This is not my first attempt to reuse cardboard tubes, but these are certainly much smaller tubes! I have many of these tubes, and I hate to waste these neat sturdy items when I can have fun with them instead. I do like the idea and the activity of upcycling cardboard.
Now I collect these tubes from anyone with pets, as the tubes are found inside the rolls of pet waste bags most of us use daily. Here are three artworks featuring these small tubes. The top piece is “Behind the Fence”, and the lower two are a set: “Lost Scrolls I” & “Lost Scrolls II”
I don’t know how people will feel about this wood,cardboard and paper recycling effort. I started with the idea of leaving the cardboard unpainted and monochromatic. After time in my studio I decided that would seem too unfinished, so I added the metallic paints.
The “scroll” pieces can also allude to the mason bee nest boxes popular with gardeners; I like that thought. And I plan to continue upcycling cardboard in my artworks. I hope you enjoy seeing these as much as I enjoyed making them!
I am delighted that a painting of mine that has evolved with time, and as it was refurbished, has now been claimed. I have a new home for The Burden! A friend told me she found it in the yard, and rescued it, because it meant a lot to her.
So The Burden has gone home with her, and I am thrilled to know that this painting will be enjoyed out of the weather.
The original version of this painting was started in 2014, and was stored out of sight sometime in 2015. Eventually I worked on it further, and displayed it in my studio yard for far too long. Out in the weather, the mounting failed and the boards separated and warped.
I restored it earlier this year (2026). First I pealing the surface layer off with some tearing, then remounted the torn painting to another board. This process created more texture; not damage but texture! At least I decided to see it this way…
I filled in missing parts, touched up the paint, and added more detail with some dimensional embellishments. So it has changed quite a bit since the early drafts and the interim versions! Below is a progression: three drafts and the final version of The Burden:
Note: the colors vary a lot in the above photos. This is mostly due to the lighting and different cameras, rather than actual changes to the paint.
Currently the only art I can focus on is my Grandfather Robert Sivell’s art. Somehow spring often means a break from art making for me. Too many other things take priority, and especially so this year. I am out in the yard most days: mowing, weeding, or repairing something. In spring I take a short trip or two, and often coordinate with family for a longer trip. This year we have been making some financial changes and cutting back on some things due to our age. All this on top of walking the dog (and myself!), cooking, and all the things we need to do in a day…
So my only recent art activity is to revisit a few of my grandfather’s oil paintings. And to move some eleven of them on to new homes. It was time to see if someone would put these paintings on view! I have stored them out of sight for too many years, as did my Mother. They deserve more appreciation.
These paintings are now newly loved by a couple living near Port Townsend who have a wonderful enthusiasm for collecting art and other treasures. I sold them for the price of a nice dinner out: all I wanted was to have them seen by someone new who would care for them. Here are nine of them:
Cardboard packaging can be surprisingly interesting, and has potential for assemblage art. I want to have fun recycling cardboard tubes, and ideally I will produce some appealing art. Currently I am a bit obsessed with the neat small cardboard tubes that are used for rolls of pet poop bags!
Previously I collected and worked with the cardboard tubes inside rolls of toilet paper! This was after purchasing a rather deluxe brand of bamboo based T.P. that had sturdy smooth internal tubes! I wrapped these with old prints or drew on them with colored pens to make the long chain in the image below.
I have also created a sturdy round side table using much heavier cardboard tubes from construction materials. And I have made smaller pedestal stands with mailing tubes and liquor bottle tubes. The trick is to keep things clean & tidy when I am using glue! I struggle to decide between transforming the tubes with color & attachments, or to stay honest to the material and choose a simpler monochromatic look.
So I am recycling cardboard tubes that are usually tossed in trash or recycling bins. I am having fun. However the results are not yet in as to value of the final products. I have not attached the parts into the works that have the smaller tubes. At this point they are mock-ups that I tweak and re-arrange almost daily.
The piece below also features some recycled cardboard that I enjoy:
UPDATE: I have completed Blue Witness II, and added the photo of the finished work. I do need to finish sealing parts of this, and so there will inevitably be subtle changes to the color and gloss, but I don’t plan any new elements, TBD!
More witnesses are in work, in my new set of two Blue Witness Drawers. Once again I was able to plunder a free pile for sturdy wooden drawers! I love working in shallow drawers and boxes. These contain and protect both 2-D and 3-D artworks that I assemble to create a finished work. I can make good use of my prints and photos to create the background for various casts of my sculptures. The pieces also include a few found objects: usually altered scrap and natural items. Some drawers will have bones, leaves, stones, shells and/or twigs in addition to my own creations.
Here are the photos of the work so far. The first image is a prototype for the first drawer, but as you can see the finished work in the center is quite different!
Examine the lower images to see a possible arrangement for the second blue drawer, with only a few of the backgrounds already fixed in place. I do think this is the dimensional “witness” that I will use. But that could still change!
I would like to find a place for the surprisingly expressive face that I drew on cardboard, but I think not in these two drawers… if only I had a matching third drawer!
I often create a small series when I work, but these six fair size pieces were quite a production. Not everything went smoothly! But no surprise there…
UPDATE: I have the theme, and perhaps the title, now. This series consists of Five Witness and One Missing. I often takes me time to find out where my art is coming from, and what it is about. I believe this series of work, along with some new work, is all about witnessing. We are witnessing some bad times, and some horrible abuses. Once seen, we cannot stop looking: it is important to witness, even if there seems to be little else we can do.
