Altered Cigar Boxes

(Above:  Forty-six finished, altered cigar boxes.  Click on any image to enlarge.)

They are finished!  All forty-six cigar boxes have been covered in decorative paper and paint, collaged with vintage and antique ephemera, waxed, and tagged.  I use ordinary, clear wax on all the surfaces.  This eliminates any sticking that can happen when two surfaces coated in matte medium are put together.  Heat and pressure cause acrylics to adhere.  Wax prevents it.

(Above:  Machine zigzagged cord and watercolor paper tags.)

Finally, I decided to add a permanent tag to every box.  I used watercolor paper tags and my thinnest cording.  The cording was made previously.  It is simply two strands of neglected yarn, zigzagged densely into a cord.

(Above:  Detail of a tag.)

Each tag was slipped through two holes drilled in the back of each box.  Thus, every box has both a number in the series and an inventory number in my permanent records.  The tags also have my name and date.  Finally, I photographed each box from the outside and inside.  Of course, these images don't include the sides and bottom.  All six interior and all six exterior surfaces are decoratively covered.

(Above:  Box One. Inventory # 4465. 4" x 8" x 5".)

I made these boxes in order to finally use the stash of vintage and antique prints I'd collected over several years.  I know that my intention was to finally USE these materials instead of continuing to store them, turn POTENTIAL into ART.  It was a goal and I accomplished it.  I'm very pleased.  They are all very, very pretty, but the truth of the matter is that I have no future plan to exhibit them. My plan was only the MAKE and FINISH them. Now, my only wish is that every one of them might find a home.  Thus, I'm offering them for sale at $125 including tax and shipping within the USA or $100 plus tax if purchased at Mouse House in Columbia (after I get home on May 14th) or from me in person.  So here they are!  Scroll down!  Enjoy!  I accept all forms of payment and can being shipping on May 14th. 

(Above: Box Two. Inventory # 4466. 4" x 8" x 5".)

(Above: Box Three. Inventory # 4467. 4" x 8" x 5".)

(Above: Box Four. Inventory # 4468. 4" x 8" x 5".)

(Above: Box Five. Inventory # 4469. 4" x 8" x 5".)  SOLD!

(Above: Box Six. Inventory # 4470. 4" x 8" x 5".)

(Above: Box Seven. Inventory # 4471. 4" x 8" x 5".)

(Above: Box Eight. Inventory # 4472. 4" x 8" x 5".)

(Above: Box Nine. Inventory # 4473. 4" x 8" x 5".)

(Above: Box Ten. Inventory # 4474. 4" x 8" x 5".)

(Above: Box Eleven. Inventory # 4475. 4" x 8" x 5".)

(Above: Box Twelve. Inventory # 4476. 4" x 8" x 5".)

(Above: Box Thirteen. Inventory # 4477. 4" x 8" x 5".)

(Above: Box Fourteen. Inventory # 4478. 4" x 8" x 5".)

(Above: Box Fifteen. Inventory # 4479. 4" x 8" x 5".)

(Above: Box Sixteen. Inventory # 4480. 4" x 8" x 5".)

(Above: Box Seventeen. Inventory # 4481. 4" x 8" x 5".)

(Above: Box Eighteen. Inventory # 4482. 4" x 8" x 5".)

(Above: Box Nineteen. Inventory # 4483. 4" x 8" x 5".)

(Above: Box Twenty. Inventory # 4484. 4" x 8" x 5".)

(Above: Box Twenty-One. Inventory # 4485. 4" x 8" x 5".)

(Above: Box Twenty-Three. Inventory # 4487. 4" x 8" x 5".)

(Above: Box Twenty-Four. Inventory # 4488. 4" x 8" x 5".)

(Above: Box Twenty-Five. Inventory # 4489. 4" x 8" x 5".)

(Above: Box Twenty-Six. Inventory # 4490. 4" x 8" x 5".)

(Above: Box Twenty-Seven. Inventory # 4491. 4" x 8" x 5".)

(Above: Box Twenty-Eight. Inventory # 4492. 2 1/2" x 8" x 8".)

(Above: Box Thirty. Inventory # 4494. 2 1/2" x 8 3/4" x 7 1/2".)

(Above: Box Thirty-One. Inventory # 4495. 2 1/2" x 8" x 8".)

(Above: Box Thirty-Two. Inventory # 4496. 2 1/2" x 8" x 8".)

(Above: Box Thirty-Three. Inventory # 4497. 2 1/2" x 8" x 8".)

