Mandala CCXVIII

(Above:  Mandala CCXVIII. Custom framed:  33 1/4" x 33 1/4".  Found objects hand-stitched to a section of a vintage quilt. Objects include: A metal clock face; black curtain hangers; a trivet; a biscuit cutter; red, plastic lids; buttons and beads; and all eighty-eight keys from my former piano in their correct order.  Click on any image to enlarge.)

On Christmas Day 2023, I dismantled the piano I grew up playing.  It had a broken sound board even before I moved it from my parents house back in 1991.  It moved from our first house in Columbia to Mouse House, our home/business ... where it sat in the dining room ... rarely ever played.  I meant to start playing again but it didn't happen.  I have no regrets about this.  After all, I was never a competent player.  I simply adored practicing and imagining the music sounding better than the incorrect notes I was forever hitting. 

(Above:  The eighty-eight keys ... whole ... lined up in order.)

There was no reason to move the piano to our new location in Cateechee. It only made sense to save parts for future artwork.  So ... reverently and with Christmas music in the background, I dismantled it.  I saved felt hammers, all the keys, and a couple other parts.  A friend and her son (who had the right wrench to loosed the strings) came and collected the strings for her artwork.  I knew I could use the keys for a Found Object Mandala.  After all, I was once commissioned to create a mandala for Carolina Steinway.  (CLICK HERE to access it.)  Yet, I really didn't want to make another one quite as large as that!  Piano keys are long!  A circle of them is therefore BIG!

 

(Above:  All eighty-eight keys ... after being cut ... still lined up in proper order.)

 

Perhaps the issue with the size of the keys prevented me from using them since moving.  Christmas was sneaking up on me again ... a full year after dismantling the piano.  So ... on Christmas Day 2024 ... I lined up the keys, looked at them, and decided to cut them near to the length one actually sees on a piano.

 

(Above:  The design laid out on the same work table.)

 

Soon enough, other found objects fell into place including the metal clock face that once hung in the sanctuary here in Cateechee.  The size was manageable and the design looked very promising!

 

(Above:  Stretcher bar on a vintage quilt.)

 

Ordinarily, I start with the substrata already selected but not this time!  I had to look in my stash to find something that would go well with the bold, high contrast design.  Lo and behold, I found this vintage quilt my my stash. (It looks perfectly good in the photo but trust me ... many of the pieces of fabric making up the hexagonal star shapes were in dreadful condition!)  I'd had this quilt for at least two years but never used it because it was just too bold, too high in contrast.  Bold with bold!  High contrast with high contrast!  Perfection!

 

(Above:  Stitching the curtain rings onto the clock face.)

One of the trickiest part in creating my mandalas is planning how to stitch it.  In order to attach the curtain hanging rings to the clock face, four holes per each ring were drilled.  Each of the red lid were also drilled ... and a hole in the clock face for them.  The trivet was to be held in place by the biscuit cutter which already had two holes large enough for two shank buttons.  All the was needed was two holes in the clock face to work with the holes in the biscuit cutter.  Then, there were the holes along the edge.  They were needed in order to stitch the altered clock face to the quilt.  In all, there were ninety-eight holes drilled through the clock face.  It is little wonder that I purchase 1/16" drill bits by the handful! LOL!

 

(Above:  Detail of Mandala CCXVIII.)

In order to attach the keys, more holes were drilled.  Each key has two holes drilled through it.  When all these holes were drilled, it was almost time to stitch!  First, the section of the quilt was stapled to the stretcher bar.  Then, a layer of orange bridal tulle/netting went over this surface.  The tulle/netting protects the fragile pieces of fabric.  In this case, it also cut a little of the contrast on the quilt.  Finally, I started stitching ... but then ... we went to Pasadena for the Rose Parade on New Years Day.  

 

(Above:  Mandala CCXVIII as seen from an angle.)

 

After returning from California, I returned to this piece.  Finally, it was mounted, framed, photographed, and got its signed label on the reverse side!  The mounting is very important and also time consuming.  The work is removed from the stretcher bar on which it is stapled for stitching.  It is then stapled to a smaller stretcher bar, one that matches the dimensions of the predetermined perimeter.  This smaller stretcher bar includes a piece of acid-free foam centered board glued over it.  Why two stretcher bars?  Well ... I can't stitch through the wooden stretcher bar.  So the first one has to be bigger than the final size of the piece!  Why the acid-free foam-centered board?  Well ... I stitch through it and the quilt so that no part of the quilt is supporting more than a few square inches of the front.  The holes along the edge of the clock face are double stitched ... one stitch to attach the clock face to the quilt and one stitch to attach the clock face and quilt to the underlying foam-centered board.  Each key is also double stitched.  There is no way that the weight of these keys is going to cause the quilt to sag or tear from the force of gravity!  I'm very pleased with this piece and especially how it has given my beloved piano a "second life".  I stitch much better than I ever played!