Artist Colour Box

Pigment, glorious pigment… sunny ochre; mud pie umber; depression blue; snake in the grass green; crime crimson; mysterious black; little lie white; plummy purple and orangutan orange. She drifted off into the colour wheel of her mind.

The Trousse

Artist colours

Artist Pigments

Artist Tools

ARTIST COLOUR BOX; An Homage to my Aunt Billy to whom these vials of china paint powder and old tools belonged. She encouraged me to be a creative and independent thinker right from the start…I still miss her after all these years.

The ephemera: Various antique colour charts and map legends; a vintage photo

The found objects: brayer; palette knife, artist brushes; silver spoon, vials of china paint powder; altoid tin ; round box; paiint tin lid; cigar box.

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Born to be Wild

Heading down the highway

Looking for adventure

or whatever comes her way.

Tilly was a woman to be reckoned with.

( Beatrice Shilling british aeronautical engineer and motorcycle racer)

Inside left of cigar box Tilly, her map and her tools.

The box open.

Top view.details

The box closed

The ephemera: originals: registered mail sticker, torn bit of letter sent via clipper, ration stickers from World War II, vintage French envelope addressed to a Parisian doctor, antique manuscript from the 1800s and  reproductions of vintage map of the south of France, reproduction of a vintage photo of Beatrice Shilling aka Tilly.

The found objects: old cigar box, vintage anagram letters, old gages, antique pocket watch, old switch, vintage key, vintage castor wheel, vintage zinc letter 3, old door knob.

THE GATE HOUSE

He rarely left the Gate house,

preferring the Rolls, the Bentley, the Daimler to the Family.

He only barely put up with their presence

while chauffeuring them around the country side.

So naturally he became the prime suspect.

SOLD 🙂

The gate house

In the house series 7/9

The ephemera: old railway map of Britain, reproduction of vintage car illustration, reproduction of vintage mugshot, decorative paper.

The found object: antique key

THE COOK HOUSE

Hey, hey, hey good lookin’

What’ you got cookin’?

How’s about cookin’ somethin’ up with me.

SOLD (at the Teeny Tiny Art Show)

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA

In the house series 3/9

The ephemera: reproduction of Muybridge’s lady with a scarf, reproduction of puzzle pieces from antique game: “les metiers”, reproduction of recipe for Gone with the Wind Cake from my mother’s recipe book, decorative paper layered with old letter.

Found objects: silver oyster fork, vintage wooden lotto game piece

Size: 4 inches by 12 inches house shaped wooden block.

London Gentlemen’s Club : assemblage

They went down to London to spend a few days at the Club.

The East India Club, number 16 Saint-James’s Square.

Away from the the toils and trials  of country life

Was  the motive one of pure pleasure: reading, gaming, brandy?

Or was there something more shifty, more sinister, afoot?

gentlemans club

the ephemera: page from a french school copy book 1889, faded green soft book cover on sides of box, weathered paper, vintage bottle label.

the found objects : stickmen from previous post, red clay poker chip, old black game dice, wooden checker pieces, spectacles, and small bottle of ochre china paint powder.

notice the hole in the head

STICK MEN : assemblage bits

Boomdeadda came to play

On an island summer’s day.

She gave the gift of an old yard stick.

I chopped it into little bits…

And made stick people out of it.

I will pay to her hommage

When they show up in an assemblage.

SOLD 🙂

Sorry K…the poem is a little lame but I love the gift and I hope you like what I have done with it. Here they are in sets of threes. I already have a plan in mind for three of them…he he he.  And here it is : Gentlemen’s Club

The ephemera: vintage photos, a vintage sticker, an image of an old door knob

The found objects: old typewriter keys, old game pieces, a spring, a watch face, a verdigris crown , a rusty key, a washer, a heart shaped charm, a red scrabble tile, a tiny drawer handle and of course a vintage yard stick from a Seattle paint company.

SOUS LE VENT: assemblage

Sous le vent

Si tu crois que je t’oublie, écoute

ouvre ton port aux vents de la nuit,

ferme les yeux

et fais comme si j’avais pris la mer

j’ai sorti la grande voile et j’ai glissé sous le vent

Fais comme si je quittais la terre

J’ai trouvé mon étoile et je l’ai suivie un instant

sous le vent.

– Jacques Veneruso

SOLD

The ephemera: old map of italy, vintage postcard.

Found objects: vintage fishing lure and flasher, vintage vials with china paint, vintage thread spool, old door knob, tiny coconut, vintage hinge, printer’s block X.

PETER HAS HIS GAME FACE ON : assemblage

Ever since kindergarten Peter had always loved playing games…but never by the rules. Devious, he hid behind a complicated set of moves, needing to win at any cost. It was all about power and perception. Others are starting to see through him of late, questioning his intentions and backing him into a corner. Had Peter finally out manoeuvred himself?

SOLD

The ephemera: original pages from an antique French copy book from 1890 containing the words  homme honnete; original pages from an antique Larousse dictionary from 1900 containing the words jeu, facade and deception, reproduction of vintage caricature drawing.

Found objects: vintage game pieces including lotto card, poker chip, chess piece, bingo numbers, dice, dominoes , scrabble tiles, a playing block, old slide ruler and vintage number 1.

THIS MAN REFUSED TO OPEN HIS EYES: assemblage

This man refused to open his eyes
to the possibility of a different kind of life.
He remains imprisoned
by the same old patterns
that got him here in the first place.
Trapped by his unwillingness
to make a change.

Assemblage box: How to

Step one Find a suitable box: old wooden whiskey crate

Step two:
Cover the box inside and out with old papers…in this case city plans from an old atlas and an old french document from 1868

Step three:
Gather found objects and ephemera that suit the theme or idea

Step four:
Make shelves to fit chosen objects

Step five:
Affix shelves and main image (mug shot from the 1920s)

Step six:
Affix found objects
beach combed door handle, padlock, key, metal arrow tag, safe dial, glass eye ball, fishing hook, mouse trap, wooden castor

MOUVEMENT: étude du squelette

The three of them moved as one, with grace and strength, always together and yet always restricted by the watchful and critical eye of propriety.

SOLD (at Bound to Be Different)

Inside the Box

Main Box:The grace, strength and beauty of the three of them united in movement and affection.

Lid:The strict eye of Victorian society, censoring and judging them for their alternative life style.

The ephemera: Vintage dancer/acrobat photo; vintage pharmacie label, vintage postage stickers, page from French school workbook from 1886.
Found objects: lid from an ink bottle, electrical tag, old fuse, clock part, vintage key tag from the Empress Hotel, dolls leg, old folded ruler, vintage metal slide cover, vintage house number and an old cigar box.