(Above: Box Thirty-Four. Inventory # 4498. 2 1/2" x 8" x 8".)

(Above: Box Thirty-Five. Inventory # 4499. 2 1/2" x 8" x 8".)

(Above: Box Thirty-Six. Inventory # 4500. 2 1/2" x 8" x 8".)

(Above: Box Thirty-Seven. Inventory # 4501. 2 1/2" x 8" x 8".)

(Above: Box Thirty-Eight. Inventory # 4502. 2 1/2" x 8" x 8".)

(Above: Box Thirty-Nine. Inventory # 4503. 2 1/2" x 8" x 8".)

(Above: Box Forty. Inventory # 4504. 2 1/2" x 8" x 8".)

(Above: Box Forty-One. Inventory # 4505. 2 1/2" x 8" x 8".)

(Above: Box Forty-Two. Inventory # 4506. 2 1/2" x 8" x 8".)

(Above: Box Forty-Three. Inventory # 4507. 2 1/2" x 8" x 8".)

(Above: Box Forty-Four. Inventory # 4508. 2 x 8 3/4" x 6 3/4".)

(Above: Box Forty-Five. Inventory # 4509. 2 1/2" x 8" x 8".)

(Above: Box Forty-Six. Inventory # 4510. 2 1/2" x 8" x 8".)

(Above: Box Twenty-Two. Inventory # 4486. 4" x 8" x 5".)

(Above: Box Twenty-Nine. Inventory # 4593. 4" x 8" x 5".)

Time for Hand Stitch

(Above:  In Box CCCXXXIII.  That's Roman numerals for 333!  Unframed: 15"  11".  Layers of polyester stretch velvet on recycled industrial packaging felt with hand embroidery and melting techniques.  Click on any image to enlarge.)

I don't make many of these piece even though they look rather similar to my other work.  The difference is easy.  These pieces are entirely stitched by hand.  My other, similar looking work is free-motion machine stitched.  I could likely finish three, maybe four, machine stitched pieces during  the time put into one made by hand.

 (Above:  In Box XXXCCCIV, detail.)

The other difference is that these hand stitched pieces are quite colorful.  I use three strands of embroidery floss.  All this thread comes from auctions and yard sales.  It isn't organized at all, just stored in a big, plastic container.  The contents sort of look like a rat's nest but it works for me.

 (Above:  In Box CCCXXXIV.  Unframed: 15" x 11".)

I was able to make two of these pieces because an art residency really is "the gift of time".  I've had time to do all sorts of things, especially projects that take hours and hours ... like hand stitching.  I'll frame these two pieces differently than the others ... once I return home.  That will not be until mid-May because I leave here to conduct two, back-to-back workshops in Wisconsin.  I'm excited about that.  It is always a joy to spend time sharing my techniques with other fiber enthusiasts.

(Above:  More than half the altered cigar boxes are finished.)

In the meantime, I'm on the home stretch with the altered cigar boxes.  The ones in the photo above have been finished and waxed.  Because I use matte medium, a fluid acrylic, I have to hand wax all the surfaces.  With heat and pressure, acrylics tend to stick together.  I couldn't risk stacking them this way if the wax hadn't coated the acrylic.  The wax also give each one a lovely, smooth feel.  Waxing all six interior surfaces and all six exterior surfaces gave me a real arm work out but it was worth it.  I have the flatter cigar boxes still in process and will blog them later.

Earth Day Missouri Style

Last weekend I celebrated Earth Day in a most unusual and totally fun way!  I toured the St. James Winery and Public House Brewing Company in nearby St. James. The two businesses sit side-by-side and share several important business practices ... including an Earth Day festival with sustainable tours through both facilities.

 (Above:  St. James Winery)

I learned how most organic waste is recycled back as compost for the vineyard, even the waste from the brewery goes to its neighbor's farm. Oak barrels are used time after time in both facilities and most of the brew pub's interior furnishings were made from recycled wood.  Twelve years ago, all the light fixtures were changed to LEDs and low energy fermentation and storage processes installed. They are in the process of writing a grant for solar power.
 

(Above: Tasting room and gift shop at St. James Winery.)

I was totally unaware that Missouri had been the second largest wine producing state before prohibition.  The soil is perfect for grapes but the come back was slow. It was helped along by Jim and Pat Hofherr when they established St. James Winery nearly fifty years ago.  The winery is still family owned and operated.  They produce about 500,000 gallons of wine annually, and it is sold in sixteen different states.

The tour was excellent and I really enjoyed sampling the wines.

Most impressive were the oak barrels.

