The as yet to be named newest Steampunk in the family was very misbehaved! They simply would not do what I wanted them to do. So Ron stepped in and in his best dad voice read them the riot act. Success! Here are some closeups showing their northern light, iceberg collar, equator belt buckle and ocean of fish. In addition, They are a rattler, another Steampunk rolls and the shake is on the worktable.
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.
Little boxes saved for just the right projects. Mother of Pearl button waste, eco printed silk, antique book words and Knick Knacks in ticky tacky boxes. Each is 6×6 inches, some introverted and some extroverted. Here are 2 of the latest finishes on the studio work table.
Assemblages don’t have to be cogs and wheels, nuts and bolts or heavy metal. Sometimes an assemblage can be sweet. Gosh I dislike that word since it makes me think of ‘chocolate boxy’ crafts work, full of crochet and flowers. I had purchased this pair of antique leather Mary Janes simply because I loved them. They evoked days gone by and sweet childhood memories. I hope I honored that feeling with these two assemblage pieces. And OOPS, there are flowers and bits of crochet edging. The tiny beaded flower is from a broken necklace of my mother’s. Funny how I keep finding uses for the bits of her life that are left. The yellow base is the lid of a luxury soap tin and the red bird base is the cover of an antique book. These will eventually be for sale in my Etsy Shop.
The starting point for this tin tile assemblage was the center Beech Nut vintage Coffee paper from the front of a matchbook. Next was the paper clock face and the clock hands to represent a vintage clock. Because I knew I was going to use the vintage sheet music, I wanted to turn the whole tile into an interactive artwork that can be strummed. I don’t think you can actually make music on it but it does make sound . I punched holes in the tin with a nail and hammer. Then I individually strung silver wire top to bottom.
The music is again from my mother’s sheet music from the 1940’s. The Coffee Song (which wasn’t originally about coffee) reads ” Love while you may, too soon youth fades away, so come, come, sing for awhile my song.” All us coffee lovers remember how we could drink gallons of coffee in our youth but youth fades away along with our ability to drink gallons of this stuff. Nostalgic.
JP Dawes Contemporary Artist 