Recycled wood art

 

This post is from April, 2015 and is entitled:

Recycled wood art

 Today I'm doing a bit of recycling in my basement.

In my basement studio, I got out my dedicated beeswax crock pot, plugged it in, then waited.   While I waited, I did a load of laundry and hung it on the line.  Yes, it takes that long for this crock pot to melt the beeswax.

I'm not sure why I have no step-out photos of this, because I had a ton of time.  Instead, I concentrated on this project and forgot to take photos.  The piece of wood on the left began with a few leaves I had pressed from the previous year.  I adhered the leaves and flowers using the beeswax.  I then adhered some of my gifted glittery tissue paper also applying it using beeswax.

The wood on the right was left over from when I attempted to repair a strip of wood outside my back patio.  I had already painted it, and it was screaming for me to not throw it away.  Instead, I adhered three leaves that I had pressed the previous autumn.  I used beeswax in lieu of glue.

I was hoping for a better view of this one,

and a better view of the two together.

Even though I adore my camera, there is only so much I can do

in the poor lighting I must contend with in the basement studio.  Although these are probably not finished pieces, they are started and that was all the time I could spend on this project today.  

Thanks as usual for joining me on this journey.  Your comments mean the world to me.

 

Today is Day 15 (tax day in the USA) of 22 in which I brought back a post where I altered two pieces of scrap wood using beeswax to adhere pressed leaves and flowers. 

 

Another assemblage

 

The following post was originally published in April, 2014. 

Sometimes I think I've found my calling when I rummage through my found objects and find things that make me happy.  Today is no exception.  And from all the comments I got on my first assemblage, you seem to like them, too.

This is my latest offering.

The very heavy metal pieces are ear tags for cattle.  A friend gave them to me when he cleaned out his garage one year.  I added a can lid, a washer, and a bolt, all things that were of no use to people who were getting rid of them.  Although the mirror, at the very top of the assemblage is new, it went through the flood that consumed my basement a few years ago.  The glass bubbles and butterflies were from my stash and new, but I needed something to add a bit of color to the piece.

I'm not sure how clever this title is, but if you don't like it, we'll blame it on Bleubeard.

Here is a side view that shows the size of the block I used and a bit of detail of the piece.

More detail shows the tags were either made by, or came from a serum company.  The mirror had been sitting in rusty water at some point.

I love rust, and this assemblage is no exception.

Today is Day 9 of 22 and I reposted another assemblage I created that I named "Forty Five (and Counting)."  I hope you enjoy it, because I hope to add more assemblages to my repertoire, along with fabric and paper.  Thank you so much for visiting today.

 

Assemblage fun

 

This post was originally published in April, 2014.

I've wanted to create an assemblage for awhile now,

and the idea of using found objects to create one fit perfectly with the concept of recycling.  So I grabbed a few metal pieces, and set out to create something fun.

I began by covering one of my 12 inch X 12 inch X 1 inch (30.48 cm X 30.48 cm X 2.54 cm) wooden blocks with paper scraps.  I laid down bits of watercolor to create a bit of color.  In addition to the metal pieces, I got out some of the Sculpey I had been given in exchange for a tutorial, and made a few faces and hands from a mold I own. 

As I was creating this piece, those words kept running through my head, so I knew this was what I had to name it.

Some of the details are shown here.

Today is Day 8 of 22, and I recycled a block of wood, several pages from books and dictionaries, a rusty can lid, a metal ring, and a metal piece I have no idea what it's called or what it was used for in a previous life.  I also managed to use some of the Sculpey, too.  Please enjoy my Mother and Child Reunion and thank you for visiting.  

 

What's On Your Workdesk this 744th Wednesday?

 

Once again it's time to pay homage to Julia at Stamping Ground, our wonderful host and Queen desker by showing what's on our desks, tables, or floor. 

Before we begin, I need to let everyone know my electric company has informed me they will be replacing my meter sometime this Wednesday morning.  My electricity will be off for a minimum of four hours while it is being replaced.  

Julia likes to keep things short and sweet, but today she can blame Jan (LLJ) who wants to see my largest rocking horses.

This lovely rocker lives on my front porch.  Two small children or one older child can sit in it and rock it back and forth.  Right Minutes before I took this photo, one of my wind chimes fell and broke.  You can see the remains that I haven't yet removed.

