View 1
With the lid completely closed and looking straight on. You can burn incense on the hand that is on top. It is a holder to burn stick incense with. The 'tile' effect on the front was achieved by stamping a wood textile stamp onto hand made paper and enhancing it further with hand coloring. There are four panels on this.
The box itself measures 8" x 8" and is 4.5" deep. The height of it is 10.5".
View 2
Slightly angled up so that you can see the miniature marigolds. After all, Oaxaca is known for it's extensive and beautiful celebration of the Day of the Dead (Dia de los Muertos).
View 3
Her face is painted much like what you would see in a Dia de los Muertos parade. The background is done in joss paper which is Chinese spirit money for their dead ancestors. The side door is decorated with some collage work and includes ravens. The ravens are a re-occurring theme from the shrine I did last year.
Choosing ravens to be a part of the imagery on the shrine has meaning for me. Native North American tribes in the southwest area see the raven as the bringer of light. Hopi, Navajo and Zuni tribes felt the raven flew out from the dark womb of the cosmos, and with it brought the light of the sun (implying the dawning of understanding). The raven is also considered a venerated bird of creation, for without the raven, humans would forever live in darkness.
View 4
Marigolds festoon the floor of this shrine-a tribute to the Dia de los Muertos tradition. The top of the doll's dress is a page from the dictionary. Again, a re-occurring theme from last year's shrine. The word on this page of the dictionary is, 'benevolent'. Just think how different our world would be if everyone was benevolent!
Her necklace is made up of tiny carnelian beads. Carnelian is a stone for the heart chakra.
Pearls skim along the bottom of her skirt. Pearls of wisdom and hope.
View 5
The very back of the shrine decorated with joss paper.
View 7
Overhead and side view
View 8
Overall view...
So, are you ready to change a child's life for the better?
You can go and visit the site for viewing this year's items beginning April 29th (artists will be uploading their images and text from April 10-27th if all goes well with the internet gods). The on line live auction will be announced sometime in early May-we are experiencing 'technical difficulties' in getting the behind the scenes cyber space stuff ready. Bear with us! It will not start May 1 as the image above indicates. It begins on June 5th and ends on June 12th.
You can find out more about the organization in which this is done for, which is a non-profit grassroots organization called the Street Children of Oaxaca.
I hope you bid and bid often-whether it is for the shrine I made or someone else's! Believe me, the group of artists who participate in this project all do this straight from their heart. It is a gift of love. Many of us us have put in at least 20 hours and easily, more on their piece. So, as a bidder and hopefully, winner of a shrine, you REALLY win! But, most of all the street children win. They get to continue their education. Education is a very effective way to end poverty.
A huge thanks to Rebecca Brooks who has spearheaded this campaign to raise money and awareness. This incredible human being has an amazingly generous heart and spirit. This on-line auction is now in it's third year and to date, I believe we have 28 artists participating. Thank you too, to those that volunteered to help in getting the behind the scenes "I.T." stuff done. You guys ROCK!
