cabinet make over

 Time for a change:

 

 These little spice cabinets are a dime a dozen in both "new" stores and thrift shops. They're perfect not only for paints,  bead bottles and dinky bits, but would be great fodder for shrine work as well. I painted and glittered this one 6 years ago, and it's been everywhere from bathrooms to studio to kitchen. Time for a change though--needs a little zazzin up. The doors and drawer pulls are buttons with shanks that i just wood glued into the old knob spaces.

Today's project :} 

another corpse home!!

Mary Anne's corpse has arrived in her hands! It's amazing how many interpretations can be made with her theme "Escape". Go see on her blog! Well done, my CorpseMistresses!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

untitled

My personally set challenge right now is to work bigger. Easier said than done! Scaling up doesn't necessarily mean making things bigger but i find myself grabbing pieces and not wondering how to make a rusty piece smaller, or a pod miniscule, so *something* must be working :} 

I like little details. I love spending an hour on a small area so that the viewer has to look in. If i don't want to make myself crazy (er), i can't lavish that time on a lot of handwork. NOT that i am NOT using small textural details: they just have to be a bit more apparent, less fussy and less "in", if that makes sense. I'm trying to let the materials do that talking, not adding myriad fine stitches or beads. 

This still isn't the big size i had envisioned in my dreams, but it's getting there. This canvas is 16 x 20", and i'm thinking of extending the idea by doing others that will butt up against it. Really what i want to do is stretch my arms to reach side to side!!!!!!!!!!

 

 Details:     (all clickable)

 

 

 

 

 

Mixed media included the canvas with gesso, pods, rusty bits, metal bars, embroidery floss, plastic bug, gold faux mica flakes, grommets, eyelets, acrylic paint, Xpanda, clear coarse glitter flakes, mesh, an unfinished textile UFO (centre) with painted cheesecloth and rusted lutrador, and 9 hours of totally focused arlee!!!!!

I have no idea what to title this one though!!! 

Update on Wed, June 25, 2008 at 06:15PM by arlee

Thank you all for the title suggestions! I had an email from a friend who suggested something that tied in with some of the ideas you had and the way the piece came about. So now it's officially "She Dreams Out".

tease on big

(clickable) 

tuesdaytuesday

This is FINALLY on its way to me!

 

I don't know yet if both sides of my page were used or only one--regardless i can't wait to actually see it!!! I've still been working on other pages for this journal, incorporating a lot of things along the way. Themed with Sci-Fi images, it celebrates my first passion when i was a child---reading and writing and illustrating futuristic poetry and stories. 

Today i will also be ripping and grommetting, burning and raw stitching and burning again, and slathering gesso and paint, stuffing figures and lacing things.  

Update on Tue, June 24, 2008 at 09:01AM by arlee

Grist!!! Scored a bunch of these from the Flower Mine-----we're given samples a lot of times by the giftware reps and i was given these. Not sure what type of pod/vegetable/fruit they are, but  i love the shapes. They are quite hard--took 10 minutes and a sweaty hacksaw to slice this one. Even the stem was sliceable so you KNOW it was a tough nut to crack!

 

 

The inside was quite dusty and i'm sure one curled up bit was a very dessicated grub, long corpsified and demised.

These will be embellished a bit then hard glued to a current canvas. 

considering myself booted :}

Thank you all for the "un-block" "un blocking party"!!!   Tomorrow i will throw myself at the canvases and DO DO DO DO DO. I have three days off in a row and want to DO DO DO DO DO!!!!!!!!!!!!

De dah dah dah  

block party

Wouldn't it be great if we cybre friends could get together and have a party to get rid of a "block"??????? I'm stumped right now---i have 9 large canvases that are silently, whitely yelling for me to do *something* with/to them---and no idea where to start. I played yesterday with my eyelet setter and ended up merely with a pile of painted papers with metal bound holes in them. I have a stack of dyed and painted fabrics in good sizes, and don't know what to do with them either. There's a couple of UFO's i DO want to finish, but i have no gumption. I'm involved in some on line commitments/exhanges---they're piled on the work table.

It's an empty feeling. I need a boot in the Bazotski. 

one

Voodoo Lily

While stuffing Rubbermaids, hucking boxes and sorting our belongings, i found this!

 

Arum: Sauromatum venomous. I'm not sure if the corm is still viable, as i've had it for 3 years, but i'm going to give it a shot! Appaprently every part is toxic, and it smells, so it will definitely be outside, in the shade and away from the aminals. 

Scrappin'

No yelling, no fighting, no hair pulling, no ass slapping making up after:} Today's adventure was Princess Auto, where i picked up a combination leather punch/eyelet setter and 300 eyelets in black, silver, copper and gold for 6.99!!!!!!!!!!!!! Then we went to the junkyard where Greyman scored some car parts and i scavenged for rusty bits. I had to chase a couple of fellows away from *my* chosen car---it's only common courtesy after all (HMMMPH) to ask someone who is yanking bits off, what they want if they got there first. Greyman advised them not to mess with me!

MIL just shook her head in disgust again when we came home with our loot. Though Greyman is no artist (except for b/w photography), he's the only one i know who "gets" it when i'm excited about this stuff. WHY can i never be in a place where *someone* else is a like minded artist??????????????? The Calgary EG meeting was a major let down in that respect..........

The corroded and dirty pieces i'm bringing home and more interested in now are more complex shapes and larger sizes. No art to show you right *now* with them, BUT, those large canvases are calling!!!!!!!!