Mandala CCXXXIV

(Above:  Mandala CCXXXIV.  Custom framed:  33 1/4" x 33 1/4".  Found objects hand-stitched to a section of a vintage quilt. Objects include:  A silver trivet onto which is stitched the face of a pocket watch and six Colorado craft beer caps; laminated Tampa nugget cigar bands; yellow and red meat packaging metal tags; green, blue, and purple toddle snack lids; honey tasters; antique toy baseball figures; toy fighter jets; red, children's records; ducks cut from shower curtain hangers; external toothed lock washers; long needle-like parts of prostate radioactive seed implant devices; orange, blue, and purple plastic cogs from a kid's building toy; Earth Day recycle buttons; assorted beer caps; green and red plastic lids; buttons and beads.  Click on any image to enlarge.)

Some of my early Found Object Mandalas have failed to find homes.  It's sad.  Occasionally, one even gets damaged.  That's sadder.  Such was the reality of Mandala LXXIV.  Steve never liked it anyway.  He thought the doll heads were creepy.  Though I marked it as "In a private collection" on the Found Object Mandala blog, it was actually "taken out of commission" ... as in "taken apart". 

 

(Above:  Detail of Mandala CCXXIV.)

This task entailed removing all the staples that attached the piece to its stretcher bar ... snipping all the heavy-duty thread running through the piece and the acid-free foam-centered board that was glued to the stretcher bar (these stitches distribute the weight of the work) ... and finally ... snipping hundreds of stitches that held all the objects in place.  I was ready to reused the quilt.  The sheer layer of tulle/netting that went over the quilt before the objects were sewn down was replaced.  Some of the objects were reused ... like the trivet and the laminated Tampa Nugget cigar bands, etc.  Other objects were added.  

 

(Above:  Detail of Mandala CCXXIV.)

 The new piece really does look even better.  It's not creepy at all!  Instead of the Fall Guy action figures from the 1980s, it features much older baseball figures.  I truly hope that this mandala finds a permanent home!