Mandala CCXII. Custom framed: 32 3/4" x 32 3/4" when hung as a square; 46 1/4" x 46 1/4" when hung as shown as a diamond. Found chandelier parts, vintage poker chips, copper pipe straps, and assorted beads and buttons stitched to a section of a white blanket. Click on any image to enlarge.)
This commission started with a big, heavy box of chandelier and lamp parts along with a vintage quilt. It also started while Steve and I visited the home of a dear man we've known for decades. This past year, he lost his wife, a lady we knew even longer than we knew him. Like me, she often attended Bill Mishoe's estate auctions. She collected many things, among them chandeliers and lamps.
(Above: The chandelier parts laying on the vintage quilt.)
The design (with a few rearrangements of the individual pieces) was a good one. The colorful quilt, however, seemed to fight with the design ... especially since we all knew that this piece would eventually hang on a dark, paneled wall in a mid-century modern house. I suggested something "lighter" that would create more contrast between the dark elements and the dark wall. An ordinary white blanket was suggested. Though they aren't really visible in the final piece, the blanket's woven pattern included heart motifs that really infused the whole process with a subtle bit of love. The blanket was almost "too white" for the chandelier parts but a layer of tan bridal tulle/netting was placed over the surface before any stitching was done. This softened and warmed the contract perfectly.
(Above: The back of the piece after stapled to its stretcher bar over which acid-free foam-centered board was glued.)
Like all of my Found Object Mandalas, the elements were hand-stitched to the substrata. Then, the work was stapled to a stretcher bar over which I had glued a piece of acid-free foam-centered board. Next, I used a super strong but thin brown thread to stitch the elements and quilt to the foam-center board. This is done so that no section is supporting more than a few square inches of the weight. Yet, this piece was HEAVY and I feared that with time and gravity, the holes created in the foam-centered board would widen ... and the piece might sag.
To combat this potential problem, a piece of thin paneling was cut to fit inside the back of the stretcher bars.
It was off-set clamped into place. This allowed me to add the copper straps ... which were screwed through the blanket, the foam-centered board, and the wood panel. There is now no way that the weight of this mandala will cause anything on the front to sag!
(Above: Detail of Mandala CCXII.)
As shown in the detail photo above, there are two copper straps on each of the eight heaviest chandelier parts! I hope my friend in heaven is as pleased with her husband's commission as I am!
