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Day 8 — March 12—working on the back — Construction for Humanity

Now that the front is finished, I decided to work on the back. Remember that I already painted and stained the back to age it.  I decided to use the back to paste on a large piece of art. It's actually the cover taken from a 1899 magazine titled, "The Youth's Companion".  I then added another piece of newsprints from another vintage magazine titled "The American Home." How perfect is that?

I then took the piece of artificial slate (a product that was in my initial box of materials) and cut it down using my table saw to a small strip approximately 12" wide by 3" high. I wanted the bottom part I cut to blend in a little better with the right, left and top part of the "slate" so I used my x-acto knife and widdeled down the edges a bit.

 

I then drilled a hole at each corner and screwed that to the back above the artwork. This was to become my "plaque." I am now going to add titling to it. I do this by cutting out letters from old magazines an piecing it together to create my title. I added a small embellishment to the top right of the lettering. It's titled: 

Living in Harmony

Donated to "Constructions for Humanity" 

Portland, ME

I used tinted shellac to stain the entire back and added a little dove to the top right of the magazine cover.

The only thing to do now is sign the piece.

There is a bit of weight to this piece so next week I am going to take this to "Grapheteria" so that Lisa Castonia, framer, can add the appropriate hanging fixtures.   I want to make sure that when it is hung, it will be stable. I'll have Jim Castonia, professional photographer for Grapheteria take photographs of the piece for my portfolio.

I will then deliver my piece "Living in Harmony"  to Chris Kast at Maine Home + Design in Portand where he will make sure it gets to the special art auction of constructions and collages made by Maine-based artists that will be auctioned off to raise money for Habitat for Humanity. The timing of the auction will coincide with the Midcoast Home Show – June 5-6, 2010 at Point Lookout. I'll keep you on that.

Thanks for hanging in there. Signing off. Anastasia Weigle

Day 7 - March 8, 2010 — getting to the end!

Today I am going to pickle the wood stain on my frame. The frame is pretty dark so I used a off white latex paint and with a soft cloth rubbed the paint in the wood and then wiped it off. I let it dry and then gave it a clear coat of shellac and then a second coat of tinted shellac.

I let that dry and then I decided to finish off each mitered corner of the frame with a dove.  These little doves were in wedding section of the $1 Store. I thought how perfect. Here is how I attached the doves to the frame. I drilled a small hole on the underside and then attached a finishing nail inside the hole. It was nice and snug. I then clipped the nail head and set the doves aside.  I then drilled a hole at each mitered corner of the frame. Using the "nailed" dove,  I plugged them one in each corner.

The front is now officially finished. That means the assemblages inside the box and the frame on the front side is done.

Day 6 - a week later! March 7, 2010

Hey Gang—after that amazing windstorm we had about two weeks ago, I lost power in my home for four days so I couldn't do anything in my studio. Then when the power came on, I was into other projects. But, I did come back and worked on my piece. So let's begin.

I decided that my angel needed a little embellishment so I added a "bustle" made out of broken shell. I had a grey pearly sheen to it and seemed perfect for my piece.

Then I wanted to add two stars at the top left of the interior box. These "stars" came from Christmas ornaments that I had. I attached a nail with epoxy on the back side. I then drilled two holes in the box and then attached the stars to the holes with epoxy. I wanted to stars to look like they were floating in the box.  I then add a dove on top of the globe the angel is holding and a dove at it's feet. It just seemed to need that.  I feel that the assemblage work in the box is done. Tomorrow we'll work on the box itself. Signing off. Anastasia Weigle

Day Five - Continuation of "Construction for Humanity"

Hi guys:  I've added a little balancing rock garden to the top right cubby. You'll notice that the top two pieces of the rock pile are balanced to the far left (thank God for epoxy!). I alslo pieced some broken ceramic from the mug that was in my Construction box and placed it at the top center. To the right is a small thimble with baby's breath.  All in all, I was trying to create some harmonious scene. Don't know if it worked but it's staying.

In the center piece of the box I pasted two old magazine covers from the early 1920s. The top illustration comes from a magazine titled "The American Home" and the second piece is from an old advertisement for Victor Bicycles and it says "The Victor" It shows two young men who are waving their ahnds and the word "Victor" on their shirts with a bike in the middle. Well, you can put two and two together for the meaning you think is represents in this piece for "Construction for Humanity."  But just in case you need some nudging, let review.

"The American Home" -- Isn't that what we are representing. Building homes for families through "Habitat for Humanity" — homes that families can feel safe and secure. We are the "Victors" in all this — victorious. Hey, it works for me!

I added a large assembled figure using a number of pieces that I had in my studio. I add three things that came in the construction box.  The white cotton cord I used around the figur's waste. It has been tinted/stained. The yellow fabric I drapped around the figures neck and down the side were from the box. The two ends of the scarf are hanging off of a broken handle that came off the ceramic mug. It's glued to the side of the frame box and is hanging on that.  The figure's body comes from an old spanish doll form that I had from Spain. The wings come from an old angel ornament. The arm comes from a religious statue. The head also comes from the religious statue that is attached to the body.  I stained the figure to give it a vintage look.

