Storage Box

Storage Box

I made this for Anna to store CD's and papers. The design is inspired by Japanese lacquered boxes, though the iron drop pulls are from Nomad, a shop in Cambridge that has more of a rustic style.

The drawer faces are Cherry with Danish Oil finish and the carcass is painted MDF.

This work is available for sale.

Sew What

My wife, Anna, will be showing her Book Purses--hardcover books upcycled into purses--at Sew What this weekend.

The event will include vendors who produce handmade jewelry, accessories, clothing and home goods. Artists will be painting live during the event with an opportunity for the public to receive custom art. This event will also include a Swap-o-Rama-Rama which is a community clothing swap and do-it-yourself workshop in which attendees explore creative reuse through the recycling of used clothing.

Saturday, June 26, 2010 3-7pm Union Square Plaza, Somerville MA (click for a map)
(Rain date is Sunday, June 27)

For more info, visit the Sew What website at http://www.FusionEthosFashions.com/SewWhat.html and Anna's website at http://AnnaZee.com/

Construction 27, revisited

Construction #27: Wood construction
I was never happy with the original loud color scheme, below, so I painted it black. It worked well for Louise Nevelson.

Materials for this piece include:

Pine from a church renovation in Medford that Ruth told me about.

Curved table leg from Steve.

Croquet set from a woman in Medford, found through freecycle.

Metal bracket trash picked by Daemeon.

This work is available for sale.

Construction #40

Construction #40: Wood construction with acrylic paint 12x4x8"

Remembering the people and places involved in the acquisition of each component of my constructions really adds to my enjoyment of the work. I use a lot of reclaimed material, so each piece ends up having a pretty varied genealogy. I thought it would be interesting to document the sources that I can remember. Materials for this piece include:

Pine from a church renovation in Medford that Ruth told me about.

Wood hanger from our closet.

New pocket door track from a recent renovation. Our carpenter, Richard, chose not to use this piece from the installation kit.

Cabinet drawer removed from our kitchen in the renovation.

A piece from the "shorts" bin at Boulter Plywood in Somerville.

Page from Emerson's essay, Art. My wife made the book into a purse.

This work is available for sale.

Chance Voyage

Chance Voyage: Found wood construction 16x4"

This work is available for sale.

Constructions 37 and 38

Construction #37: Found wood construction 30 x 8"
Construction #38: Found wood construction 29 x 11"

These works are available for sale.

I had some fun just playing with arrangements of found pieces to arrive at a composition that works. All the pieces have their finish as found--I didn't paint anything on these two. I used all natural wood for the first and mixed the colors and textures of different woods, moldings, and weathered paint for the second.

When I picked pieces to submit to Cambridge Art Association's ongoing Summer Art Fair, I was disappointed to discover these two were excluded by the maximum size limit of 24".

Construction #34

Construction #34: Wood construction with acrylic paint and metallic leaf. 19x12" This is actually from last fall, but I just got around to taking pictures of recent work.

This work is available for sale.

Construction #33

Construction #33: Wood construction with acrylic paint. 14x11x2"

This work is available for sale.

Hampton Harbor

Hampton Harbor: Wood construction with sea chart, driftwood, and nail. 13x5x4"

Sold

Construction #28

Construction #28: Wood construction with croquet ball. 19x9x8"

This work is available for sale.

Construction #27

Construction #27: Wood construction with croquet ball and acrylic paint. 10x18x8"

This work is available for sale.

Last year at open studio someone asked if I had any freestanding pieces because their walls were already full of art. Too bad I hadn't met this guy earlier, but I'd been wanting to do freestanding pieces anyway.

I actually made this last fall but at the time I couldn't think of a good background to use in the photos. I usually photograph pieces against a white wall, but that wouldn't work for this one. It was overcast this afternoon, so I figured I'd try it on the patio.

Construction #30

Construction #30: Wood construction with acrylic paint. 12x16"

Sold

A lot of assemblage uses old found objects to invoke a feeling of age or nostalgia. I think my recent work has been influenced by this and in this piece I made a deliberate move back to the simple geometric forms I started with.

Buddha Contemplating the Sun, Moon, and Earth

Wood construction with paper, ceramic figurine, and acrylic paint. 8x16"

This work is available for sale.

Buddha contemplates the sun and moon next to a mountain of driftwood. The piece is housed in an old drawer with a curved front.

This Buddha was one of a set of 3, so 2 more pieces may show up in the future.

Construction 25

Wood construction with paper, croquet ball, and acrylic paint. 11x10"

Sold

The musical score is by Strauss. The first person to see it pointed out that I put it in upside down. Oops. The green surface was painted in layers and sanded in between to build up a really interesting texture.

Extra Fine

Wood construction with mirror. 21x26"

The Extra Fine text from an old sugar crate makes a great mirror. Could be a bit narcissistic, or you could give it to someone else. The frame is old pine floorboards with most of the paint planed off.

This piece attracted a lot of attention at Open Studio last May, but ultimately didn't sell. I thought people might be more inclined to buy a functional or decorative piece, but it's not really "fine art", so I can't enter it in a show.