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