Boxes on top of boxes

 

I am surrounded by small boxes -- boxes stacked upon each other -- boxes which I've altered in some way or left just the way I found them.  Boxes filled with ephemera.

Although I know that it would be far more efficient if I stuck all my little pieces and parts into nice, see-through containers - I cannot bring myself to walk by a box without bringing it home.

The delicousness of stacking yet another box onto a shelf is one of my secret vices.  Not being able to see within gives me many minutes and hours of joy while I lift the lids off and explore the items I stashed along the way.

There are rusty items in one and old watches in another.  There are buttons in one and little scraps of paper inside another one.

I know in my heart of hearts that overall, few of these items will ever be used.  But oh the pleasure I have in going through them all -- looking for something I just know will be inside the next box I come to -- or better yet discovering something found long ago that has been residing forgotten inside a closed box.

"A collection owns a bit more of you each time you add to it." - Joshua Baer

"Art Making" - Collections and Obsessions"

I just discovered this book!  It was published in 2008 but I was probably collecting bead books at that time and didn't notice it. 

Page after page of collections and thoughts from various mixed-media artists.  Most of the art focuses on 'found objects' - both manmade and natural.  Its a feast for the eyes and an inspiration for any artist.

I just have to relate a couple of the many quotes strewn between the pages of this glorious book.

Beryl Taylor

"I find things all the time, wherever I am.  I often have the feeling that they have been waiting for me to come along and pick them up.  It thrills and excites me, because I know that I am going to begin a new piece based on my latest find." - Beryl Taylor

KC Willis

"It must satisfy me visually and emotionally, and when I work in my studio, touching fabrics and gluing down pieces of the past, I am happy." - KC Willis

"To invent, you need a good imagination and a pile of junk." - Thomas Edison