It was city wide garage sales in Mountain Home starting today. It was rainy so we weren’t sure how many would be open. The Lutheran church has 2 sales a year and that’s inside so we knew they would be open and running. I love a sale that figures everything is someone else’s treasure. Since I am on the look out for assemblage art materials I was in luck. The pictures below are what I bought. I’m in love with the oriental paper fans. I broke the bank and spent a total of $2.75.
from the Goodwill store. It was too good to pass up. I saw possibilities. And so it began. It had a closed in front with a tiny gate that opened. I couldn’t get my hand inside so the first thing I did was cut the front out to open it up. Then I could see the beginnings of a shrine.
Tiny mirror tiles on the inside floor and back wall. Painting the little Buddha for the inside. Glueing brass nails and a medallion on the top. It was coming together. I needed to paint the case to bring out the little carvings of flowers and vines.
I was waiting for an order of silver leaf and gold leaf to arrive. I was so happy when it arrived. I’ve never used it before so of course I watched a lot of online videos about it. It all looked so easy! Well let me tell you it is not easy to work with! I was still pleased with the finished look of aged, crinkled precious metals. The final finish was to use black furniture wax on the entire piece. It looks like I envisioned so it was worth it.
Assemblage art, mixed media sculpture takes a lot of stuff. A large variety of stuff. Using my artist’s eye I look for specific kinds and sizes of stuff. It really is more than just buying a bunch of things or even collecting them from other sources. If it doesn’t speak to my inner artist it won’t be used and is just stuff that becomes clutter. These are the things I bought today for sculptures. You can see what most of it is. On the little baggy are teeny tiny blown glass elephants that I already know what they will be used with. The wooden clock case will be used in a shrine and the dial face will be saved for just the right sculpture.
More awesome tree bones from the White River State Park in Arkansas.
Sticks and stones and words that will never hurt you. Working on more of my little assemblages using little boxes. Watercolor and eco printed cloth with passages from antique books. 6 inches square will be for sale in my Etsy shop soon.
JP Dawes Contemporary Artist 