Buddha Getting Out of Dodge

This is a new piece that kept me puzzled for quite a while, but which I ended up really liking for its whimsy but also its message...one which only revealed itself to me at the very end, as so often happens.

A couple key components, the wheeled undercarriage and the empty old box camera both came from a scavenging trip to the Goodwill "bins" (the end of the line where they throw everything that is either unfit to sell or did not sell in the regular Goodwills).  My "rusty" Buddha actually came from there also in the form of a whole string of Buddha lights, like Xmas lights.  He was actually a transparent turquoise-colored plastic originally, but I used a rusting patina finish to create the look you see here.  After gluing the camera to the undercarriage and gluing Buddha inside, the piece sat for quite some time (partly due to surgery, partly due to being unsure where the piece was going).  

After reading about hummingbird nests, I made my own just for fun (from lichens and forest detritus, glued together with spiderwebs)...and this too sat around for a while since I had no intent of putting it in this piece.  I tried other top pieces...knobs, gears, etc...and finally tried the nest with the egg inside and loved it. (Hint: For gluing weird things like this nest to the metal clock gear below it, I used a glob of Golden Matte Gel Medium.)

Shuffling through my work area, I came across a page from an old typing book (back before the days of "keyboarding" for you younger readers) and part of the exercise said "get out" (and now you see where this is going). I tore out the words "get out", rolled up the paper and tied a red thread around it.  You'll see this glued in front of Buddha.

This is the piece viewed from the back where you see a transparency of rather morose-looking young boys holding flags, a small bird perched on top, and a hornet's nest resting on the back of the carriage.  (Another hint: To preserve very fragile things like this hornet's nest, I again used Golden Matte gel medium but this time diluted down to the point that it was quite watery.  I then painted it over the hornet's nest and let dry.  It is now quite sturdy but still somewhat flexible.  Great for butterflies too.)

The piece is about 7" tall and maybe 10" long (I'm not in the studio at the moment to measure).

(Buddha Getting Out of Dodge, copyright Diane Lou 2010.  All Rights Reserved.)