Re-Construction Mode in the Workshop and Studio

If the found object can be carried, disassembled, cross-sectioned, sanded, drilled, wired, glued, screwed, nailed, folded, painted, polished
---it it is mine to re-imagine.

Enough said.

... put down the electronic device.

... leather table runners in the works.

Tree Craze

On a whim, I gave myself a challenge to use what I have in creating 

 a-tree-a-day 'til the 25th.  Sizes varied 8"- 48".

 I gave away a couple ... sold a few ...  others were digested. 

US Flag / Assemble Your Own

Why buy Old Glory when you probably have stuff around the house to make your own.

Frame and Substrate:  Old window shutter minus the slats , piece of MDF
             Mixed Media: old books, building blocks, postage stamp, bingo game, music sheets, random hardware, ruler, license plates, left-over scraps from prior art projects, leather, furniture and architectural remnants
Tools: bandsaw, hammer, nails, wood glue, screws, hand-drill and bits, sand paper, ruler

Old Glory II

Red, white and ...

... blue

Repurpose a Wooden Box

               Old wooden, weathered window boxes get a new license on life
----along with all the rescued and repurposed paraphernalia that now dress them.

All for sale last weekend of June in Marion MA,  SEMAX sale.

Nothing is safe from reuse

Former garden gate and rescued plate team up.
.

Sitting pretty, with or without a purpose, really.

Cracked bat hits a home run and offers a grip 

.

Overkill

As I have said, art should make you feel something.   It should move you  ---make you smile, cringe, dream, visualize, think.

This is my reaction to an NRA notion that teachers should carry guns in schools.   Disturbing.

And seriously, if we register our cars, all guns should be registered, too.  Background checks?---take as long as you need.  Don't get me going on types of guns ... big difference in hunting an animal vs. shredding an animal ---unless the plan is to make jerky on the spot.

    

Overkill /  12"x12"x6"

Overkill (back and side view)

Always something surprising on the inside.

Standing at Attention: Found Objects Assembled

I think we are each entitled to a great fall once in our life.

Parents or masked crusaders might
come a-running.

A little "mental mending" is in order.

The Cabinet

      and

The Eagle Has Landed

---from the Noyes Farm series

Medical advice is at our keyboard fingertips.
---------------------------------------

In grammar school, science and I were miles apart, but an interesting textbook cover
could catch my attention for awhile.
These polkadots and tiny numbers were actually from the inside of a nuclear reactor.

Apollo, in the flesh.

Do you remember where your
 feet were planted as our Apollo spacecraft's
astronauts planted the US flag on the moon?

 The vintage painted timbers I used for the bodies of the assemblages were originally farming implements.  The farmer probably did not have this kind of repurposing in mind for them
---as they were stored up and away in barn rafters for decades.  Last winter's heavy snowfall collapsed that barn's roof and they landed in my creative hands.

Fused Dragonfly

 Finally finished my first fused Wallfly.  It rested as I ruminated over the process and created Wallfly #2 .  Motivation was jump-started when I decided to have my  Wednesday art students create their own winged creatures.  Both are on exhibit, all summer long, at the Concord Art Association.

Wallfly #11, 15" x 36"  SOLD

detail of fused plastic bags and free motion stitching 

Body parts include a chair spindle, vintage game pieces and utensil handle.
(Added bright blue swirly antennae after this photo was shot.)

The Process In Progress

  Finally got back to the Pillar Project.   A porch pillar from the old farmhouse next door is getting repurposed; it stood in my basement collecting sawdust for awhile.  Eventually it was chopped into thirds, rough sanded and transferred upstairs.  Ideas percolated and visions were sketched; yet other projects moved forward.  From the dismantled Victorian house  hidden in the woods, another pillar was picked and it too, awaits its own metamorphosis.

 In Her Shoes, has an circus-like weather vane apparatus stemming from its top.
History, souls, ghosts, stories ---flying at me from all directions --- I love this assemblage biz.  Designing, searching, gathering, rearranging, popping storylines --- finding objects that satisfy;  it's a gradual transformation process.

 Day after day I uncover this camoflaged cut, turn it, muse over the juxtaposition of color, texture and text.  Too busy--- not enough--- is it cohesive?

I remind myself to STEP BACK and STEP OUT.
It is almost there.  We both are in progress.

Message Boards & Hooks

*discarded headboards find a new purpose

 SOLD

SOLD