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Monday, May 15, 2006

Assemblage Piece In Progress

I had the privellege the other week of meeting a wonderfully vivacious, creative woman. We scheduled an artsy playdate for the next week. When I finally arrived at her house, she had an abundance of creative treasures and goodies. While taking a break on her balcony, I caught a glimpse of an upside down wire birdcage. Immediately, my mind thought of an assemblage piece based on Maya Angelou's "I Know Why The Caged Bird Sings". Asking her if she ever thought of making art with it, she explained that she had no bottom for it, and used it in the summer to grow vines in.

The next day, I went for a walk with my small family. Seeing a sign for a garage sale out of our way, I made a point of stopping by to see what they had to offer. I was pleasantly surprised to find a dark, dark brown decorative bird cage. I am sure that it came from Pier One, and would have retailled for more than $40. It wasn't even my original intention to buy it, just asked a price out of curiousity. But when the woman told me she was only asking $3, I scooped it before she had time to change her mind. I knew that my opportunity to create my envisioned assemblage piece had arrived.

I walked the many miles home, awkwardly carrying this birdcage. Fortunately, it is very light weight, but still an awkward load.

Like many projects before it, I wish I had the foresight to take a 'before' photo. Instead, this is the first photo I took, after having applied a watered down coat of white acrylic paint.

It is my plan to hang a swing from brass wire, and design an art doll for on its perch. I am going to paint the underside of the cage's bottom, with a labyrinth design, including the roadblocks of life such as fear, pessimism, rejection, etc. I also plan to collage the bottom of the inside of the cage with black and white images of women from magazine ads, my message being that the portrayal of women by the media is 'bird-shit'.

Keep coming back, I will continue to post photos reflecting my progress.

Creative Wishes,

Krystin

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