Cigar box shrine: Or while others smoke, you create!

First off I am putting this together before I have had enough coffee to really be responsible for the words that are typed. In fact, the backspace key has been put to liberal use already, and I am, what, two sentences into the post? :)
I definitely am NOT like those people in the Grape Nuts commercials; sometimes morning is NOT my time of day!
Moving on, this is a piece I love, made from a cigar box. Cigar boxes are amazing items to work with, either as they come or, like in this piece, with a little alteration.
I took the lid off, split it down the middle, then shifted the pieces 90 degrees. That left a little space at the top where I was able to insert a piece of decorative metal I had painted and aged. Gesso, and lots of it, was the secret to covering the paper and wood on the box and then applying liberal coats of color to build up depth. The pieces of the top were hinged back on with paper and medium, then all the collaging and painting was done. Tiny bottle caps with images in them, an alter at the bottom similar to Day of the Dead, the ferns that grow everywhere in New Orleans.
I am hoping the photos are able to enlarge; been having *issues * with getting them where they are supposed to be so I would guess that they will not! (just checked. I am wrong...)
I did this after the gallery I used to have work in down in NOLA closed, one year before Katrina. The photo inside is of myself---looking horrible---I believe I was

ill that year, and my friend, Taina Mechling, who ran the

shop.

I wanted a small memento to have of the lovely times spent in the warm, balmy, carefree days of the beautiful city, and a reminder of the most unique gallery that she ran. Since their move back to California, Taina opened another gallery, but I am not sure with the economic climate if she chose to keep it open or to close it and make her own lovely and unique art. (I hope she is making art so she has some time to enjoy herself!)

The cigar box shrine seemed for me a fitting and appropriate way to remember a very dear friend and times spent together on wonderful vacations.

Usually store that sell cigars will part with the boxes for a small fee, and there are an amazing variety of styles to choose from. They make perfect shrines or with the addition of a piece of glass or plexiglass across the front, a safely enclosed shadow box for all sorts of quirky items.

It is well worth your time to search some of these out and see what you can create with them.

Plus, they are just plain FUN!!!!!

So give it a try; you might be surprised at how much you can put into a small area!

And Taina, I hope you or your friends find this, and know you and Kelly are in my heart still, every day.