Mandala CCXXV

(Above:  Mandala CCXXV.  Custom framed: 22 1/4" x 22 1/4".  Found objects hand-stitched to a section of a vintage quilt. Objects include:  A porcelain souvenir featuring the Grove Park Inn in Asheville, NC; a silver trivet; Topo Chico bottle caps; dominoes; honey tasters; pet rabies tags; cheese servers; red Monopoly hotels; emery-filled sewing strawberries; four wavy hair clips; thimbles; Scrabble tiles; and assorted buttons and beads. Click on any image to enlarge.)

This mandala almost didn't happen.  Why?  Well ... how should I put this?  Bluntly: I'm cheap!  At the Pickens County flea market, I found the little porcelain souvenir featuring the Grove Park Inn.  I picked it up and asked the old, grumpy geezer standing between this wares, "How much?"  His answer:  "Twenty dollars.  It was painted in Germany." (There's a mark on the back: Painted in Germany")

 

(Above:  Detail of the porcelain souvenir.)

I put the thing down and said, "Thanks".  I'm way too cheap to spend twenty dollars on just one object for my mandalas.  But ... I really wanted it.  After all, I've been represented by the Grovewood Gallery, a fantastic place on the grounds of the historic Grove Park Inn, for something like fifteen years.  In my imagination, I could already see that little dish on a mandala.  My mind could see the finished mandala on display at the Grovewood Gallery.  So, before leaving, I returned.  I offered fifteen.  He wouldn't accept.  I handed over a twenty dollar bill.  I'm cheap but I'm also madly in love with this series.

 

(Above:  Detail of Mandala CCXXV.)

Little gold beads were threaded to attach the porcelain dish to the silver trivet.  The trivet was then stitched to the vintage quilt.  Additional buttons were added through the holes in the trivet.  No glue!

 

(Above:  Detail of Mandala CCXXV.)

After attaching the porcelain dish to the trivet, the rest of the objects for the center were selected and stitched.  The button outline came next.  Then, I had to figure out the corners.  Several things were auditioned but nothing looked quite right.  Finally, it dawned on me to tap into the Grove Park Inn itself. The complex is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. On July 12, 1913, the Arts and Crafts styled hotel opened with a keynote speech by then acting US Secretary of State William Jennings Bryan. The exterior walls are granite boulders, five feet thick. If most of the furniture isn't Stickley, it sure looks like it is.  Roycrofters furnished the original decor ... and most of it is still there!  If you like Arts and Craft ... this is a must see place!  Knowing this, I used Scrabble tiles to literally spell it out!

(Above:  Detail of Mandala CCXXV.)

 I don't know when I'll be taking this mandala to the Grovewood Gallery but that's where I intend for it to go ... unless someone wants to adopt it beforehand!  $450 and it can be yours!

 The complex is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.