NOT A PAINTING: EX VOTO ASSEMBLAGE

YOU CAN BUILD AN ASSEMBLAGE WITH HEART

I'm happy to take you through my process, especially since this shrine or construction is very dear to me. I knew and loved a young man who was on the wrong path, wild and a bit rowdy sometimes. He nearly died in a car crash, and was left with head injuries. (He's much better now, many years later, thankfully.)

Here you can see a toy car and small head in the upper part of the photo.

I based this new  assemblage roughly on a
votive offering placed in a church or shrine
as thankfulness for a miracle received.

Mexican retalblos are small oil paintings, generally made
on tin. An ex voto is a votive offering to
a divinity, usually Christian. Read more  about them here:
(click on this link)  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ex-voto

  Materials I used:

Strong, clear adhesive 

Wooden shelf, picture frame, and small box
Found objects (many are pictured below)
Discarded beads
Acrylic paints: Diox. purple, Quin. red and Quin. gold,
    Mars black, Titanium white, and Ultramarine blue. 

Copper patina

I decided against some of these objects and altered others.

  Traditionally written (usually at the bottom) are inscriptions, names, dates, and stories of miraculous recoveries and escapes. I chose not to do that.
For more history on ex votos and info on modern, current ones, click here:
http://www.mariolinasalvatori.com/understanding-ex-votos/

This might have been where my friend had gone if he had died years ago.

Here's a close-up, below, of the broken, burnt glass that sits below the devil.

I also put rusty barbed wire just below 

that (not too visible, sorry), and again 

where "Hell" ends, just below the car and boy.

Here you can see the beads and the costume jewelry pin.

My recent assemblages might seem a little sinister

to some of you...I mean, Medusa? Now this!

But I have always loved icons and myths.

Have I gone to the dark side? 

What's your opinion? I'd love to know.

Below is a link to a much sillier assemblage

that I created quite a long while ago.

Circus and clown!

BELOW, A FULL VIEW OF THE FINISHED PIECE!

Do you think this is appropriated art? 

I'd love to hear your comments! This was a love project for me, and

I feel I've put my own, original stamp on the artwork. And I didn't include any inscription or a saint although I do have religious elements in the top half of the piece.  (There is also an image you can't see of a saintly figure, in the dark, under the hand.) 
Do you find it too depressing or ominous, with the devil and horns?  

I do need a title for this piece, so if you have a good idea, 

please let me know!

Thanks for viewing this post. I appreciate you.   ---  Paula

                                        

 

EASY PAPIER MACHE SPIDER FOR HALLOWEEN

YEP. THIS SPIDER PROJECT IS FOR KIDS.

(OR ADULTS WITH WAY TOO MUCH TIME ON THEIR HANDS!)

 

I won't go into all the specifics about newspaper strips dipped in wallpaper paste. You've known the how-to since you were a child. But I will recommend two balloons for the armature, although they are slippery and two balls of newspaper are easier to handle. You can also tape the latter together before you even begin with the pasty strips.

 

(Balloons are smoother, of course, but who wants to wait until the two pasty spheres dry before you join them together?)

 

When ready to attach the bent wire legs, push them way into the dry body and tape them well.  Finish with a fine layer of small pieces of paper toweling, covering the taped legs as well. When that's dry (the next day), paint and add eyes.

Paint markings on the spider's back if you want to!

See more holiday postings at these links: Creepy Sunnies, and Day of the Dead.

 

  

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!



Arts and Crafts are Alive In Mexico!

I'm still smiling from a lovely week in La Paz, Mexico. Be sure to get there soon, while it's still relatively unspoiled. I stayed in a wonderful inn near the beach, and loved the basin in my room.

A work of art and fine craftsmanship!

Along the Malecon I saw this giant sculpture made entirely of discarded plastic bottles. What a great visual to remind us of the importance of reusable water bottles.

Shark Sculpture

I took a day trip to Todos Santos, where I found this marvelous wooden shutter made of twigs, below.

Weathered twig assemblage.          

Fell in love with  a ceramic mask, below,
and could not resist a Day of the
Dead magnet!                               

It's made of bread dough!

Ceramic mask purchased in a Todos Santos gallery.

Inside the Todos Santos Church