 (Above:  Public House Brewing Company tour.)

Not to be outdone, the beer barrels were also impressive.  Many came from the winery!  When no more flavor can to sapped from the barrels, the pub uses them in their interior design scheme.

 (Above:  Public House Brewing)

In fact all the tables and the entire bar area were built from salvaged wood by a local craftsman.  I stayed for an excellent pizza.  I went home with a six-pack of IPA and a t-shirt.

 (Above:  Garden area behind and between St. James Winery and the Public House Brewing Company.)

Before leaving, however, I had to visit the gardens where music filled the air and tents were set up for local, environmental non-profits to distribute information and discuss their missions.

 (Above:  Hill Hollowell, environmental specialist for the Meramec Regional Planning Commission.)

That is where I met Jill Hollowell, an environmental specialist who was sharing artwork made by local students.  It is all part of the 28th annual Earth Day Poster and Trash Art Contest centering around the theme BE WASTE WISE.

It is great to know that Missouri has such a dedication of environmental issues and a long history in making change!

Where Did the Week GO? Oh yes, it went into ART!

(Above:  Cigar boxes collaged with decorative papers, vintage ephemera, antique prints, and cancelled stamps.  Click on any image to enlarge.)

When I came to the Osage Arts Community (OAC) in Belle, Missouri, part of my plan was to sort through some of my stash of found objects and assorted paper.  At nearly sixty years of age, it is high time I make some decisions about what I am really going to use, what ought to be thrown away, and what would be better off in the hands of another artist.  All this stuff had POTENTIAL, but for me, the word 'potential' is almost a stigma.  'Potential' in and of itself is not art!  Materials never used waste any potential.  They might as well be thrown away.  So, I've been sorting through boxes of decorative papers, vintage ephemera, antique prints, and cancelled stamps ... collaging them onto a collection of old cigar boxes.  I have forty-five of them in progress.  (More about this ... just scroll down!)

(Above:  A foreign exchange student from Cordoba, Argentina who visited OAC and volunteered for the first fitting of The Red Carpet Dress.)

Although I'm quite capable of spending every waking hour making art, I often need to switch from one project to the next.  This week found me doing several things, including a fitting for The Red Carpet Dress.  This recycled red floor covering from last November's Philadelphia Museum of Art Craft show is a work-in-progress. It is headed to an August 31st runway fashion show with ecoFAB Trash Couture.  I am relieved that the dress actually fits a person. I now have a workable plan to replace the problematic back zipper and ideas for finishing the back. 

 (Above:  Altered Cross Stitch. The Route to an Enemy's Door.)

Every evening I've been stitching on another, altered cross stitch.  This vintage embroidery was donated by a friend.  She back it with cotton batting and added seed stitches to the original border.  I placed it on linen, added my twisted phrase, and densely quilted the two together ...

  (Above:  Altered Cross Stitch. The Route to an Enemy's Door.  Detail.)

... with hundreds and hundreds of running stitches over the entire surface.  This work integrates old to new, creates great texture, and unifies the hand of three different people!  I am already working on the next piece.

 
(Above:  Painted Wonder Under drying on the studio floor.)

In anticipation of two Wisconsin workshops, I painted almost an entire bolt of Wonder Under. 


(Above:  Using the paint dregs.)

I even pulled a print-on-fabric from the ceramic plate used as a palette, let the rim of the plate dribble onto watercolor paper, and pull the brush into a few gestural marks.

But now to return to the cigar boxes! I am not finished with any of them.  There's still more to do while mentally thinking about containment and containers, about potential and waste, about working outside my comfort zone, and about my own TEDx talk, Precious: Making Plans for Your Precious Possessions.

In my TEDx talk, I tell a short story of a lady who gave me her grandmother's doilies.  I tried to refuse but the lady said, "If I give them to you, they might become art and I won't be guilty for never using them and having no one to leave them to."  I then suggest that some things are better off with someone else ... that by giving away your precious possession, you might actually be saving them from the fate of being forgotten, wasted, unused.
   

 (Above:  My OAC studio table covered in vintage and antique images ... all clicked and ready to be used!)

This is so true ... but it also got me thinking about my own stash of "potential".  I have saved so many things while thinking, "I could use this for art some day."
 

Yet ... when is that day?  What is the plan?  When will "potential" turn into the promise of reality?  During these past weeks, quite a lot of it happened.  I've given away pads of pre-primed canvas paper, images I deemed to large to use, and some of the cigar boxes.  I've thrown away more paper than could fill an industrial sized trash bag.  I'm putting into action some of the potential I've stored untapped for years.  It's been as rewarding as it has been both mentally and creatively challenging.

