Wind Chime Revisited

During the Labor Day weekend, a friend's daughter came over and was enamored by the wind chimes that hung by our front door. Little did she know the inspiration of making them came from the Bishop Museum and a wall display. Inspired to own this display I set out to make two panels by nailing over 3500 pailettes to these two boards. I purchased the pailettes from Cartright Sequins. She asked if she could pay me $.25 to make her a small panel. I made an offer that she couldn't refuse.
 I said, " What if I did this for you for free?"
Her eyes lit up and everyone in the room thought that I was just putting her on but here I am creating a hot pink board for her with left over pailettes.

Making a 2x2 ft. Wind Chime takes over 600 pailettes

She'll be so surprised when she receives this.

2 2x6 ft. wind chime boards that took over 3500 pailettes to create and over 40 hours of labor nailing them

Hog Board

Hog Cutting Board

Today's post is about functional art, specifically a cutting board. This simple piece is a slab of wood cut into a shape of a pig. It serves as an art piece when it is not being used, as a cutting board, and as a serving tray for cheese, chocolates, salami, or bite size h'orderves. It stands proudly over our sink.

The Guardian of the Sink

The side with the insignia is used for slicing meats like beef, chicken, fish or God forbid pork! Yikes!

Side of Cutting Board Used for Slicing Meats

The other side with no mark, is used for slicing fruits, vegetables, breads, or as a serving tray. Cheers!

The Childbirth Discussion

Natural Childbirth

When my wife was pregnant, we had spirited discussions about natural childbirth versus non-natural methods such as inducing labor and cesarean sections (c-sections) . The irony of it all was that we were hurled in the middle of a debate that wasn't ours. Although we were talking about the same thing, about which childbearing method is the safest for her and for the infant, we couldn't seem to see eye to eye. In the end we had a natural birth and the experience was wonderful but traumatizing for me. I was inspired by all of this to create two pieces to depict the debate.

NCB 1

 

C-Section Light

The beads nailed to the piece on c-section represents of the discomforts of medical intervention. This piece also functions as a light. It hangs in our living room as a conversation piece.

C-Section Lights off

Stenciled Bow Wow

I had an Andy Warhol moment that flashed over my melon one morning. I fulfilled that yearning by cutting a stencil of a bow wow from a manila envelope, I applied acrylic paint with a sponge on the stencil onto square scrap pieces of wood to create these nine different images of my woof woofs (above). I prepared the blank pieces of wood by hand painting backgrounds on them. I drilled holes in select sides and glued barbecue sticks to join all of the images together. This fun piece was perfect for decorating my kid's room.
Another stencil work that I did at an earlier time is of nine framed rhinos. I built a frame to join all of the nine images together. This was the first piece of art that I made for my son's room.

The Labor of Art

Picture 1: Reclaimed wood from a futon bedrame

The unspoken truth about art is that it can be quite labor intensive from putting an idea together to the installation of the completed project. I happen to savor every sweaty moment. Take oil painting for example: one essential piece of material is the canvass or some surface to brush paint on. As a purist whose first choice is to paint on canvasses, it requires that I always have canvasses on hand. Purchasing them is one way to obtain them but it can cut deep into the pocketbook, especially if custom sizes are needed or if one does a lot of painting. 

Another alternative is to make them, which requires tools, materials, and a little bit of know-how. 

In this day and age of "Reduce, Reuse, and Recycle," I gladly report that I am constantly reminded to be resourceful and use reclaimed materials. Take for example Picture 1 above: a broken futon could have been thrown out to the dump but instead I decided to saw the wood into 3/4"x1"x 8" strips and mitering the ends at 45 degree angles to make the square frame. After assembling the frame a canvass is stretched over the frame with a pair of pliers and stapled to the back of the frame (Picture 2 below).
 

Picture 2: Staple the canvass to the frame with a staple gun

The benefits of making your own frames is cost savings and being able to customize sizes and shapes. The downside is the labor for those who don't find it enjoyable, and time must also be taken into consideration. The upside, however, is a finished canvass ready for painting whenever you want or need it. 

Picture 3: Finished canvass