House No. 117: Green House II

House No. 117: Green House II
found objects on cardboard
5 in. x 5 in. x 11 in.
117/365; 04/27/11


I  am slowly working on  a series of monochromatic houses (the first was blue) using collections of mostly single-colored objects. (I collect these kinds of things. Writing about it, it even sounds odd to me.) Anyway, most of these green objects were harvested from one of my bulletin boards at work.

You see, I like to collect objects and arrange them by color, and I have bulletin boards in my office at work where I arrange these odds and ends.

Those shamrock beads were handed to me by a (man dressed like a) leprechaun on the street on St. Patrick's Day a couple years ago. And the busted computer chip was lying on the ground in my parking deck. The field day ribbon was a park find. It's like litter scrapbooking. Or something.

 

This is my third green house. Here are the other two:

Green House 

Greenhouse

House No. 99: Tea House

House No. 99: Tea House

ceramic teapot, ink on paper, cellophane tape
8.5 in. x 6 in. x 5 in.
099/365; 04/09/11

This is my second tea house and a sister to yesterday's coffee house, another readymade using the same windows and door.

I love this little teapot, a gift from my sister-in-law. It reminded her of the invitations to the wedding for werepanda and me, which were designed after medieval manuscript pages. The pattern includes some of my favorite motifs: alpine strawberries, pomegranates, tudor roses, and oak leaves with acorns.

I have always loved acorns, but my attachment to them grew when I was living in France. The werepanda's surname comes from the French word for oak grove, and when he, speaking little French, would telephone my building, the receptionist, who spoke no English, would leave me a note that “Mr. Oaktree” had called.

House No. 91: Kejserens nye Palads (The Emperor's New Palace)

House No. 91: The Castle from Kejserens nye Palads  (The Emperor's New Palace)

mixed media
roughly 18 in. x 12 in.
091/365; 04/01/11

Continuing with my fairytale-themed houses, today’s house is based on the Danish folktale, Kejserens nye Palads by Hans Christian Anderson.  As you can see, this house is one of my most work-intensive and elaborate to date.

I am most proud of the detail work on the leaded windows and the masonry work of the castle, as you can see in this detail, below.

Again, as in Rapunzel’s Tower, I tried to use materials that reflect the story from a contemporary perspective. In this case, I want to reflect the current American political lexicon, populace perspective, and media in Emperor Kejserens’s castle. I think the medium speaks for itself, here.

Update: Happy April Fools Day!  The Danish Kejserens nye Palads, as was disclosed in the Google Translation link, translates as The Emperor's New Palace. Thanks for playing along!

House No. 89: Tiny Tent

House No. 89: Tiny Tent
upcycled styrofoam thread spool, glue, repurposed paper samples and twine, toothpick
2 in. x 6 in. x 2 in
089/365; 03/30/11

I expect a wee band of merry players to exit this tent, wearing tights and shoes with turned-up toes and playing crumhorns, and hurdy-gurdies and rauschpfeifes. And sacbuts, but just because sacbut is fun to say. So, I guess this is either a tent for medieval minstrels or the members of Arcade Fire.

To get the full effect, try looking at the tent while listening, here.

House No. 87: Greenhouse

House No. 87: Greenhouse
ink on repurposed cardstock
4 in. x 3 in.
087/365; 03/28/11

Today's house is a study of sorts for an upcoming house, possibly tomorrow's. I think that the plants look very happy to be living in such a swank house — so green and lush.

House No. 60: Werepanda House

House No. 60: Werepanda House
vector illustration, cut & paste mock-up

1.5 in. x 3 in. x 1.5 in.
060/365; 03/01/11

A bamboo-adorned house for my husband, the werepanda,* because today is his birthday.

*Note the tiny panda fangs.

House No. 43: Russian Izba

 

House No. 43: Russian Izba

ink, colored pencil, and watercolor on paper, digital layout
8.5 in. x 11 in.
043/365; 02/12/11

Izbas are Russian log cabins built by peasants in the countryside. Many are ornately decorated with painted woodwork. The houses were built without saws or nails because the steel was so expensive. Instead, the logs were notched with a hand axe and fit together. Ornamentation was whittled by knife.

Some izbas, called chicken leg izbas, are built on stilts. These are the inspiration for the magical house lived in by Baba Yaga, the witch of lore from Eastern Europe. I love these stories and the imagery that they conjure up. The tales may find their way into some illustrations quite soon ...

House No. 37: Earth Berm

House No. 37: Earth Berm
ink, colored pencil, and watercolor on paper, digital layout
8.5 in. x 11 in.
037/365; 02/06/11

"In a hole in the ground there lived a Hobbit. Not a nasty, dirty, wet hole, filled with the ends of worms and an oozy smell, nor yet a dry, bare, sandy hole with nothing in it to sit down on or to eat: it was a Hobbit-hole, and that means comfort."
J.R.R. Tolkien, The Hobbit, "An Unexpected Party"

While its most recognizable form is probably the hobbit holes of Tolkien's Middle Earth, earth dwellings, called berms (meaning a mound or wall of earth or sand), have been used around the world for millennia. Earth dwellings are now associated with the green building movement.