It was hard to start.  It was hard to be a rank amateur at collage techniques and figure out the best ways to cover so many surfaces.  It was hard to keep personal demons at bay ... the voices heckling from the back of my mind trying to say this entire project was folly.

Every day gets easier.  Every day sees fewer and fewer items on the studio table and more complexity and joy on the boxes.  Every day I am caring less and less what anybody else might think about the results of this activity.  Below are more photos along with some quote that relate to "potential" and the need to act on it.

 

“Potential has a shelf life.”
― Margaret Atwood

 

“But as long as something is never even started, you never have to worry about it ending. It has endless potential.”
― Sarah Dessen

  “Potential," I said, "doesn't mean a thing. You've got to do it."
― Charles Bukowski

  “You know what talent is? The curse of expectation.”

― Stephen King

  “Potential doesn’t mean shit if you don’t get off your ass and start working.”
― Rishank Jhavar

 

“There is nothing sadder in this world than the waste of human potential. The purpose of evolution is to raise us out of the mud, not have us grovelling in it”
― Andrew Schneider

  “It takes drive and focus to move from potential to reality.”
― Amy Leigh Mercree  (I really like this one!  Just google for the antonym of 'potential'.  You'll find words like 'actual', 'existent', 'factual', and 'real'.) 

"Creation is bringing potential into being, bringing inspiration into action. Inspiration and action are nothing when they are apart. Inspiration feels like a great a wondrous thing, but if it is not manifested, it is as if it never existed." ― Kristi Bowman

  “Dreams become regrets when left in the mind, never planted in the soil of action.”
― Auliq-Ice

 

“One of the most terrifying things I fear is not my potential, but how much regret I’ll die with should I never use it.”
― Craig D. Lounsbrough

“You are given the potential to excel, whether you do or not is entirely up to you.”
― Steven Redhead

“Anyone who has ever achieved anything has been a steward of his potential.”
― Chris Matakas

The Virgin of Guadalupe Triptych

 (Above: The Virgin of Guadalupe Triptych.  21" x 22" x 5". Free motion embroidered and hand beaded digital image on fabric in a collaged wooden triptych.  Click on any image to enlarge.)

This was once an inexpensive, Made in China, wooden triptych mirror, perhaps meant to assist a girl in applying make-up.  I bought it over a year ago at Bill Mishoe's auction despite the fact that it was so obviously new merchandise from a low-end, big box store, something without much character or any suggestion that it had ever been used much less treasured.  I bought it because it was a triptych.  All triptychs attract me.  I see in them the basic structure of so many beloved Renaissance paintings.  I couldn't resist this one but then never used it ... until now.

 (Above:  The Virgin of Guadalupe Triptych, detail.)

Thinking back, I don't know why I grabbed the triptych and put it in the cargo van while packing for this art residency at Osage Arts Community.  I just did.  I had no plan for it beyond the vague idea that these two months in Missouri were supposed to function as a time to sort through boxes of ephemera and determine what I was going to keep, use, give away, or throw away.  Perhaps, I brought the triptych for the simple reason that a decision needed to be made ... and I made the decision last week to use it.

  (Above:  The Virgin of Guadalupe Triptych, detail.)

Also, I didn't realize that this image of the Virgin of Guadalupe got packed.  It was simply among other digital-images-printed-on-fabric that I needed.  After unpacking my supplies for this art residency, the image and the triptych happened to be put side-by-side ... almost as if begging for me to put them together.  Once the decision was made, the work went very easily.  It took several days to collage the wooden structure, allowing different surfaces to dry in order to move on to other parts.  The machine stitching went very quickly.  The beading only required a day.  The words are always with me, parts of Hail Mary, a traditional Catholic prayer for intercession. 

  (Above:  The Virgin of Guadalupe Triptych, reverse.)

I'm not entirely sure the reverse is finished.  Perhaps another prayer? But if so, which one?  I don't know yet and I don't have to know.  The important thing is that the triptych was transformed from an unused, unloved, ordinary, cheap item into a work of art.  That's one less item in my stash of "found objects" that went from "potential" to "promise".

Puebloan Architecture

(Above:  Puebloan Architecture.  12" x 12".  Digital images on fabric with self-guided, free motion embroidery and hand stitched/blanket stitched binding.  Click on image to enlarge.)

