This is a collage to honor the music of Dr. John (aka Mac Rebbenack). It’s art I created for the Homage to Music card deck exchange hosted by Red Dog Scott. Dr. John is among my favorite musicians, since I first heard his music around 1970. On an early album, Gumbo, he described his sound…
Category: Art shrines & assemblages
Art assemblages and art shrines – What they are and how to make them.
Breakthrough Shrines – Notes
My Artfest 2004 workshop, Breakthrough Shrines, was very controversial. In fact, I’d say it was an absolute disaster for many of my students. (The troll sitting in the back of the room, contributing snarky comments as we worked… that didn’t help.) This workshop showed me that the audience at Artfest had changed, abruptly and radically. …
Edgar Allan Poe Shrine
The Edgar Allan Poe Art Shrine is one of my favorite assemblages. The elements include a raven printed on muslin, in three sections. I found him in a Dover book, and added color in PhotoShop (Image-> Adjust-> Saturation). Then, I printed him on some iron-on tee shirt transfer paper that works in inkjet printers. I…
Tammy Fae Pocket Shrine
Shrine to the goddess of mascara, Tammy Faye Bakker Messner Tammy Faye Bakker Messner (March 7, 1942 – July 20, 2007) remains a goddess* today as she was during her brief time with us. Her continuing optimism was a beacon for all of us. Her sincerity was almost as remarkable as her mascara — or…
Superman Mini-Shrine
This is a pocket shrine to Superman. It’s in the lid of a Pringle’s potato chip canister. You know, those clear-plastic snap-on lids. My vision was a dimensional night scene of Superman flying over Metropolis, with a reference to Clark Kent’s day job at The Daily Planet. How to make a pocket art shrine like…
Prosperity Pocket Shrine
This is a workshop sample that I created, showing a pocket shrine in an embellished matchbox. The photo on the left shows the outside of the shrine, and the right photo shows the matchbox, opened. For this shrine, I used a plain matchbox that I covered with some Chinese newspaper. I glued a hare (rabbit)…
Art and Alchemy Pendant Shrine
I created this pendant shrine for a friend. The symbols in it are specific to her interests. When I started this project, I knew that I wanted to make a pendant/shrine using a matchbox, a Premo-covered book, and strung with hemp and glass beads. The results are fabulous! Here’s how it looks: the Ishtar shrine/pendant…
Otherworld Shrine
This is a pocket shrine, created for a shrine exchange hosted by Patty Harrison in the UK, September 2000. Artist’s statement: This box represents the “other” world. It’s the fantasy land of the faeries. In legends, it’s a world similar to ours but also different. The black sky represents the darkness people travel through to…
Superman Shrine – Pringles Lid
You can make a small shrine using a Pringle’s potato chip lid. Here are some general instructions to create the base for the shrine. My Superman shrine is illustrated at left. It was created using very small artwork–some of it original–and a Pringle’s potato chip lid. You know, one of those clear plastic snap-on lids…
Art and Science of Pocket Shrines
First you start with an idea. Well, maybe. It’s where most people begin. You know, “Oh, I MUST make a shrine to chocolate!” Or Elvis, or Russell Crowe, or Barbie, the Banana Splits, or the Planet Melmac. But where you should start–and of course, we never do what we should–is with the container. The container…