Preparation

Because I work a full-time day job, plus have a wife and a life to keep up with, I can't spend nearly as much time, head down in an art project, as I used to. So I have found little ways to make some of the steps of an assemblage easier by doing them in advance.

For instance, the "spilled" bottles I include in nearly ever assemblage can take up to a week to dry; more, if the weather is humid. Because of that, I like to make them up in advance, and like everything else, it's easier to do several at a time - plus that gives me different ones to choose from when it comes time to put a box together. So, today was "Spill Day."

Once I had those finished, I realized I had almost no "filled" bottles, either. So I assembled a variety of different sizes and shapes, and started filling. Basically, nothing in our kitchen is safe - especially the spice cabinet - when I start filling bottles. Peppercorns, black sesame seeds, mustard seeds that I've dyed, along with thin flakes of copper, translucent beads, and anything else I find, get mixed with oil, corn syrup, ink, or any combination of them. Once each was filled, and sealed with a cork, cap, or glass marble, they get dipped and sealed with wax. (I use scented wax because it also tends to give the whole assemblage a nice scent, especially if it has been closed up for awhile.) So, today turned into "Bottle Day."

At some point, I need to stain some of the new boxes I bought last weekend. Because I mix my own stain, those are easier to do in batches, as well. Plus, there are new metal bits to rust up, new shelves/bottle compartments to build, and some new inclusions to sort through. Now, does all this prep work mean I'll be making more boxes in the near future?

It might... but that's for another day. Right now, I'm taking my wife out for Chinese food!

New assemblage: CHRONIC

Stuff on Etsy

I need to make room so I can make more!

Assemblages for sale

I made the decision, at my wife's suggestion, to put a couple of assemblage boxes on Etsy, instead of eBay for right now. It's a double-edged sword, really. eBay can be unnerving and has this built-in tension thing, for some reason. Etsy, however, has the added weight of the seller having to determine the final price. Maybe that's easy for some people, but it just makes my guts go squishy. Anyhow, there's a link off to the right, or you can just go to boneandshadow.etsy.com.

Acute Pain

While the dregs of Hurricane Noel blustered outside, I set a huge pot of homemade pumpkin butter on the stove to simmer in the kitchen, and finally finished this box. I have worked on it in bits and pieces over the space of several weekends, which is unusual; generally, once I start one of these, I stay at it until it's done.

I suspect it's time to start chucking a couple of these on eBay - too many of them in the house. My wife wants to hang a couple, but some of them give her the willies, so they need new homes.

Modern Dental Practice

Started this one over the weekend, finished it tonight after dinner.

This one even gives me the creeps.

(You can get a closer look at each side here and here.)

"Stiff Toe"

Hallux Rigidus

4.75"h x 2.75"w x 2"d

Inside

Infernal Alchemy

A wee nod to my love of 'Steampunk'.
Exterior dimensions" 3" x 3"

Bones of Hand

Bones of Hand.

53/4 x 53/4 x 2"

arm.

"Tongue-tied and twisted just an earth-bound misfit, I"
~Pink Floyd
"Learning to Fly"

arm.
6 x 4 x 23/4"

Bones

"Bones"
43/8 x 43/8 x 13/8"

I've seen the signs before.

I'm keeping this short, because I'm currently enjoying (!) a nassssty head cold in the middle of a heatwave. (Rob: that's "Acute Catarrh".) Frankly, I'm wiped out. But I wanted to respond to those who couldn't guess what I'm gearring up for. I'm actually taking some vacation time with my beautiful bride next week, and between day-trips and some genuine relaxation, hoping to spend at least one day creating a new one of these. I've been itching to get back to them. :)

Something's on the wind...

So, yesterday, I ordered the badger toe bones. I spent the better part of today yak shaving: rearranging art supplies, sorting metal bits, stacking wee wooden boxes, relocating tools. Tonight, I somehow managed to come home with a Dremel. (I'm torn between blaming Beth or insisting that I needed a new drill anyway - honest!) Anyone care to guess what all of this is adding up to?

Vertebral Column

Or, "How I spent my Fourth of Juy"


Beats a misspent youth, I reckon.

Happy Holiday to the US peeps that read here; Happy Tuesday to the rest of the world!

Wee.

A few months ago, I was blathering on about doing assemblages in smaller boxes. Smaller, that is, than the roughly 8x8" I like doing best of all. The smaller ones are a larger challenge.

So, my friend Janaka (poet, publisher, and so many, many things...) gifted me with a box of boxes. A veritable plethora of boxes, in assorted sizes and colours. All small.

You can imagine: instant brain-freeze, ice-cream-headache, ohgod moment.


They were like funky wooden children's blocks. I kept playing with the smallest of them, sure that the tiniest ones would not get used. They are beautiful colours, rubbed smooth and worn in all the right spots. But really, they're far too small to create in, right?

Right?


Apparently not.


These happened yesterday. Actual sizes are 2" x 2" and 2" x 2.75".

Third of Three: Flatulent Colic

How could I resist an illness of that name?

Second of Three: Accute Catarrh

First of Three: Rheumatism

Size matters.

Working on larger assemblage boxes, I always worry about making sure they are adequately filled, that the space is used well enough to keep the eye busy and happy. I think that’s why it’s unlikely I’d enjoy doing anything larger than the 8×8.25″ - the largest I have done. Part of it - along with my obsession for details - probably comes from the few years I spent doing 1″:1′ miniatures.

The smaller boxes, however, come with their own challenges. Toughest is the feeling of not having enough space to convey what I want. The boxes are smaller, but the scale of the elements doesn’t change, so I have to be picky. Sometimes, I’ll include a piece in the collage so that only a single word shows. They are equally difficult to the larger ones, and sometimes a lot more frustrating.

The upside to the small boxes is that I can work on multiple ideas at once because I have room!

So, I might actually have a new assemblage to post this week. Or two.

Or three.

miscellaneous ailments

A bit daunting to take on all 3 images for the illustration. The tinting helped to seperate them after the aging was done. I really like working with this size box - 8 x 8.25″, and fairly shallow.