Saturday, July 29, 2006

Wedding Shrine from start to finish in photos - part one

Here's the ugly duckling I chose for the base of the shrine. Ghastly, isn't it? There was a method to my madness. The creative couple's ceremony and celebration had elements of Asian, Pacific Islander, and Indian themes, with, as the bride told me, "a little 19th Century American." The shape of the piece echoed classic American cabinetry, a Duncan Phyfe curve to the top with the simple molding of the trim and base. The doors, however, were quite tropical with their carved relief palm trees, echoing the Indian and Pacific influences.
Paint and collage would easily eliminate the unfortunate leopard spots. I also liked the duality of the base -- symbolic of the union of two individuals -- two doors, two drawers for the bride and groom singly, and I would remove the interior shelf to create a unified space for the unity of the two as a couple.
Here is the couple's invitation (names redacted). Isn't it lovely? It gave me the pallette for the colors of the work, all warm shades. Originally, I intended to add teal as a single cool element for visual relief from all the warmth but the abundance of blue in the collage materials (see post below) would supply that contrast. I mixed my paints and set to work to transform this ugly ducking into a swan, an object that could become as personal and special as their celebration.

The bride wanted a partially finished shrine, so that they and their guests could together create the final product. In the post below, I show how that was done. After their wedding, the couple will send me pictures of the finished shrine in all its glory, and I will follow up here to show what evolved from the ugly beginnings.

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