[-art, alterations-]

by Nancy S.M. Waldman

scroll/reset

Originally uploaded by Mary Bogdan.

I have boxes on my mind.

This week, I covered a small cardboard box in old photos and gorgeous, vintage gold paper I found in my late father’s art supplies. I lined the inside with beads and feathers. Fun!

That little project got me going on containers. Now I’m working on making a box out of a couple of my paintings that have been in a drawer for a decade or more. In bed last night, just before sleep, I came up with an inspiration for a see-through lid so that the painting-lined interior won’t be hidden. This is fun stuff and all inspired by our recent issue on Alterations.

Our image today is from assemblage artist Mary Bogdan. You can see more of her work here in our on-going look at Alterations.

Mary collects boxes and more boxes to use in her constructs. This piece, entitled “scroll/reset” is 19″w x 14.5″h x 6″d. This is what she has written about it:

Well, Mary, I wish I could touch it, look in that cigar box, ruffle the pages. It’s so *FULL*.

I ran across a fun site yesterday called Box Doodles. Whoa, is this ever right down The PCQ’s alley. On this site, people are encouraged to make quick things out of boxes, but that hardly begins to describe the outcomes. Take a look. You won’t be sorry. The box doodles and Mary’s decidedly more sophisticated box assemblage can’t help but inspire!

Here are photos of the boxes I mentioned above. The first is a craft store box that I covered with vintage paper and old photos and lined with beads and feathers.

This one is literally made from one of my paintings (acrylic) bent into shape and glued. The lid is made from a web of machine-sewn threads (done on tissue paper and later removed) sewn onto more of the painting paper with embellishments of beads and lots more thread in the corners.

thanks, Mary.

See all our Alterations articles
See New Again, an Alterations Challenge
- with more photos of my boxes -
See more of Mary Bogdan’s art: The Tide Series
See all our Collecting articles and surveys

Originally published March 2006 in the Practically Creative blog; edited slightly for re-publication

[-art, collections-]

by Nancy S.M. Waldman

drifter a

Originally uploaded by indiegogogirl.

I was immediately drawn to this photo because I’m a picker-upper of rocks. I can’t help it. I put them in my coat pocket, bring them back to the house, pile them up on windowsills. Sometimes I paint pictures of them as you can see below. Rocks are little pieces of rich history and science - geology, geography, geometry. What’s not to love? All that variety in colour, texture and shape!

Indiegogogirl has created what feels to me like an altar to and from her rocks. The subtle colour variations and the similar but unique shapes are beautifully shown in this construct. The shadowing that is going on also emphasizes the composition. And while I’m at it: the background of this image is great! The weathered wood is beautiful within itself, but it also complements the rocks without distracting from them. Here, we can see the whole sculpture —

drifter

Originally uploaded by indiegogogirl.

A while back I made a small indoor fountain that was lined with some of my rocks. The water enriches their color and smell! Unfortunately, my construction skills are spotty and my fountain kept drooping, leaving the water in places it shouldn’t be. I shoud give it another try. If I get it together I’ll definitely post a photo here for all to see. That’s what I like to get in a morning blog post: incentive!

Don’t forget to click on the images to see indiegogogirl’s flickr photostream; See more of her rock sculptures and art on her website: irockitcreations.com

Thanks, Audra!

See more articles on Collections
See all our articles on Alterations

Originally published March 2006 in the Practically Creative blog; edited slightly for re-publication

[-crackles!-]

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[-art, photography-]

The following images were featured in the October 2005 issue of The Practically Creative Quarterly, theme: collections. Read the rest of this entry »

[-short short fiction-]

by Indie

The Great War of 2015 left little behind in its wake. No books, no flags, no photographs. Of course there were human survivors - there always are - because even the most thorough of annihilatory practices leaves unexpected havens somewhere, just as a tornado passing through a street levels one house and leaves the next house unscathed. Those crawling out from under the rubble had other concerns than rescuing the trappings of the failed civilization. The occasional preservation of objects reminiscent of the old times, which did however occur, was attributed to a feeling of nostalgia that has always been a part of humanity, the melancholy cousin of the dream for a better day. These objects were placed in a museum in displays without commentary. The photograph of the boy pledging his allegiance was part of a trinity, found in the abandoned ruins of a stone cellar, the owner, perhaps, dust. The photograph had been used as a bookmark in the Bible, the Bible itself wrapped in a flag.

Inde, © 2005 - 2007 all rights reserved

Please see Inde’s other contributions to The PCQ: Hacker Baby, Vicious Pirates

Inde’s blog, The Synchronicity of Indeterminacy, is an experiment in creativity with daily posts of an original one-minute short story inspired by a found photo. All stories are fictional. The idea is based on the Indeterminacy recordings by John Cage, pairing one-minute short stories with random sounds. His daily stories can be found at: indeterminancy.blogspot.com

about the writer:
Inde is an American - originally from Cincinnati, Ohio - living in Europe since the 80’s. He enjoys avant garde, dadaistic, and surrealistic art, literature and music. He has a special love for comedy. Inde holds a masters in psychology and is employed as knowledge engineer, designing natural language dialogue systems. He’s lucky enough to be married to a wonderful muse and has a son 10 years of age. The photograph in this story is of inde as a child.

Published by the permission of the author in the October 2005 issue of The Practically Creative Quarterly, theme: collections

[-poetry, collecting-]

by Ben Shepard

Long ago
In a little boy far, far away… Read the rest of this entry »

[-poetry, photography-]

by Carson A. Metzger

Father made the last sale - a stop

watch bought vacationing off

a South Padre beach, used to time the sprints Read the rest of this entry »

[-photo essay-]

complied and written by Nancy Waldman

You too can have a huge collection of tiny art cards … but first, you have to make your own

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[-photo-essay-]

Ways to Organize your Chaos Collections

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[-photo essay & interview-]

Some collections happen because we are engaged in creative practices that require materials. The more we create, the more we love our materials, the more we need and want to acquire more. Often we acquire so many that we couldn’t possibly use all that we’ve gathered. The materials themselves becomes a collection. Here we have an interview with and photographs of the studios of Teesha Moore, founder of artfest and artFIBERfest.

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