220410 shrine

 April 10

In February, my daughter asked me to make her a gift for a friend. It was to be a "shrine": a small object to be a focus for meditation. I talked a bit about its conception and creation in an earlier post, (220301 bread road shrine) and now that the gift is given, I have asked the recipient's permission to share pictures of it. I thank them again, here, for letting me show it.

In our first discussions, Elf and I imagined a grotto-shaped ceramic piece and I went to a friperie in the next town that I knew would have some vases that would work. But there I also found the box we eventually used. This is the box, cleaned, and polished with beeswax polish. It was not broken, only worn and a little sun-damaged. It is unusual in its details, very "art deco". The glass rods are to support the lid when open. They are from glass swizzle sticks, cut and smoothed with a diamond dremel end, one and a spare.

The green silk box in the front right corner was a contribution from Elf. It opens to provide a place for the person to keep a special relic of their own. Elf also brought the little Jesus statue, which she had found in a friperie. It had charmed her and as we brainstormed ideas, this became the focal point of the shrine. It also took on a new persona as we worked, becoming a hermaphroditic child, magical. The little "pail" came from a knick-knack wishing well that I had in my work stock: it makes a candle-holder. The "caldron" can be a place to burn a pinch of incense or herb. The tiny "cathedral", which I found in a friperie, is a model from a Montreal cathedral. These articles and most of the others came from my stock or in some cases my and Elf's jewelry box, things we already had. (I tend to "collect" bits, bobs, and china, from poking about in second-hand and charity shops. If I like something I know that it may just come in handy for a project. Sometimes the china begins to group itself into colour schemes and themes before a base turns up that I want to mosaic.) As the project progressed the right pieces and the right brokens incorporated themselves into the work. It is always exciting to see certain colours and textures join up to complement each other. The lumps of amethyst came from my Etobicoke stock that I had brought for another project, and the small stones about the shrine are local Estrie pebbles from the roadsides.

I made a shelf for the elephant to stand on.

A tiny typewriter on the wall, a window, and a water source:

The hanging relics are on pieces of necklace chain, attached securely to withstand opening and closing. A piece of silk which I bought in a second-hand market in Japan forty years ago was given, to be folded over the interior of the box when it is closed. The hanging relics rest on the silk and don't bump or get tangled with the interior. Here is the box with the lid propped. I dremeled two little dimples in which to place the prop. The lid also rests open on its hinges and then a candle can be placed.

I took special care to secure the silk box the right way round so that it opened from the front. I knew that this is the kind of thing I might screw up! - to glue it lovingly in place, but backwards! There are doors and (more) windows about the shrine and the gold and white arch on the lid makes a grotto, and also a sun and moon.

Here is a candle in the holder. On the edges of the box are a pressed fern and blue jay feather, ridge finds that Elf and I put in the box as "relics". 

Several of the broken ceramic bits about the shrine are from this broken vase that was donated to me. It is a delight of intrigue that will find its way into more works. These two bits are in the stock collection for an "underwater" project on the table now.

This is the vase that I bought for the project. I hope to cut it into a grotto shape and make another "shrine", or it might turn into a stony cave of night creatures and primitive plants. 

Since I began work on the shrine a small infestation has begun on my stock shelf. I check the hinges and smell them for traces of mold or perfume.

I am grateful for the privilege of making this commission for my daughter. It was a challenge, and a meditation on the "sacred". I learned several new techniques which I am already putting to use on new projects.

Thank you for visiting today. Be well, keep safe.

Mumma Yaga