0703 Piece in Progress

This is a birthday celebration piece. The cream side contains the originally date of birth. The green side is the day with the current year. Morse Code is used with green cord substituted for dashes and rust cord for dots.

20130703 Birthday Front

The date begins in the upper left and works around clockwise.

Morse Code Layout

Pre-Wax
Planning to wax the entire piece to add some age and to keep everything in its proper place.

I have been dinking around with various ways to finish off the backs of pieces. The back is needed to complete the piece. Even if you cannot see the back it does exist. And I don’t want the wall showing through if there is open stitch work.

Recently I have been using starched burlap because I can stitch in title, date of piece, and my name in code.

20130703 Birthday Back

This is the first time adding strands of cord to the back with the intent of using the piece rather like a loom. Still deciding if I want to give that a try.

Since the waxing should only take a couple of hours I have plenty of time before my July 3rd deadline to make the decision.

20130703 Birthday Detail

Materials
Hardware Cloth, Cotton Fiber, Metal, 1954 Penny, Rebar Ties

Scale
9.5″ x 8.5″ x .75″
Depth may change if I decide to build a frame/box as part of the piece.

Rebar ties make for a nice hanger. I bought the bundle years ago thinking they would be a great art material. Tried using them several ways, but they haven’t revealed themselves to me as of yet. So, I have been using them for hangers for some small pieces.

Rebar Ties


Gift Box and a Piece of Wood

Last night my neighbor gave me the coolest gift ever! He knows that I collect and make boxes, so he thought that I would like this one–

Gift Box Closed

When I opened the box there was a lovely piece of wood that on first glance appeared to be a preserved bird.

Gift Box Opened

Gift Box Opened

My neighbor’s house is filled with all sorts of interesting objects that he has collected during his 80 plus years. It is such a treat to visit; to see things missed on previous visits.


Dots

When a dot is placed over a vertical line it can become an i. When it is placed at the end of a sentence it emphasizes a thought. Dots and dashes together can become a message in code. Dots used by artists can become so much more.

It is amazing that minimal materials, tools, and a limited palette can result in such beauty.

Today I ran across the work of Dorothy Napangardi on Margaret Cooter’s blog.

Dorothy Napangardi

Dorothy Napangardi

And then I saw Junko Kitamura’s bowl on Musing About Mud.

Junko Kitamura Bowl

And finally the post Africa on the Floor on Fibercopia.

Africa On The Floor