The first two box paintings

These are my box paintings. I'm working on six of them. Each box has three sides, and the spaces left open are so that the viewer can see inside the box. Now, the inside and the outside should communicate with one another (that's something I'm working on). Each of the three sides is painted (casted) with different materials. (Note: the encouragement for this class was to fuse sculpture and painting). The different materials include: shavings of crayons, candles, and lumber crayons | dry cereal | dry pigment | water putty (similar to wood putty) | plaster | wax | found objects | wood chips | sand | wood glue | etc. I really enjoyed making these boxes. The wooden frame is walnut. It's normally an expensive kind of wood, but fortunately I inherited it through the wood shop without cost - someone had donated it! Building the wooden frame takes more time and effort to do than the casting. It's a huge part of the process... It includes lots of cutting, sanding and measuring. Craft is soooo important to me. If you're wondering what the completed box paintings mean, you'll have to come to my senior show or perhaps ask me about it over tea.

The boxes extend horizontally from the wall. Quite a striking effect. They're about two feet long and hover just above the viewer's head.