Sometimes the earth is "bermed" about an existing dwelling, and sometimes they are dug out of an existing slope or dug and the earth is rebuilt over a structure. They are warm in the winter and cool in the summer, are stable and fireproof, and are largely organic and/or upcycled. If we ever go off the grid — which is not likely, but I fantasize about it sometimes — I want to live in an earth berm. My husband, however, says that it seems rather dirty and that he is not a groundhog.

House No. 24: House Music

House No. 24: House Music

digital painting

8 in. x 5 in.

024/365; 01/24/11

Say what?! House music all night long.

House No. 22: McMansion

House No. 22: McMansion

Upcycled McDonald's containers

5 in. x 4 in. x 3.5 in.

022/365; 01/22/11

As if poorly built, oversized suburban architecture weren't bad enough, there is now the post-housing-crash threat that the artificial communities created to house these behemoths may fall prey to blight similar to the plague of abandon in inner-city neighborhoods during the fifties and sixties.

And yet, I keep seeing new construction everywhere. Meanwhile, for-sale and foreclosed houses keep dropping in prices and well built, historic homes decay. The insatiable need for the new and excessive drives the construction of homes and storefronts that remain empty. It seems like the perfect, unfortunate metaphor for the state of the economy.

I think that I will start collecting real-life metaphors. What are others that you have observed? I would love to see people illustrate them in their work.

House No. 18: Green House

House No. 18: Green House

graphite on cardstock

2.75 in. x 3 in. x 2 in.

018/365; 01/18/11

 

It was so cold and grey today that I wished for a little cultivation spot for myself that was warm and protected. I needed to see some green and hope of spring, and so I made a greenhouse.

House No. 14: Pizza House

House No. 14: Pizza House

pizza and broccoli
approx. 9 in. x 9 in.
014/365; 01/14/11

It seems that I am on a food-house kick. I made today's house while having dinner with my hub and his mom, Carol, and we all got involved. The broccoli foliage was Carol's idea.

House No. 13: Communal Home

House No. 13: Communal Home
super delicious Ethiopian food on injera bread
approx. 12 in. x 12 in.
013/365; 01/13/11

Tonight's tasty house was made with help from my sister and the fantastic people at The Nile Ethiopian Restaurant of Richmond. The Nile is one of my favorite restaurants, so much so that it was the destination location for both my friend Angie and me for our birthdays this past year. Tonight's platter included Yemisir Wat, Shiro Wat, Ater Kik Alicha, Gomen, Atkilt, Fasolia, Dinich Wat, Bedelgan, Inguday, and Timatim Selata. The roof is a piece of injera bread.

Ethiopian food is eaten communally from a platter lined with injera bread, which sops up all the deliciousness if you can make it that far. (This food is super filling.) One eats by tearing pieces of injera and scooping from the platter. It makes for a lovely connection with your food and your dining companions. Here is a photo of dinner before we dug in.

Beautiful, isn't it? I didn't take an "after" photo, but I assure you, there was not much left. * urp *

House No. 7: Textile House

House No. 7: Textile House

vector fabric pattern

5 in. x 5 in.

007/365; 01/07/11

Textile arts, like weaving, spinning, sewing, embroidery, knitting, crocheting, tatting, and quilting, are a foundation of homemaking. Home crafts, typically done by women, have traditionally been the lower rungs of the arts. Isn't it interesting how things done at home are often the least valued?

It's a big thing to consider, and it includes factors like the Industrial Revolution, gender roles, working inside and outside the home. Really, I just wanted to make a fabric pattern. But with any visual representation, the image and the medium come with a lot of baggage.

I think that is what I love most about art and design. We pick up images and tools and media and try to reshape references that are intrinsically woven within the fabric of our culture.

Well, that, and I really like to make stuff.

House No. 6: Tree House

House No. 6: Tree House

ink on repurposed 100% cotton rag cover stock

5 in. x 5 in.

006/365; 01/06/11

Trees are living homes to birds, squirrels, and insects, and, even dead, trees are an important part of an ecosystem. Dead trees provide homes and food sources for animals and birds, particularly woodpeckers and flickers.

After reading My Side of the Mountain, I had a childhood dream of living inside a giant, hollow tree. (Then after re-reading this novel as an adult, I was dismayed by how environmentally irresponsible the book is. The fifties were a different time. A time when it was okay to steal Peregrine Falcon chicks and raise them yourself, but I digress.)

I drew today's home using a tiny stencil to create the tree's leaves. I cut the stencil out of an index card using an XACTO knife.