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Saturday, April 30, 2011

My office

And, bonus: the completed collage project! As you may remember, my collage project was inspired by this artwork from Valerie Roybal:

Encyclopedia 2

So first, the completed collages:



I cut strips from Real Simple magazines; found quotes from blogs, books, songs, and Scripture; bought 16x20 canvas frames (which you can't see) from Hobby Lobby (2 for $8); printed the quotes on cardstock; glued everything on the canvas with Mod Podge (several layers for good measure); sprayed it with a clear acrylic coat (spraypaint); and framed with open frames also bought from Hobby Lobby (2 for $35). Total cost: $50 for two large, framed, custom pieces of art. Simple, cheap, and fun. (Want one? I'll totally take requests.)

The quotes I used (there's a lot of 'em; feel free to skip down):
Write first, Edit later (me)
She was on her way (Jodi Hill)
Life isn't a support system for art. It's the other way around. (Stephen King)
I know the plans I have for you. (Jeremiah/God)
If you can do it for joy, you can do it forever. (King)
Language is the blood of the soul, into which thoughts run and out of which they grow. (Oliver Wendell Holmes)
the God of glory thunders (David?/God)
And is the juice and the joints and the motion of life (Don Chaffer of the band Waterdeep)
You've made all my deserts into gardens; you've made all my ashes into beauty (Isaiah/God/Waterdeep)
the Self escaping into the open (E.B. White)
It is our choices that show what we truly are, far more than our abilities. (Dumbledore/J.K. Rowling)
Now at last they were beginning Chapter One of the Great Story which no one on earth has read: which goes on forever: in which every chapter is better than the one before. (C.S. Lewis)
you need to live the art, and then you need to keep on making it. (Emily Freeman)
You may not be the first to say it, but your saying it may be the first time we hear. (Freeman)
Blessed is she who has believed that the Lord would fulfill his promises to her. (Elizabeth/God)
Dreams have nuts and bolts, too. If they didn't, then surely they would fall apart. (Freeman)
In your presence, God, I'm completely satisfied. (Phil Wickham)
We'll tip our glasses to the Host who used to look so hazy (Waterdeep)
we are filled with the good things of your house (David/God)
To know, I have to write. (King)
The desert and the parched land will be glad; the wilderness will rejoice and blossom. (Isaiah/God)
Faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen. (Hebrews/God)
The job of fiction is to find the truth inside the story's web of lies. (King)

And here they are in the office with a bit of lampshade thrown in for color comparison:


The office, from left to right:

This wall will sport a collection of what I like to call "scroll-y metal artwork." The current collection is below (plus I have another colored, coaster-looking one--octagonal, can't remember the color--and two more decorative crosses of different sizes). I will most likely spraypaint the white one, just not sure what color yet, and I'll add a few more pieces:


The picture frames on my hutch (I need a picture of my mother!):


The middle shelf has a lot of the things I collected while working for the Modern Foreign Language department. Professors would bring us (office staff) gifts from their travels abroad. The blue fan is from Japan, the green one is from Spain; the bowl is from Kenya (and smells like pepper, in a good way); the brown coin purse is from Spain and the little Eiffel Tower I brought back from Paris. The little black box is from Russia, but it's from a friend of my mom's (not a prof). The pictures were taken by Baylor students who studied abroad; both are from Paris. I definitely need more books. I'm planning to hit up the used book store for some adult and children's classics. I took as many books from home as I dared; I can only spare so many!

(The lamp!)

(My diploma!)

I was originally going to choose a double matte: undetermined color around the diploma, off-white everywhere else. But Aaron 1) asked what the school colors were (blue and white) to help me choose a color, and 2) convinced me to go with one all-navy matte. I'm so glad. I really like the way it looks, and it also goes well with the colorful theme of the office.

I'll post pictures (at some point; you know me) of the completed scroll-y metal artwork wall. I've had a heck of a time finding pieces, but so far everything has come from Hobby Lobby. I love that place.

I'm so pleased with how everything has turned out so far. For an office without a window, it still manages to be cheerful, and it speaks very loudly of me.



2 comments:

Anonymous said...

So good to finally see your office. I didn't realize it was desperately needing to be decorated, and it wasn't just a personalization thing. Everything is just lovely, Amy. And I know it's been rewarding for you too!
xoxoxoxoxmomxoxoxoxox

hoesayfina said...

fabulous. love the collages. :)