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 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
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.”
