A Beautiful Pairing: Ag Meets Art

I am making an artwork from a piece of old apple bin for a fundraiser for Larson Gallery. A group of artist from the area have taken pieces of apple bins, mostly 12" x 12" boards to make a piece that will be auctioned for "A Beautiful Pairing: Ag Meets Art."

 

I think the fundraiser promises to be fun, but I am most interested in seeing what other artists have done with the apple crate pieces they are using. A few artists had their boards done and on display at Larson Gallery's Membership Open House last week. To see an example of the board before and after an artist's alteration, click here.

I took a board and let it sit for most of a week before I decided what to do with it. I am probably going to use some of my leftover SRAM project pieces in the piece. (I can't imagine working 2-dimensionally.) I haven't decided how much I want the board to show. This project should be about the board to some extent but, on the other hand, it is really just a weathered board. I do have a number on my board, perhaps I should plan to incorporate the number into the design to connect my piece to the project inspiration rather than just using what's on my mind for inspiration.

the leftover SRAM pieces, before firing, resting on the board

the corresponding SRAM pieces as used in the bike part project

The leftover SRAM pieces I have in my mind or, literally, just sitting around the studio were extras I made to be used in my third, large SRAM piece. I threw red flower-like shapes and I threw some clay replicas of threaded metal bike parts.

clay pieces are meant to look like the metal bike part in front

fired SRAM pieces

Earlier in the week my daughter helped me cover the board with a semi-transparent layer of mulberry paper. This obscures the board but doesn't entirely cover the wood grain. It also makes the board less likely to cause slivers. The board I took has a partial crack in one corner which I didn't want to have become a problem for the structure of the piece. The back side has a couple other elements, like the heads of bolts or nails, that could be integrated as part of the visual elements of design I create.

the mulberry paper color is similar to the original board color, some text and grain is visible through the paper

crack on one corner

bolt end and bolt hole visible on the back side

The event is a couple weeks off on October 19. I suppose I will decide how to proceed before then. I will post pictures when I have decided.