Lots of wonderful things seem to be happening here in Columbia as spring approaches. This includes finishing six, small mandalas. I might have blogged them separately or even two at a time but I ran out of the linen liner used to frame them and had to wait for my weekly supply delivery. They were finished right before yesterday's Cottontown Art Crawl. I took two along. Neither sold but both received plenty of notice and many compliments.
I did sell several fiber vessels and lots of small, framed pictures. It was a great way to enjoy the outdoors and share artwork with real people while still staying safe. There were over eighty artists set up on forty front yards. Both Steve and I had lots of fun and saw people we haven't seen in over a year!
Most of the conversations spiraled around art and the weather and how nice it was to finally be seeing friends. Yet, almost everyone started with a COVID-19 vaccination announcement. Every few minutes was a mini celebration for someone announcing two injections. Proudly, I got to say that my first shot will be this coming Tuesday. The air just seemed rich with anticipation for "the light at the end of the long pandemic tunnel." I'm excited and hopeful!
Yesterday was great! The weekend before was also wonderful but in a very different way. Several weeks earlier I contacted a button manufacturer with hopes of purchasing buttons in bulk at wholesale prices. A manager was amused enough to actually look at my website, see a few of my finished mandalas, and make me an offer that I absolutely couldn't resist. He said that he'd send me a fifty pound box of buttons that were being discontinued for the cost of the shipping. So for thirty dollars, I got delivery of lots and lots of buttons. Of course Ernie helped! Some of these small mandalas feature buttonss from this box! Sorting was great fun. The tiled, living room floor was a maze during the three days it took to sort them into Ziploc bags. I am quite thankful that Steve is used to the strange things I do for the sake of my artwork.
There are several art happenings on my horizon. I'll blog about them later. Things seem to be looking forward to a positive future! Below are the other, small mandalas finished this past week.
(Above: Mandala XXXVIII. Found objects hand stitched to a block from a vintage quilt. Found objects include: a spiral clock spring, blue plastic bottle caps, metal washers, buttons, laminated Tampa Nugget cigar bands, clock gears, screw eyes, antique pen nibs, plastic pull tabs, and red syringe caps. $185 plus sales tax and shipping.)
6 comments:
oh I love the interaction and purchase of the buttons - those should keep you going for a while =(short more likely than long). as per usual fascinating what you use to make complex but cohesive mandalas.
I'm in a bit of a "lull" with making anything right now, have other issues that need my personal attention, but every blog about "art making" inspires me...thanks for sharing
Such fun seeing Ernie's enthusiasm for those buttons! LOL! P.S. your new mandalas are terrific too!
How exciting getting those buttons. They will be well and creatively used. What a clever idea using a tiled floor to create sorting zones. Thank you from Irene in N Ireland
You are such a good writer. I needed a pick-me-up and this post did it (seeing cute Ernie helped too). Wonderful mandalas; it must have been fun watching people's reaction to them. I glad you had some sales and that it was a good time interacting with other humans! And I love how you acquired the buttons.
Oh, yikes - *I'm glad you had some sales...
Thanks so much for all the nice feedback! Unbelievably, Mandala XXXIV found a permanent home today ... and this had to have happened because the lovely lady read this blog post. Even while typing this comment, I haven't gotten to the place of posting these works on social media. Thank you for reading. Thank you especially to those who leave a comment!
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