Mandala CCLXXXIV: Boy Scouts

 

(Above:  Mandala CCLXXXIV: Boy Scouts. Custom framed: 26" x 26".  Found objects hand-stitched to the back side of a vintage quilt. Objects include: A yellow child's 45 record on which is stitched a brass dish, a yellow plastic lid, and a felt Boy Scout Jamboree patch from 1944; assorted, vintage Boy Scout badges; yellow telephone plugs; airline pilot pins; blue and orange plastic lids with green rabies pet tags; brass hinges; sewing machine bobbins; small, white plastic dogs; felt piano hammers; an orange folding yardstick; View Master reels; cabinet hinges; eagle pins, fluorescent greenish ice cream spoons; antique cardboard egg lids; assorted buttons and beads.  Click on any image to enlarge.)

 Even before I went to the Southern Highland Guild's Summer craft show, I finished stitching this mandala but never found time to mount it, frame it, photograph it, and finally blog it.  The Boy Scout items were donated to my stash from a friend in Asheville.  The little white dogs came from a wonderful lady who once took my workshop in the Hudson River Valley.  Other items were also donated or found at the flea market!  Since returning from Asheville, this mandala finally was fully finished.  Waiting was a good idea.  Why?  Well, the show was my final step in earning membership in the Southern Highland guild.  Turning all my attention into preparing for the show was needed in order to secure future opportunities.  This week, I got my acceptance letter.  Immediately, I applied to do their flagship event, another craft show at the Harrad's Cherokee Convention Center this coming October.  I'm very happy about this!

 

(Above:  Detail of Mandala CCLXXXIV: Boy Scouts.)

Yet, this is not my only good news!  Very recently I was asked to join the Octopolis crew going to Burning Man ... not just me but my Lace Forest!  Once upon a time (back in June 2024 ... click here for a blog post!), I had a solo show at the Springfield Art Association in Illinois. During the few days when I installed the show, a suggestion was made for me to visit the local Creative Reuse Market ... a location where I might find additional objects for my Found Object Mandala series.  I went.  I found lots of cool things but when I went to pay, I looked up.  There on the top of a floor-to-ceiling shelving unit was a giant box labeled "lace".  Innocently, I asked, "What's in that box?"  Adena Rivas, founder and president, looked at me as if I were totally nuts.  After all, the box was labeled.  She answered, "Lace" but added, "The box next to it is full of lace too.  You want to look?"  I must have looked at her as if she too were nuts.  After all, why would I ask if I didn't want to look? Both boxes were brought down to the floor.  Both were entirely crammed with big spools of lace.  This amazing stash had to be the remains of a fabric store shuttered at least a decade earlier.  Miles and miles of lace.  I asked, "How much?"  Adena looked confused. "What do you want, a couple yards or what?"  After all, most people would only need a few yards for most projects.  Even at recycle shops, lace is usually sold by the yard.  My answer was simple, "I'll take the two boxes."

(Above:  Detail of Mandala CCLXXXIV: Boy Scouts.)

Stunned, Adena asked how much I wanted to pay.  I suggested two-hundred dollars.  Sold!  Trust me, this was pennies on the dollar. The boxes were very, very heavy!  Naturally, Adena wanted to know what I planned to do with this much lace. I told her about my Lace Forest.  At the time, I had thirty finished 8' long strands and was running out of lace and they were headed to their debut exhibit at Featherstone Gallery on Martha's Vineyard Island..  This new stash of lace was later transformed into at least twenty more strands which were accepted into 2025 Fiberart International in Pittsburgh.  Since then I've found lace here and there. Currently, there are fifty-four strands.  They were most recently shown in their alternative presentation as Cascades in my solo show at the Pickens County Museum of Art and History.  But ... back to Illinois! While loading the lace into my van, Adena asked about my inspiration for The Lace Forest.  I told her about once visiting the Monterey Aquarium and falling in love with the kelp forest.  Apparently, Adena remembered this important point ... kelp! The 20' high octopus that is part of Burning Man will include just over 100 illuminated eggs surrounded by "kelp", my Lace Forest!  I'm super excited.  I'll leave on August 21st to join Adena's Springfield caravan headed west.  She's transporting the octopus' fabric "skin".  The metal armature has been made in California by Adena's sister and her crew.  I'll be in Black Rock City during "build week", for the main Burning Man event (August 30 - September 8), and for at least a day-and-a-half of "strike" (the time when the playa is transformed back to its natural, high desert landscape.  Later, the metal armature will be sunk in the ocean as part of a coral reef restoration project!  This is so exciting!