2025 11 Honors Given Out After Battle Small Triumphs Pinned To The Chest

My mentor and art buddy Michael de Meng has a new on-line assemblage course called Patron Saint of Rusty Things. This is the second work of art I made in the spirit of that class.

This project began with these items after I auditioned a host of things. 

I knew pretty much for the get-go that I was going to make a samurai. Here are a few inspirational photographs I had in my files.

The last time I decided to do this I made a much larger piece. In fact, this one was almost life size. 

This piece began with an vintage wall mounted iron rest as the shrine substrate. 

Thus we have Honors Given Out After Battle, Small Triumphs Pinned To The Chest. The title comes from a Jane Hirshfield poem called For What Binds Us. It is 14"H X 7"W X 3"D.

2025 11 The Unwelcomed Intrusion of the Past

This is an unusual project for me in that it was seven years in the making. Yes, that is 7 years.

2018

Back in 2018 I took a workshop with Andrea Matus deMeng called Prospero's Book at Shake Rag Alley in Mineral Point, WI. Here is how Andrea described what we were going to create: "Imagine you stumble across a beautiful box, your curiosity gets the better of you and you open it only to discover a treasure trove of unusual and otherworldly books on the interior."

Andrea Matus deMeng (2018)

Here is a recap of what I did back in 2018:

I drilled a hole...

...covered it with burlap...

...to make a space for the cool bottle opener I got at Crazy Frank's Flea Market in town.

The insides of the box.

Here is how the top ended up.

After working on our boxes, we begin the Coptic sewn book that will be central feature of the inside of the box.

I decided to take the central image off the cover and create a peek-a-boo hole. 

In 2018, this was the output of the class taught be Andrea.

This is what my box and book looked like at the end of day four in 2018.  The book was only half-sewn and I knew I would finish it at home.  

2025

For seven years the box, and its unfinished book, sat in my basement abandoned. Then, once again, Andrea Matus deMeng reappeared at Shake Rag Alley. This time around the class was Curio Chronicles: a Bookbinding, Collage and Assemblage Workshop. The course description said, "Unlock the secrets of the Curio Chronicles, where each page, binding, and embellishment becomes part of an artful narrative. You’ll create a collection of hand-bound books, each capturing fragments of mystery, memory, and imagination...To house these treasures, you’ll design a personalized display box—a cabinet of curiosities—an exquisite showcase."

Here is the case I made in 2018 and now filling this case is my objective. 

I decided that I would use this rather old and worn out leather cover that had the embossed image on the cover. On the back cover, I collaged an image in the style of my good friend and inspiration, Karen Robison.

Here are the images I used on the inside of the covers

Here are the pages I was constructing for my second book

That was May of 2025 and now it is November. I decided it was time to bring these two efforts to a conclusion. Here is what I accomplished. 

The outside of the box has not changed in since 2018. 

The inside of the box is a different story.

This little one is the "Twilight Tear"

Now the job is to finish filling the interior of the box. 

On a cradled board I attached this radio dial case. The shell and the marbles are all held in by resin. 

This is hand made paper and some blocks. 

Eventually, the interior of the box looked like this--the book can be removed by pulling on a strap that lies below it when it rests in the case. 

Back in May I needed to create a new book for the class so I abandoned the book from 2018. Here is how the book came together. 

Coptic binding

I painted the existing front leather cover and collage on the back cover

Something about that painted image from the original cover of the book never resonated with me. So, at the end of this project, I decided I would rather have a collage on the front cover as well.

The back cover

Here are each of the folios that make up the whole book. 

Thus we have The Unwelcomed Intrusion of the Past. The title comes from a poem by Henri Cole called Mouse in the Grocery. It consists of a Wood Box, Cradled Board, Handmade Book, Metal Objects, Majestic Radio Dial Bezel, Lens, Drawer Pull, Cabinet Card, Jewelry, Sea Shell, Lace, Shoe Lace, Blocks, Foam Core, Resin, Handmade Paper and Paper. It is 12"H X 20"D X 4"D.