Fill In The Blank - Exhibit for ArtEAST

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Paper mache' box supplied by ArtEAST



As a member of ArtEast (a fabulous gallery and organization, by the way!), I was asked to participate in their "Fill In The Blank" exhibit.  Where the members (both artists and non-artists), were given  7"x7"x3" paper mache' boxes, and told "Your charge is to fill in this blank box in such a way as to represent yourself, spark conversation and inspire someone to declare ""You've got some explaining to do!"".



Here's the blank box on my table (definitely needing filling!)









1/4 sunflower


It sounded like a fun project, so of course I signed up!  But then I had to find something to fill it with.
I didn't have time to create a new piece of artwork for it... but perhaps I already had something I could use!  As luck would have it, I had just taken apart a painting.  It was a 1/4 flower-face from an attempt to make a whole, interchangeable art piece... but I didn't execute it well and wasn't happy with the results.  I took it apart to experiment with silk that had been permeated with matte medium (which is how I normally get my paintings to adhere to canvas).  It was flexible, but not soft and silky.
But it was perfect for the box!!




Some of the items,
I thought about incorporating
The box with the main
panel mounted, and edges
painted green


So I began to cut it up to fit the inside of the box.
I painted the edges and corners of the box a soft green to match the tone of the green in the painting.  Then I began to glue in my pieces, and play with what else to fill the box with??




I paint on silk with dyes, so I needed a nod to that. I'm a crafter/maker too (and can't seem to escape that!), so I wanted a nod to that as well.   I have a HUGE button .. collection (addiction?) and wanted to use some of them.  And I have sold a lot of upcycled items including my most popular world-globe-based items - so I needed a nod to that as well.

 Once I'd mounted the silk painting on the inside, and put scrap silks on the outside of the box.  I began to try figure out the layout for the rest of the items.
 

a small world globe in the
form of a pencil sharpener



As the owner of Re-Covered Treasures, I have made and sold MANY world globe lampshades and world globe bowls. I found this nifty world globe pencil sharpener and thought it would be perfect in size and scale, to use in my box.
 






So I made this tiny globe into into those a pendant lamp & shade, and a bowl.

Mini world globe lamp
Mini world globe bowl
(with floral arrangement)

The bowls are typically used for holding floral arrangements so I made a little arrangement out of silk flowers which I painted with a touch of dye. 

And the lampshade - I used a strip of silk which I pulled threads from until it looked like fringe. Then added a wire and a lightbulb (from an xmas light!), and then wired it right into the box - to hang like a pendant fixture! 


A few
silk tools



Then I chose a few silk tools (specifically a paintbrush, an eye-dropper, and a needle-tip applicator bottle).  I even added a small chunk of loose/soft silk which has dyes on it - so people can see (and potentially feel) the way the silk really is before it's mounted.
Button art

I went through my vast array of buttons (oh say, 60lbs of buttons thanks to Ebay!) and found some that were of a similar color scheme.  And I found 1 funky 60's pin in an orange-swirl pattern to use.  Now to create a little bit of button-art.




I had one last thing to add to complete my box ... the labels that I wear (figuratively, most of the time) daily.  Those I added, scattered around - because that's how I end up wearing them... randomly, often overlapping.

Here is my finished box.   It's box #38 - and I hope you stop by ArtEAST to see all of the fabulous boxes that have been created!!
My finished box for Fill In The Blank - at ArtEAST

Right side
Left side




















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