This horse sits in my main floor bath.  It is definitely large and children (and I confess I also) have ridden on it, too.

This leads to an unexpected and unplanned second collection, which I didn't start.

I used to live in Webb City, Missouri (USA), which was known as the Cardinal City.  All of a sudden, people started giving me cardinals, then other birds.  My entire parlor was filled with birds (mostly cardinals).  Here in Wichita, everything is crowded into my main floor bath!

My final large horse is also the heaviest.  It weighs a ton because it is solid metal.  It stands a little over three feet (91.44 cm or 0.9144 m) tall.  In the back on the highboy is a grotesque object given me by a friend who thought I would LOVE this horrible piece of art.  She even placed my grandfather's hat on it.  She died of cancer recently, and I have simply been unable to remove the art, no matter how much I hate it!

Now you've seen my three largest rocking horses, Jan.  Sorry you asked?

I finished the wood piece I had just sanded last week.  I had trouble getting everything in focus.

I also started another piece.  Not sure how I will cover those holes in the wood, but I realize this is definitely NOT finished.  Also not sure why I didn't mask the background, but I guess I thought I didn't need to.

Sorry this is such a long post.  I know Julia wants it short and sweet, but that wasn't going to happen when I showed my three large rocking horses.  Thanks, too, for joining Bleubeard and me today. Messy or neat, lots of products or next to none, you will get an idea of what other artists are keeping on their tables, benches, desks, and floors! 

What's On Your Workdesk this 743rd Wednesday?

 

It's Wednesday, which means it's time to join my dear friend and head desker Julia at Stamping Ground for the latest edition of What's On Your Workdesk Wednesday, or as most know, WOYWW for short.   

We've all more than likely heard the old adage "Garbage in, garbage out."

No matter how I tried to paint this press board, it was still garbage!  Between my aching back and food poisoning I got on Friday, I feel these are wasted boards.  I am giving up on garbage and

 

using some real wood.  Thankfully, the sanding is finished and I am ready to paint this.

Neet asked me how many rocking horses I have now.  Jan asked me what my largest ones are.  The last time I counted, I had over 480, but I have added a few since then.  I will share the largest ones next week, Jan.

I was also asked where I keep my rocking horses.  EVERYWHERE.  You won't go very far without seeing at least two or three.  Even my two baths have them.  They are in my kitchen, the bedrooms, the office, and both my craft room and basement art studio.  They are also in my laundry room.  Here are about a dozen, some of which I have shown in the past.

The mess at the bottom left is actually several of my completed altered books.

Thanks for stopping by my desk today.  Please join me at Julia's, where you will meet the kindest, most generous bloggers in the world.

What's On Your Workdesk, this 742nd Wednesday?

 

It's Wednesday and that means it's time to join my dear friend Julia at Stamping Ground for WOYWW. 

I actually have a real project on my table.  Some of you saw the debacle I showed on Monday where I spilled over half a bottle of spray mist on my table and attempted to wipe it up with card stock.  What you see is all that is left of the mist.

My internet friend Mae said she had never seen me work with wood, so I decided to dig some of these scraps out of the basket of wood that will go in the chiminea.  These are just pressed board that was in 2 inch widths.  The length was varied, but I tried to pick three that were close to the same length.  Here I have taken a piece of sandpaper and tried to sand them. 

 

I don't have any gesso, so grabbed my white acrylic paint and my old rusty brush.  I placed the wood on my ice cream lid palette.

 

I believe I will need two coats of paint 

because the wood soaked into the paint.  I plan to write the word Love on one side of these and place them on my revolving art table.

Speaking of revolving art table, this is what is currently on it.  I had planned to wait to share this new silicone rocking horse until it was cooler and I could actually cook something in it.  However, Iris has been telling me on more than one occasion I need to bake something in it, so I decided not to wait to show it.

There is NO WAY I'm baking anything in my oven while the temps are around 107 F (41.67 C).  And trust me.  It's nearly that hot in my kitchen, too.  That's why I'm mostly living in my office where I can save electricity by running my window unit AC and not the whole house AC.

Now let's head to Julia's.  Messy or neat, lots of products or next to none, you will get an idea of what other artists are keeping on their tables, benches, desks, and floors!