I find shoe boxes to be the perfect size for storing stuff. But the problem that I find with them is that they are butt ugly...
So what to do?
To finish off the year with some kind of box work, and with the inspiration from a friends' art work, I've been experimenting with how to make the shoe boxes functional and pretty at the same time.
Nine are in this series and they are made as Christmas gifts.
photos to come in a few weeks
Friday, November 16, 2012
Friday, December 23, 2011
S11: box 04
Well, this is it. The last box of this series.
This one probably took the longest to build - more than three months.
This one probably took the longest to build - more than three months.
I got stuck on the lid. Had the main body built for the nice grain, but didn't like the original idea for the lid, so it took forever to figure out an alternative. I wanted to incorporate the lace wood somehow, as well as maybe a cut pattern screen to hint at the inside.
Running out of time, so went with a simpler approach and added a pattern that's reflected on the inside.
Overall dimensions are about four inches all around.
Thursday, October 13, 2011
S11: box 03
This one is special. Inspired by a tea pot for a friend's wedding.
The original plan was to have it done before the October 25th wedding date and sent to China as a surprise.
Well, it didn't quite work out that way:S
The plan was to actually fly over there and give it to him in person, but things didn't quite work out. The box was finished, but I could not quite swing the trip over - bad timing.due to the project not quite done at work.
No problem, I thought, I'll just send it over via air mail to another person who's going to be at the wedding. A good surprise, none the less. Boy, was I wrong.
FedEx or UPS wants about two bills!!! Sorry, but that's way too expensive for me to ship a small package.
Disappointed...
Ah, well, just have to give it to him when I have a chance to go over there, in a few weeks, to do some reference gathering for an art show next March.
The original plan was to have it done before the October 25th wedding date and sent to China as a surprise.
Well, it didn't quite work out that way:S
The plan was to actually fly over there and give it to him in person, but things didn't quite work out. The box was finished, but I could not quite swing the trip over - bad timing.due to the project not quite done at work.
No problem, I thought, I'll just send it over via air mail to another person who's going to be at the wedding. A good surprise, none the less. Boy, was I wrong.
FedEx or UPS wants about two bills!!! Sorry, but that's way too expensive for me to ship a small package.
Disappointed...
Ah, well, just have to give it to him when I have a chance to go over there, in a few weeks, to do some reference gathering for an art show next March.
S11: box 02
This is the second attempt of this box. The first was a total mess, but learned from it quite a bit.
What started as an exploration of grain transition between two different woods, has turned into something more. At least it reads much different than what I had expected, but in a good way.
I like how the transition turned into some kind of metaphore for the changing of the seasons, which I thought was pretty nice:)
.
Tuesday, July 19, 2011
S11: box 01
Ah, Box01:
Just barely had the garage cleaned up and organized enough to work on something, before I was contacted by an ex-coworker who wanted to know if she can have a box made for her childhood friends' birthday. I have to say that that was quite good timing on her part, because I already had an idea in mind for a new box series:
Series: 2011
Box : 01
Materials used: purple heart, maple, abalone inlay, oil glaze, foil, origami
Duration: 3 months
This box actually took a lot longer than anticipated. What was supposed to be a one month project didn't get finished until mid June. There were so many complications and delays, which were quite frustrating at times. But the frustration was not so much the construction, though there were some hitches there as well, but mostly due to the delay of the abalone inlays that I asked the ex co-worker to ordered. I had her order the inlays in the first place because mine were running low and lost somewhere in the garage - another story, another time.
Other complications arose when figuring out what to do with the inside of the box. I wanted to try something different, and that process snowballed to a very time consuming process of glazing with layers of translucent oils and bits of gold foil - I wanted to have a little flavor of the inlay look carried into the inside of the box.
Photos are quite crapy - color's not quite too accurate, will have to color correct at a later time.
Just barely had the garage cleaned up and organized enough to work on something, before I was contacted by an ex-coworker who wanted to know if she can have a box made for her childhood friends' birthday. I have to say that that was quite good timing on her part, because I already had an idea in mind for a new box series:
Series: 2011
Box : 01
Materials used: purple heart, maple, abalone inlay, oil glaze, foil, origami
Duration: 3 months
This box actually took a lot longer than anticipated. What was supposed to be a one month project didn't get finished until mid June. There were so many complications and delays, which were quite frustrating at times. But the frustration was not so much the construction, though there were some hitches there as well, but mostly due to the delay of the abalone inlays that I asked the ex co-worker to ordered. I had her order the inlays in the first place because mine were running low and lost somewhere in the garage - another story, another time.
Other complications arose when figuring out what to do with the inside of the box. I wanted to try something different, and that process snowballed to a very time consuming process of glazing with layers of translucent oils and bits of gold foil - I wanted to have a little flavor of the inlay look carried into the inside of the box.
Photos are quite crapy - color's not quite too accurate, will have to color correct at a later time.
Sunday, April 24, 2011
sketches april 2211
A friend sent me this link on sugar. Interesting lecture
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dBnniua6-oM
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dBnniua6-oM
Friday, April 8, 2011
boxes - April 0711
Wow! I can't believe it's been four years since the last box. Now that I'm cleaning up my life, an actual commission has started a new series for 2011!!!
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