Social butterflies: Emma and Marjorie Were Honing Their Networking Skills

© Social Butterflies: Emma and Morjorie Were Honing Their Networking Skills (2012)

mixed-media collage: vintage illustrations (The Delineator, Butterick, May 1923; 

The Butterfly Book, Doubleday Page & Co., 1902; Butterflies and Moths,

Viking Press, 1965); handmade paper; recycled origami paper;

 antique Lotto box (McLoughlin Bros., Trunk Lotto No. 2); watercolor, ink, acrylic sealer;

metal tape; recycled glass

Price: $150 (contact Bromwell's Gallery).

Here's a peek at one of the Social Butterflies boxes in progress. Actually, it's done, but I didn't think to shoot it before putting the glass on top and, well, too much glare to do it now. Memo to self: next time, take the picture before adding the glass. I added a few more flowers and a tiny cricket but that's about it. 

The girls are from the May 1923 issue of The Delineator. As in the other pieces in the series, which also feature illustrations from the same issue, my back story for them has them being more than clothes horses or frivolous party goers. I see them as BF - before Facebook - social networkers, who are honing their skills now that women have the right to vote. That's the story - and I'm sticking to it! 

The ornate paper on the box sides - below - is original. The box housed the pieces for Lotto, a Bingo-type game. I was tempted to add the lid so viewers would have to open it to see what's inside, but decided to try that another time. The lid is wonderful on it's own and, so, I'd like to use it for another piece. The back features a color plate of caterpillars, which - like Emma and Marjorie - will some day morph into an entirely new - and equally fascinating - creatures.  

Nesting

A few weeks ago, I wrote about Eugenie's Friends Felt It Was Time for An Intervention, my first 3D/box collage. It's one of two pieces I've been working on for Encore, a one-night only exhibition Oct. 13 at Memorial Hall that's part of the first Constella Festival of Music and Fine Arts. The exhibit riffs on that evening's concert - "Classic Gems and Contemporary Miniatures" - by featuring miniature works of art.

Beyond the requirement that each work be no larger than 6" there was another one: each work also had to be displayed on a pedestal. The latter made me think twice about participating. A collage in a frame or on a stand seemed boring. Then, I hit on the idea of box collages, which would be more, well, sculptural. By the time I finished Eugenie, which is butterfly themed, I knew that the second box would be about birds.

It's a work in progress, but I'm sharing it, because I'm beside myself with excitement about a great find on a walk last week: a perfect, little bird's nest made of a fascinating array of materials from plastic to human hair to twigs. I cradled in my palms for 2.5 miles until the end of the walk, then, dashed to the studio with it. Voila. The nest fit into the box as if it were made for it. I allowed it to air dry for a few days, sprayed it with acrylic sealer, let that dry, then, painted on acrylic varnish to preserve it. That's it drying in the background. We'll see where the piece goes from here ...

Eugenie's friends felt it was time for an intervention

I swear that I'm off butterflies after this piece. Honest. This is a work in progress but I'm so excited about how it's developing, that I had to post it. It's my first real effort of creating a piece in a box, which I've wanted to do since starting collage making. Yes, I know that the other butterflies were in shallow shadowboxes but they were essentially flat collages placed in pre-covered cloth boxes.

Foam-core board pushes Eugenie out from the back of the box - a bit hard to see in the scan - and watercolor paper reinforces the butterflies, which float and bend behind and in front of her.

A piece of plexiglass will cover the box and I may add more butterflies; most likely right up against the inside of the glass. Yet to be decided: how to attach the glass. Initially, the plan was to drill small holes and screw it on. Now, though, I'm thinking vintage upholstery tacks or something edgier.

Despite the numerous classes I've taken on box making - which included plenty of great tips on how to paper them - I never seem to get the corners mitered correctly. But here that didn't matter, because I'm layering the paper on the box, starting with tissue thin pages on the outside from "The Butterfly Book." Inside, are more pages from "The Butterfly Book," as well as The Chatterbox and a vintage songbook.

As you can see on the back, below, I've been inking the edges and paper. To do that, I used three colors of ColorBox's Fluid Chalk ink. I have scads of the pads but this is the first time I've used them. Love the soft, transparent effect. Well, more when it's finished.