlers; gold spoons; brass grommets floral wedding cake leaves; red adapters of 45 records; wooden blocks cut into half; blue, silver, purple, and orange plastic bottle lids; keys; copper hinges; silver brioche molds; odd 3D vintage gold metal embellishments that were labeled "buttons" but aren't buttons; two sets of metal numbers from 10 - 49; buttons and beads.)

I worried a lot about this colorful mandala.  Why?  Well ... the alphabet isn't all there.  I'm missing a G and an R.  After month, I never found wooden block the right size with the correct letters ... but what the heck! These were too pretty not to use!  Personally, I really couldn't recite the alphabet until middle school!  Even the song didn't help.  For me, there was always this "really long letter" in the middle ... the one that sort of blurred together LMNOP! LOL!

(Above:  Detail of Mandala CXLVI.)

I sort of decided to use the blocks after acquiring all the metal numbers.  I have a big bag of them.  After sorting, I realized that I didn't have a 5 or an 8.  There were only two 37s and 35s.  I don't know what these number were ever used for ... but there are over a dozen of every number in the 20s.  They end with 50.  So ... I started at 10 and went to 49 in two sets.  Each number had a hole above it.  I drilled all the holes underneath ... the the holes in the spoons and the blocks and the bottle caps!

(Above:  Detail of Mandala CXLVI.)

I hope some of these Found Object Mandalas find permanent homes at the upcoming show!