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Wednesday, January 28, 2009

Treasure Chest , "Modernostalgia" and Student Work



Here's another garage find. Roy, Dale, and Trigger on the Chow Wagon.


Last
week I bought a present for myself, something I'd been coveting for several months. Near my dentist's office is a store called AM Living that contains eye candy galore, much of it with a European feel. I made a point of stopping in there to comfort myself after a series of deep gum cleaning sessions. It's hard to describe the contents, so I suggest you stop by this downtown store and feast your eyes and imagination.

Not mentioned on the website are several old writing or jewelry chests found in India. Mine cost less than some, because it had more restoration, but there's still plenty of original charm. And it was on sale: 40% off!


Here's the outside of my wooden treasure chest with metal inlay

Inside view--that's the old mirror in the center in the inside lid

Of course, this chest fits my aesthetic perfectly. My rationalization for purchase is that it would inspire me to create and to work steadily on the garage-to-studio-project. (How about GASP for short?) So far this reasoning has worked. In the chest now, I have inks, pens, sealing wax, old postcards, acrylic ink, pen nibs, a few marbles, and stamps (rubber and postage).


All the lids come off and the sectioned compartments all come out. No secret compartment found yet.


Glass pen, ink, sealing wax, and seal

Can you stand more pictures of my treasure chest? Hope so.



Acrylic inks

Rubber Stamps

Inlay on front


Speaking of my aesthetic, I have just discovered Rebecca Purcell, a talented artist, writer, and lover of what she calls "Modernostalgia." I recommend her site and in particular her article here. She has interesting viewpoints on the importance of vintage everyday artifacts as design and art elements and in affirming women's affinity for the personal and well-used. Rebecca is the author of Interior Alchemy. I am saving up for a used copy of this book. It is not inexpensive, but Must Have It!

From Interior Alchemy


From Interior Alchemy

Rebecca's spaces and work appear in the new issue of Where Women Create, a quarterly magazine full of delicious pictures of women's art studios and shops. I got my copy at Paperdoll, where I'll be soon be teaching Altered Alchemy (there's that word again) and Assemble Your Muse.

Student Work Photo Gallery

Lisa's second encaustic piece--intricate carving and painting! (Art of Life Group.)

Jodi's encaustic combining movement and stillness in a harmonious way. (Art of Life group.)

From the PSU class "The Helpmate and the Courtesan." This student dressed herself as a woman of the past in her collage of Veronica Franco, poet, and Judith Leyster, painter.

From the PSU class: A student's fictional diary entry for Veronica Franco.



Student working on a collaging her personal journal for her creative project.




A fictional diary entry for Judith Leyster. I think this student was channeling her, the language is so perfect for the time in which she lived!

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

This is verrry nice! I am not only going to tell you what you want to hear, but I am also going to tell you the truth! This honestly is really beautiful. To some people even the smallest things can mean the most to them. Sometimes they also say one mans trash is another mans treasure, funny how that works. But this right here, is most definitely a piece of treasure that should be kept in a safe place so it doesn't end up in the trash. But no worries, even if it does end up in the trash, it will Most Definitely be another persons treasure because anyone and everyone can find all kinds of their own definition of beauty in here :)