Cindy on January 19th, 2010
Art is the only way to run away without leaving home.” ~Twyla Tharp
Two of my art pieces are in the Michigan Annual art exhibition through Feb. 27 at the Anton Art Center in Mount Clemens. A link to an Oakland Press article on the show includes a photo of one of the pieces, “Shrine to Mary: Our Lady of the Lost & Found.”
The other piece (at left) is an altered book titled “Nature.” A tribute to Thoreau’s Walden, it was made from a vintage insurance ledger and embellished with things I collected on long walks and bike rides.
Most of my artwork features found objects or recycled materials. I’m drawn to the rusty, ragged beauty of broken things. (I’ve been caught going through trash and pocketing rusty bottle caps littering the curbs in my neighborhood on trash day.) Most of my pieces are personal tributes to favorite works of literature or poems. –CL
Cindy on October 21st, 2009
Deep into that darkness peering, long I stood there wondering, fearing,
Doubting, dreaming dreams no mortals ever dared to dream before.
— Edgar Allan Poe, The Raven
Like the perfect pumpkin waiting for a master carver, Halloween never fails to stir the imagination. Not surprisingly, it’s a favorite holiday among the creative souls in my family. Early in October, Doug and I start raiding attics and local thrift shops for the most outlandish outfits we can jumble together. And every year in September, we start work on a project or two to enter in the Anton Art Center’s annual Halloween art exhibition.
Running now through November 7, this year’s juried group exhibition is aptly titled MASKED. Both of us have two pieces in this show. Mine play on the theme of Victorian autumn carnivals — a theme that has haunted me ever since I first read Ray Bradbury’s atmospheric novel, Something Wicked This Way Comes.
Since I’ve worked as a writer for more than 25 years, it’s probably no surprise that books and writing-related themes have a hand in my artwork. Here’s a preview of my pieces in MASKED:
“Damn everything but the circus!” was inspired by an e.e. cummings poem of the same title. I’ve always loved the circus — yet find it a little scary, too. This altered children’s board book is embellished with antique circus ephemera, vintage costume jewelry, carnival tickets, stars, scraps, and feathers. While working on this piece, I recalled the time I interviewed a lion tamer from a traveling circus act — one of my first and favorite stories for a local newspaper.
“Victoria Fortune’s Magic Box” (top photo) is a mixed media assemblage crafted entirely of found objects, starting with a large jewelry box from a local thrift shop. I painted the box and trimmed it with old lace and trims, then added the odds and ends I’d been collecting for several months. The idea for this project was sparked by an old (non-copyrighted) photo of a sinister-looking group of Victorian sisters. I was intrigued by the mysterious ambiance of the photo, and imagined that the women were part of an autumn carnival act called “The Sisters of Fortune.” I created a story — and the box — around them. The woman wearing the black leather gloves in the center, Victoria Fortune, was a medium with a gift for prophesy. Her box contains items used for her magic acts and tarot readings at the carnival.
For a look at some of my other art pieces, you can link to my Facebook gallery: Altered Art: Found Objects and Curious Things. – CL
Cindy on April 1st, 2009
“A truly good book teaches me better than to read it. I must soon lay it down, and commence living on its hint. What I began by reading, I must finish by acting.” — Henry David Thoreau
While I’m taking a break this week, I wanted to share a small piece of good news with you…. Earlier this month, I was honored to learn that one of my altered books, “Nature,” was chosen for inclusion in the annual Michigan Fine Arts Competition at the Birmingham Bloomfield Art Center.
For me, there has always been a mystical connection between writing and art — just as there is a connection between my gardening and cooking. Like many of my altered art and mixed media projects, “Nature” was inspired by a favorite work of literature — in this case, Thoreau’s Walden. It was crafted from an old children’s board book and rebound with the cover of a turn-of-the-century leather insurance ledger from a thrift shop. The cardboard pages in the book are collaged and embellished with ephemera, nature quotes, and found objects collected from flea-market visits and, of course, nature walks. The exhibit runs through April 17. For more information, click here. — CL
Cindy on March 22nd, 2009
I’ve learned over the years that there is beauty not only in perfection but also in erosion, possession, and remembrance.”
— Barbara Hodgson, Trading in Memories
Rummaging through boxes at garage sales and thrift shops is one of my favorite addictions. But I don’t stop there. Neighbors often spot me gathering found objects for my artwork — everything from feathers to bottle caps — along the curbs and sidewalks. Undoubtedly, some folks think I’ve lost my wits, but who cares? I’m intrigued by the glory of broken, discarded things. And the more faded, frayed, rusted or ragged they are, the better.
While scouting a local flea market this weekend, I recalled a favorite book, Second Hand, by Detroit author Michael Zadoorian. The novel charmed me when I first read it several years ago, partly because it centers around a young junk shop owner with a passion for cool castoffs.
“I do believe that we can gain a kind of illumination from junk,” Zadoorian’s protagonist explains in the opening chapter. “We just have to be open to it. Unfortunately, most people live their lives without the wisdom junk can give them.”
