"True Love Polka."
by Susan Shie Contact me
"True Love Polks.” 2010
7"h x 32.5"w x 12”d. #381
Began 10-15-09. Finished 1-6-10.
Painting on G. I. wooden ammo box. Acrylic paint brushed on for colors, and acrylic paint marker for lines and writing.
Story: I painted my first ammo box in 2001, naming it “Ammo Amore,” because it was about Jimmy and my 11th wedding anniversary. It was the year we celebrated our anniversary at Gretchen and Mike’s apartment in Cincinnati, on their third floor apartment balcony at the Roanoke on Ludlow, on Clifton on the Gaslight. We were on our way down to Arrowmont in Gatlinburg, TN, to teach at Arrowmont the next week. It was really a fun time at the kids’!
I had a second ammo box just like that one, but this one sat around, unused for many years. Finally this last year, my Turtle Art Camp student Patricia Ciricillo wanted to paint on boxes, instead of on fabric. So I pulled out the second ammo box and began painting and writing on it, telling an updated version of Jimmy and my relationship. This time I added Eva to the family crowd. She’s five years old now!!!!
This box is called “True Love Polka,” named after a song I heard, or thought I heard, while I was painting.
Jimmy and my relationship is now over 33 years in the making, since we met in September, 1976. You can read some of our recent adventures, including GEM – our daughter Gretchen, her daughter Eva, and our son-in-law Michael – on and in the box. You’ll see one of our cats, Ome (short for Cleome), enjoying hanging out on top of the new, tall washing machine, and dear Gretchen / Eva as a mermaid, with a couple of very happy possums, Squeak and Squawk, for company. On the very bottom of this box is a line drawing of GEM and their cat Cricket, who’s a sister to our cats Otis and Ome. I put two lucky Peace Ducks on the ends of the box, and there are turtles and trout swimming in the waves on the front and back sides of the piece, for Jimmy and me.
It’s much harder to write on a wooden box, especially the inside walls and the outside, where it’s really rough sawn, compared to writing on paper or fabric. And you can’t just pack up and ship a big, heavy box very easily or cheaply. I prefer working on fabric, canvas, or paper, most of the time. But then, I’m glad to do something weird like this, once in a while, and it’s good to have finally used the second ammo box! Patricia and I had a good time, painting and storytelling on our boxes in that camp, too. But now I’m ready to get started on a brand new art quilt painting project! It’s time for the very first start of a piece in 2010!
- Susan, Jan 10, 2010, in Wooster
Turtle Moon Studios: Outsider Art
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