Okay class, what does this figure represent? No? Don't know? Here goes—This is the angel "Charmeine" who represents the angel of Harmony—it shows us how to bring harmony into our lives. She represents joy, happiness, friendship and love. So there you go.  That's all I'm doing for now. I am not done with the piece, just taking a break. Signing off. Anastasia S. Weigle, In A Bind.

Day Four — lots of things happened today!

Today I decided to skip the gym in the morning, cancelled a meeting and got busy.

Man, there is so much different fabric that I am trying to incorporate a piece of everything while keeping the design cohesive. You’ll notice that I am spending a lot of time prepping the box, painting and shellac. I do this because it is a form of meditation for me. As I work on the box, I am not really thinking so much as feeling the motion of the brush, the colors that I see, they way the different mediums I use and how they react to each other. As I am doing this, thoughts/ideas pop up into my head about the box and the message I want to convey. It’s an entirely organic process for me.

First thing I did was sand the back of my box and then used yellow oxide acrylic and a clean cloth and rubbed it over the existing color I had.  I then dry ragged it to remove the excess. This continued to create an old patina to the back.  You are wondering why I am bothering to do so much to the back?  Because the back of this assemblage will be equally important as the front. It, too, will have some sort of assemblage/construction/art.

I cut four small pieces of the white fabric that was in my construction box and lined the small drawers. Each drawer houses an assemblage or object that represents to me “Harmony” or “Living in Harmony”.  Nature (organic) and construction (inorganic) are the two driving themes when I say “Living in Harmony.” I also brushed some Calypso orange to the front drawer and dry ragged it off. I tinted the knobs as well.

In drawer one I assemblage a small bird. I started with a small white bird you would buy at a craft store where the wedding items are. I removed the tail and wing feather. 

I then took the chip brush that was in my Construction Box and removed the bristles. 

I then took a portion of the bristle and created a new tail and added a small metal heart that I clipped from a bracelet and adhered that tool. I added two new wings that are curled and covered them with green cloth that was in my box. I then used a small aluminum coin and using a jeweler’s anvil hammered it to create a small curve that I glued to the back of the birds head. I used the tip of one of the nails for its beak. I added a small curled vine twig to the top of its head and a piece of bauble on its chest that reads “love” on one side and “inspire” on the other. I then tinted with stain. This bird represents beauty and harmony.

In drawer two is a small plastic vile and stuffed in it are the dry petals from a pink carnation. The top and sides of the vile/tube was deliberately cracked and broken. I stuffed the top with a speckled pebble from the beach and wrapped elastic cord around the tube. The piece represents man’s futility in trying to control nature, hence the cracked plastic tube. On a side note, I chose to use plastic because I felt it represented inorganic waste/trash.

In drawer three, I have broken bits of marble, slate, stone and concrete that was in my box. These represent the enduring strength of nature. That no matter what we do, nature will, in the end, prevail over man.

In the fourth drawer is a small bundle of incense wrapped with unbleached cotton ribbon. Attached to the incense are small pieces of curly vine. The sweet aroma of the incense symbolizes something pleasing and acceptable being offered to God who gave us authority over the planet. The question we have to ask ourselves is have we taken that responsibility to heart?

Each box has a small tag attached with string. Each tag was created using the small round dots of the colorful fabric that was in my box.  A word is written on back of each tag. I use letters torn out of my vintage magazine collection.  I used the following words to represent each drawer:

1.     Bird = tag: Spirit

2.     Vile with petals =  tag: Futility

3.     Rocks/Stone = Strength

4.     Incense = for God

I also used that fabric to line the cubbyhole that is above the four drawers. Once that dried I brushed it with tinted shellac. I then painted the shelves cadmium orange and then dry brushed transparent raw sienna acrylic over that. It seemed to match nicely with the color Calypso Orange. I then finished it all off which images pasted inside the back wall where the drawers go in and glued pieces of rulers

to the shelf front. This is all part of the assemblage process that I describe as “automatic writing.”

I've been working since 9 am and it is now 3:30 pm. I am done for the day. I think I earned a burger and a beer so I'm off to get that! Signing off. Anastasia S. Weigle, In A Bind.

Day three of my "Construction for Humanity"

Good evening everyone:  I'm standing here with the small can of paint that came with my box of construction items. The color is called: Calypso Orange and I really like it.  I decided to paint the back of the frame the orange color. I added heavy coats mixed with shellac and uneven brush strokes just to make it look old. (image 1).

I painted the drawers on the outer part the orange. Then I will lightly shellac the drawer covers, let them dry, treat them with a wash of orange and shellac again.   (image 2)

I am going to use four different fabrics for the inside of these boxes. You can see above on the left photo, the fabrics I chose and on the right the lining of the fabric in the boxes. (image 3).

This took me about three hours. Tomorrow I am going to finish the interior of the box and start to assemble to put into it. Tomorrow I am going to finish the interior of the box and then start assembling objects to go inside. Signing off. Anastasia S. Weigle, In A Bind.