I have just completed this art series, assembled in six drawers that I found alongside the road. For some reason I waited the better half of 2025 year to get started, but once I got going I was fully engaged.
Usually I make a series of only 3 or 4 related works, and I do not necessarily work in the same size or format. I do create multiples of a special figure or item that I then reuse in very different ways over time. This art series in six drawers features four versions of a face, a second face, and an old rat. Well copies of an old drawing of a rat that is, not an old rat! I drew a fairly handsome local rat some years ago, and prints of this drawing are included in two of the drawers. I don’t know anything about the jawbone included in Drawer #6, except that I have had it for a while and it needs to be in this piece!
You may notice another theme used throughout this series, and you may recognize the plant used. I love dry seed pods of Lunaria, aka the money plant, aka Honesty. So look to find these in all of six of these art boxes, along with gel plate prints using Lunaria.
I took the above photos, and I am not happy with them. Photographing dimensional artworks is an art in itself. I do not have the training or skill to do this well. But these are my best efforts so far!
This newly finished art series in six drawers features variations on wistful solemn faces. I cast these faces in several different materials, from molds of two my own original sculptures. Only one drawer has no human face; instead it features a large rat! I quite love my rat drawing. And all the drawers contain prints, natural & found objects, printmaking, sculpture, and drawings.
Please share my post if you enjoy this art series in six drawers!
I have actually finalized some of my arrangements for the Six Drawers series. And I have the first drawer finished! And what a struggle it has been to attach and light this drawer!
If only I could/would plan ahead, and do things in the most sensible and efficient order. That rarely happens in my studio though. Think about it: I really should have considered the lighting first. But no, I left that until last, even though I have made this mistake before. It is much more difficult to cut into the drawer or box after the interior is fully mounted and detailed. The risk of damaging the contents is high… but all is well.
See the progress here, with the “skylight” photo below:
And now with added cutout/skylight. This provides a little natural light and will allow addition of LEDs if desired.
So far I have interesting arrangements in four of six matching drawers. These arrangements in drawers will become assemblage pieces, but they will change. I have already put in considerable effort into these, and almost wish they could be magically complete just as is. But the arrangements rely on ephemeral plant material, with nothing attached in place, so no, these cannot be completed works as currently viewed.
I do envision a series of related work. Currently the drawers are variations on a theme, all featuring aspects of the same face. I don’t know what they mean yet, and maybe they are more fictional memorial works. Here are a few glimpses of these changing arrangements:
I sometimes toy with abstraction, but most of my masks and faces are attempts at realism. I don’t know why I make faces (no pun intended!) but I think it is just human nature.
Here is some recent work with paper clay built up over a ready made plastic face mask/mold. After the paper clay dried, I was able to remove it from the plastic, but not without some minor damage.
I made a mold of this face in order to cast in cement or epoxy resin, but it is not a good mold. The silicone was old and I probably should have scrapped it! Instead I wasted my time and materials to make a fully cured & sealed plaster support mold for it. The mold is flawed with air bubles and larger voids, so the casts from it need too much cleanup.
Now I have a cleaned & modified cement cast, shown at left & center below. I plan to make a new mold that I really hope will be better. But I will experiment with a gelatin & glycerine mold, just to make things more interesting! And that could easily be a grand fail, so fingers crossed!
The other photos are also worked on casts from the original flawed silicone mold. I do like that the necessary clean up, along with the different materials used, makes them unique!
When I pour material to fill my cast, and if I plan well, I “float” a properly sized removable block in the cast. This reduces the quantity of the expensive material, and makes for a lighter weight cast.
Below are the outer “mother” mold and the inner silicone molds used for that and the first faces shown above. The wire mesh face was formed over the cement face that will also be used for a new mold.
Below is an oil based clay face, and the “eco-resin” Mix-2-Mold cast from this original. I don’t love it, but it is just right for Drawer #6 in my shadow boxes in Six Drawers series. There are several brands of “eco-resin” which seem to all be gypsum plaster based, but modifed to be a bit easier to mix, faster curing, and stronger. However they are heavy, and also quite brittle. They are not strong as thin pieces, and they chip easily or break if dropped or hit by a hard object.
A few days and many hours later, casting the bird is back on track. At least I think it is. My new plaster mold is cured, sealed, and I have put it to use. I cast Fat Baby Bird #16 very hastily late in the evening, and it was not well done. I did prove the mold is good, and I do have another bird that I will count in the edition, but … this poor bird is somewhat wounded.
Truth is I did a poor job of it. I did not mix enough cement, and I tried using a “slip” before filling. I should have pre-measured everything and had a good set up so I could work faster. RapidSet cement is true to its name. The product thickened quickly, and I ended up with several conspicuous voids in my cast.
I could certainly have patched and painted these so that no one would be the wiser. However I chose a different solution: Fat Baby Bird #16 is “Wounded Baby Bird”. I chose to make these voids more conspicuous rather than less so. Now Wounded Baby Bird is painted in raw Sienna with silver highlights, and the voids feature black or red glitter or gold paint. Here is #16 before and after full color. Should I touch up the black glitter with a bit of silver? The the black seems a bit stark. Here are three views of Wounded Baby Bird:
Fat Baby Bird #15 sits pretty below, in front of my studio. With a vivid three tone paint job plus a silver beak, he/she is hard to miss. I will keep her/him right here in my yard for a bit:
So for now, #15 and #16 are happy enough here at the studio. But perhaps someone will want to take them to new homes soon. My baby bird adoption fee is a mere $200.
Casting the bird is back on track whenever numbers 17-25 are wanted. My limited edition will stop there.
