Tiny Desk Concert/Project

You've heard of Tiny Desk Concerts on NPR?  Well, this is my Tiny Desk Project.  I probably sang while I did it, so that counts.

I've been working on some smaller pieces lately.  Here I'm going to work up three nice cradled basswood boxes.  Lest people think I"m trying to swindle them when I sell these, each birch box costs me over $9.00.  But they're ever so lovely to hold, and just right.  And yes, by the way, I always write the support material and dimensions on the back.  Makes life easier all around.

I've decided to work on them all at the same time, bringing them through many layers together.  My first step is to think about what I want to do with each box.  Definitely want to use some of those London maps we got whilst driving that awesome five speed on the floor, driver's seat on the right, shifter on the left.

Collage material, a red Wells Fargo envelope.  I took one and told them what I was going to do with it, and they gave me about twenty.  Painted papers, magazine pages.

Next step, lay down the first layers of color.  I chose all cool colors and mixed 'em up.

After those first layers dried, I gave them a little depth and interest by laying down some textures and patterns in warm colors.  Texture plates, die-cut wood, a felt place mat, painted cardboard.  At this point, I treated each one very differently.  Music (from when I played Les Mis) and lovebirds, London maps and bright red paint, and layers of flowers.  Each of these pieces has about three layers I'm not going to mention because I don't want to go on too long.

Here are the finished three.  Once they were completely dry, I laid down a nice textured gloss coat.  Because I wanted the texture to show, I chose a really stiff Golden product.  Once I painted it on, I literally laid stencils over it to add even more pattern to the elements.  Toss in a little glitter and it's happy everywhere!

Yay!  Like 'em!