Late last August my husband Steve and I went on a "Western Adventure" to explore Puebloan ruins in various National Parks and Monuments in the four-corners area.  I blogged about it HERE. I took hundreds and hundreds of photos, including many details of textural architectural elements.  Later, I had several printed on standard cotton by Spoonflower, a company specializing in this service.  I intended to make two quilts, but only made one.  (CLICK HERE to see Leaving the Pueblo.) Until yesterday, I did nothing with the cross-section tree and masonry images.  Then, I got another email reminder about the upcoming SAQA (Studio Art Quilt Associates) annual charity auction.  It did not take me long to design a pleasing arrangement.  Within two hours, I had the piece stitched.  Before going to bed, I had the blanket stitch around the perimeter and the sleeve attached.  This morning, I photographed the work, submitted the information, and received my confirmation email. This afternoon, it will go into the mail.  Some things take a long time; this didn't.  Perhaps this was because I so loved being on ancient grounds under wide open summer sky and surrounded by the aura of a wild landscape!

Zophia and the Boa

 (Above:  Zophia McDougal and The Red Carpet Boa.  Click on any image to enlarge.)

It's not really like me to wait more than a week before posting on my blog, especially when I'm at an art residency where all day, every day is "studio day".  There are reasons.  One is the fact that I have spent over twenty-four full hours using the Alliance of Museum's website to research potential places to exhibit my Feminist To Do List.  Alphabetically by state, I visited more than nine hundred museum websites, reading mission statements (to see if my work fit the venue), looking for submission guidelines (or a sentence reading, "We do not accept unsolicited proposals"), and trying to locate contact information for a curator.  If successful, I sent my cover email with the PDF attachment.

This was a tremendous amount of work.  My reasoning is simple: I cannot expect a curator to pick my work for a show if he/she has never heard my name or seen anything I've ever made.  An unsolicited proposals is a long shot, but occasionally it works out.  For all I know, several curators might have opened my PDF. For all I know, one of them might remember my work in the future.  A friend of mine whose job is non-profit fund-raising said that the national average return on unsolicited fund-raising efforts is only 1% ... but it is still done because occasionally it pays off big.  Amazingly, my results are already there! I'm expecting a contract from a museum in Iowa!  I'll announce the show as soon as I sign the paperwork!

 (Above:  Red and The Red Boa, arranged in circles in the Osage Arts Community Gallery.)

The other reason for not posting sooner is that much of my time has been spent making a boa for The Red Carpet Dress.  This spun polyester material is like a thick, very stiff, non-woven interfacing.  It was used at last November's Philadelphia Museum of Art Craft Show to line all the aisles and the entire entryway.  After the show, maintenance crews were hauling it off as trash.  I rescued a small section (roughly the size of my parking lot!)   

Last month, I spent a total of four days making what was supposed to be a boa but ended up too large, too heavy, and much more like a biomorphic abstraction than anything anyone would ever wear.  I decided to call it Red.  I blogged about it HERE.  Because I still had so much of the material left, last week I decided to make another attempt at a boa.  This time, it worked!  (Plus, I managed to use all the remaining red carpet material!)

 (Above:  Red and The Red Carpet Boa, lying side-by-side in the Osage Arts Community gallery.)

When arranged in circles, they don't look too different, but when elongated, it is easy to see that one is smaller and more manageable to wear.  Luckily, one of the other Osage Arts Community resident artists was willing to pose for me.  

Zophia McDougal is a talented visual artist with a degree from the Kansas City Art Institute and a poet whose poetry zine, What We Face Walking Out the Front Door, is available on Amazon.  We took the photos yesterday and almost everyone of them turned out well.  Zophia is very photogenic!
 

 (Above:  The Red Carpet Boa in progress.  Half the strips are cut into quarter-inch widths.  Half are not yet cut.)

Although The Red Carpet Boa is technically smaller, it actually took more time than Red to make.  They are about the same length.  Thus, they have close to the same number of individually cut-and-folded strips stitched to an interior red rope.  What makes the boa smaller is the length of these strips.  After attaching the strips (three connecting stitches and one slip stitch around the three to "bundle" the group and allow the strip to move in any direction), I cut the strips length-wise into approximately quarter inch widths.  It took just over six hours to do this final cutting.     

So ... I finally made a boa!  It will be part of my recycled fashion ensemble at the ecoFAB Trash Couture runway show on August 31st at the Tapps Art Center in Columbia, SC.  I haven't yet finished the dress, but I've got time.

 (Above:  The Red Carpet Boa in progress, a detail of the strips.  Half have been cut length-wise into quarter inch widths.  Half are waiting to be cut.)

I'm really happy with the way this piece turned out!