Along the same lines, Looking for Mary, a memoir by Beverly Donofrio, is another great read with an uncommon twist on collecting. When Donofrio (a lapsed Catholic) turned 40, she was overwhelmed by a sudden preoccupation with the Virgin Mary. To her own surprise, she found herself buying Blessed Virgin items from yard sales and thrift shops. What began as a whimsical collection of kitsch ultimately turned into a conversion experience that changed Donofrio’s life and healed her strained relationship with her son. I was hooked after the first chapter. Donofrio’s sweet memoir inspired me to stalk garage sales for holy cards and dashboard saints — a few of which ended up in a shrine and an altered book (shown above) that I crafted in Mary’s honor.
If your passion for stories about collecting still isn’t satisfied, you won’t want to miss Barbara Hodgson’s Trading in Memories: Travels Through a Scavenger’s Favorite Places. Beautifully illustrated with finds from the author’s collection of ephemera, this gathering of essays is your armchair ticket to a world tour of exotic bazaars and markets, antique shops, dusty bookstores, and other romantic haunts where trinkets and treasures await. – Cindy La Ferle
Cindy on March 10th, 2009
Do you have a quiet place in which to work on your creative projects? Whether you sew, paint, keep a journal, or write poetry, you need a sacred space to summon your muse…
First published in 1929, A Room of One’s Own by Virginia Woolf has been reduced to a catchphrase for writers and architects who haven’t even read the book. Originally penned as two lectures, Woolf’s landmark essay asserts that every woman writer should have a substantial income and a room of her own if she is to produce literature worthy of publication and readership.
Furthermore, Woolf said, women who want to write ought to be given the freedom to travel — and they must have plenty of idle time for daydreaming and creating. That was very progressive talk for the 1920s. And while it isn’t exactly earth shattering today, A Room of One’s Own is still considered a major milestone for women writers. Whenever I’m asked to name 10 books that changed my life, this one never fails to top the list.
Not surprisingly, the subject of finding privacy and “the perfect writing space” always comes up in the workshops I teach. In fact, not having a room of one’s own is the most popular excuse for not writing anything. I’ve met a few self-described procrastinators who do have an extra guest room but insist they can’t work there because it’s poorly lit, uninspiring, too small, too cluttered, too close to the neighbor’s window, or cursed with bad feng shui.
But sooner or later, if they really want to write, they will do it anywhere â under trees, on the bus, in the bathroom, or in a booth at a noisy café. Serious writers need only a pen and a notebook to get started. And nothing â not even a bad view or ugly curtains â will stop them. That said, I believe Virginia Woolf made an excellent point about the need for peace and privacy, and she didn’t even have kids to distract her.
When my son was a toddler, I began freelancing in the damp basement of our 1920’s home. If you’re a younger parent who’s eager to combine writing with motherhood and housekeeping, setting up shop at a kid’s craft table next to the laundry room might sound convenient. But I quickly discovered that this was not what Virginia had in mind.
Working in a murky basement was actually a metaphor for the way I undervalued my career at the time. Aside from the fact that the ambiance was vaguely reminiscent of Freddy Krueger’s boiler room, my desk was frequently littered with construction paper or my preschooler’s early science experiments. Settling in to write, I’d find blue finger paint or Play-Doh oozing from my paper-clip container. My scissors and rolls of tape mysteriously disappeared. Meanwhile, the dryer kept buzzing.
A year later, I moved my office upstairs to a small den with windows overlooking the yard — and a door to help establish my boundaries. Ironically, even though my personal newspaper columns are read in public, I don’t like people looking over my shoulder while I work on my drafts. Regardless, ever since I moved upstairs I began taking myself, and my work, more seriously.
Every writer is different, so you’ll have to experiment until you find what works for you. Not long ago, I met a parenting columnist who’s also the brave mother of four little boys. She rented cheap office space just ten minutes from her house, which seemed like a brilliant idea at the time. But after three months of âcommutingâ back and forth to work and trying to coordinate an awkward breast-feeding schedule, the columnist admitted her new office wasn’t so ideal. The clamor of family life is what kept her energized and motivated.
If you don’t have the luxury of a spare bedroom or an attic with a desk, claim a corner of the house where you can focus on your work. Use the area just for writing (or your other creative projects) and keep supplies within easy reach. Put up a folding screen for privacy while you work; or use it to conceal your works-in-progress. Creating an official space for your creative life will dignify your goals and intentions. You’ll find it easier to establish a routine — and harder to keep making excuses.
If you don’t already have a room of your own, can you describe your ideal space — right down to the supplies you’d need? What would you have to do to make it a reality? – Cindy La Ferle
The photo above shows a detail from one of my altered art pieces inspired by Woolf’s A Room of One’s Own. To view an album of my altered art pieces on Facebook, click here.
Two of my art pieces are in the Michigan Annual art exhibition through Feb. 27 at the Anton Art Center in Mount Clemens. A link to an Oakland Press article on the show includes a photo of one of the pieces, “Shrine to Mary: Our Lady of the Lost & Found.”
