Tattered Edge

I bought this shadow box back in early April with the intention of doing an assemblage for my Gram for Mother's Day. I finally got around to it today.

The image I used is my Gram and her family in front of their house. I keep meaning to ask her who took pictures, since they were very, very poor and I can't imagine they owned a camera themselves.

The odds and ends in the frame are old lace, bobbins, part of a measuring tape, an old fashioned clothes peg, a button, a wedding ring, an old button, some rusty bolts, a buckle and the butterfly shaped thing used to hold summer window screens on. I included the sewing stuff because my great grandmother was a seamstress and the mechanical bits are for my great grandfather who worked hard all his life as a baker (when he could-he had bad allergies to flour) and on the family farm.

After doing the exercise about "Where I am from" I thought it would be interesting to do one about my Gram's life, so that's what's around the outside of the frame. Here's what it says:

Where I Am From


I come from handmade clothes and Salvation Army services,
from walking miles, even in bad weather just to save the carfare.


I come from fresh baked bread and the smell of a wood stove,
from pulling my brothers in a wagon and writing on the side of the house with chalk.

I come from perfect penmanship and hankies in pockets,
from neatly pressed clothes and making do.


It goes in the mail first thing tomorrow morning. I hope she likes it-I have never sent her any of my mixed media art before.